Big but not strong, big but not refined, big without profit, this is one of the biggest challenges facing China's manufacturing industry. The machine tool industry, which has been hailed as the “parent machine” of the manufacturing industry, faces similar challenges. To be strong has become a hurdle that the Chinese machine tool industry cannot avoid and must go through.

Due to the strong squeeze of low-cost competition made in China, developed countries have made strategic choices for high-precision development in the manufacturing industry. A similar strategic layout is particularly evident in the machine tool industry. To be strong, to be fine, to be fine, has become a worldwide trend in the machine tool industry. To this end, various countries have introduced various incentive policies, industrial measures and industrial planning. These policies, measures, and plans have just revealed the necessary elements for a stronger machine tool industry, providing a very valuable reference for China's industrial strength.

EU Revitalization Plan Leads Future Trends

The EU’s strategic position in the machine tool industry is crucial. Martin Wilk, president of the European Machine Tool Industry Cooperation Council (hereinafter referred to as CECIMO), said that manufacturing is the core pillar of the EU economy and it is the driving force that can lead Europe out of the crisis. The machine tool industry is the engine.

In 2012, CECIMO developed the plan to revitalize the blue machine capacity initiated by Germany to the level of the European Union and become the core plan for the future development of the EU machine tool industry. The program has now received the participation and support of eight national associations, including the UK, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the Turkish Machine Tool Association and 57 companies and research institutions. The EU Blue Machine Rejuvenation Plan will become the core policy of the European Union to revitalize the machine tool industry. The Blue Rejuvenation Plan for Machine Tools is the first common revitalization plan for the EU machine tool manufacturing industry. It has set uniform goals and standards in both production and business practice. Its core mechanism is to voluntarily adopt uniform energy conservation and environmental protection standards for production.

According to the EU "Next Generation Production System" research program, the green machine tool should have the following characteristics: First, the main machine tool parts are made of renewable materials; Second, the weight and volume of the machine tool is reduced by more than 50%; Third, the quality of moving parts is reduced, Measures such as the reduction of air-operating power reduce the power consumption by 30% to 40%. Fourth, the use of various wastes in the process is reduced by 50% to 60% to ensure that there is basically no pollution in the working environment. The fifth is that the material of scrapped machine tools is close to 100%. Recycling. The lightweight technology of moving parts not only reduces the material consumption of machine tools, but also improves the operating efficiency. The energy management technology strengthens the management of the energy consumption of the operating process and is an important step towards greening; the high-efficiency motors and frequency conversion technologies have improved the drive. The operating efficiency of the operating system; efficient cooling lubrication technology enables effective use of processing resources and improved efficiency. The implementation of this plan by the EU will greatly increase the competitiveness of EU machine tools in the world and also better protect the EU machine tool market.

Since the “European Recovery Plan” launched at the end of 2008, CECIMO has been actively implementing and increasing research investment, and has implemented a €12 billion "future factory" plan in private enterprises of state-owned enterprises. Its research covers the downstream industries of manufacturing, including cutting-edge technologies in manufacturing, and also includes the promotion of SME participation in research projects.

In addition, CECIMO has been actively promoting European single patents, which can encourage innovation in the machine tool industry by reducing the comprehensive fee for patent applications. There is also the European Machine Tool Industry Adjustment Committee and the Energy Working Group, composed of experts, scholars and engineering designers, to meet the requirements of eco-design.

The EU has also introduced a series of new measures to try to make the EU a “scientific paradise” that is open, flexible, attractive, and competitive. First of all, the European Union will issue the "European Researchers Charter" and the "Enrollment of Researchers Code of Conduct," clarifying the rights and obligations of scientific research workers in law, and providing them with a good research atmosphere and a bright career prospect. Secondly, the European Commission launched a “blue card” plan in October 2007 following the “green card” of the United States. According to this plan, the 27 member states of the European Union will issue "one-stop" work visas to immigrants. "Blue card" holders will enjoy the same benefits as EU residents and their families will also be able to travel to Europe. In addition, the European Union also plans to spend 300 million euros to build an European Institute of Technology that integrates education and research and development. The President of the European Commission, Barroso, once said that to achieve the goal of becoming the most competitive coalition in the world, the EU must have a center that can attract global elites. The most effective way is to refer to the MIT model. To establish the EU's top technical college.

Learn lessons from lessons learned

The chairman of the German Machine Tool Manufacturing Association, speaking of the successful experience of German machine tools, stated that in order to meet customers' demands for reducing environmental impact and reducing the use cost, the machine tool manufacturers that can continue to provide intelligent solutions will achieve a decisive competitive advantage. I don't think that a company can do everything, and cooperation and alliances are the way out for German companies. Cooperation and alliances are not limited to financial aspects, but more importantly are service support, spare parts reserve, and common organizational services by geographical or market segmentation.

According to the statistics of the German Machine Tool Manufacturers Association, German machine tools achieved a 9% increase in 2012, with a production scale of 14.1 billion euros. In 2012, German machine tool exports performed well and China became its largest export market, reaching 2.4 billion euros. In 2012, the German machine tool industry became the winner of the world market. German machine tools are expected to continue to strengthen in 2013.

The Italian machine tool industry is characterized by innovative mechanisms. The machine tool industry in Italy is not only a strategic industry but also an industry full of innovations, which will play an important role in driving the Italian economy. Although 60% of Italy's machine tool companies are small businesses with less than 50 employees, they often jointly develop or jointly commission research centers to make up for shortfalls in their financial resources. For example, Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna company, 50% and 40% of their subsidiaries are jointly developed with other companies. In addition to technological innovation, large Italian companies tend to focus on organizational innovation, while small businesses pay more attention to innovation in marketing. The R&D expenditure of the Italian machine tool industry has reached 18,000 pounds per person in the past three years, which is 10 times higher than that of other manufacturing industries.

Italian companies also attach great importance to the protection of proprietary technology, which also includes the importance of confidentiality agreements, trademarks, patents, etc. The Italian central government and local governments have attached great importance to the machine tool industry. 70% of companies with more than 100 employees receive government innovation subsidies, while 33% of small businesses and 47% of medium-sized companies receive subsidies for innovation. And, sometimes there is support from the EU support plan.

Compared to Germany and Italy, the advantages of Taiwan's machine tool industry come from its ability to provide not only high-quality machine tools, but also low costs and short delivery times. Taiwan’s delivery time is an average of three months, compared with Japan’s delivery terms and Europe is more competitive. In addition, Taiwan's four major industrial clusters have produced a good industrial cluster advantage. According to statistics of the Taiwan Machine Tool Industry Association, Taiwan’s export machine tool revenue reached US$4.2 billion in 2012. In 2011, Taiwan was the fourth largest machine tool export region in the world. For 40 years, Taiwan has attached great importance to the investment, R&D and sales of the machine tool industry, which has laid the foundation for the Taiwan machine tool industry.

In comparison, the Japanese machine tool industry is inevitably declining, which leaves room for other competitors. Japan’s status as the world's largest machine tool nation for 27 consecutive years was terminated by China’s overtaking in 2010. And from the perspective of its industrial layout, its decline will be even more pronounced.

We can see that Japanese machine tool companies are full of hope to benefit from the development of China. However, the Japanese government’s policy of being against China will inevitably lead to a loss of Japanese machine tool companies’ dominance in the Chinese market and thus lose their competitiveness in the Chinese market. In addition, the high cost of Japan also makes Japanese machine tools no longer have a comparative advantage.

How to be strong and fine

Since China's industries have grown from large to strong, they must not take the same path. The EU and many countries have a strong plan for the machine tool industry that is worth learning from. It also triggers us to think deeply about how we can really strengthen an industry.

First, China's machine tool industry needs a national-level competition strategy.

At present, many countries have formulated special revitalization plans for the development of the domestic machine tool industry. In other words, the machine tool industry and competition often become the competition between countries, and its intensity and difficulty are obviously different from that of the general industry.

The European Union regards the machine tool as the core of the EU's industry, and formulating a unified policy at the EU level will inevitably have a new level of strength than the national level. The European Union's Blue Rejuvenation Plan for Machine Tools is not only a guarantee for future trends, but also will greatly increase the EU companies' dominant position in international competition and effectively protect the EU market. This strategy is undoubtedly very wise.

At present, China can already compete with the EU for market share. However, without a good national-level competition strategy, it will be very difficult for individual companies to compete with EU companies, especially if they want to enter the EU market.

Second, we must play the core role of industry associations.

From the perspective of the machine tool industry, CECIMO undoubtedly plays a crucial role. Its role and status in the development of the EU machine tool industry is irreplaceable. It has made numerous research reports to discover the opportunities and challenges facing the industry and guide the direction of the company's development. Communicating with the EU and national governments in order to formulate various favorable policies. It serves as the voice of the industry and sends out market voices. It helps to formulate various technical specifications and standards. It also supervises the implementation of common plans. In short, it is an independent body that can represent the interests of the entire industry. It represents not only large companies but also an absolute majority of SMEs. In short, an industry wants to be stronger, and a strong association is a necessary condition.

This point is of great significance to our country. In implementing the strategy of large enterprises in our country, both the central and local governments have adopted as many targets as the top 500 companies for performance. The industrial structure of SASAC, government, banks, and large companies is not conducive to the healthy development of the industry. Monopoly, interest groups, corruption, unfair competition, repression of new technologies and SMEs, neglect of consumer interests, and lack of necessary constraints are all inevitable results.

A strong association can better represent the common interests of small and medium-sized enterprises and large enterprises, and can better hear the voices of consumers and provide more concrete help for the development of the industry, such as setting standards and rules.

It is time for China to reflect on this kind of dual industry structure that SASAC has increased. Without the vigorous development of small and medium-sized enterprises, there is no industrial foundation for large enterprises to become stronger. As Karl Wilk, president of the German Machine Tool Association, said, "I don't think a company can do everything, but cooperation and alliances are the way out for German companies." The European machine tool industry, dominated by SMEs, still occupies The world’s 31% market share is mostly high-end products. This may reflect the intrinsic development needs of the machine tool industry, that is, more SMEs that reflect flexibility and can provide customers with diversified solutions, rather than more large companies that win with scale.

Third, pay attention to the talent strategy.

The machine tool industry is a talent-intensive industry without the support of talented people. The development of this industry is not continuation. The talents of China, after being absorbed by the U.S. "green card" system, may face the dilution of the "blue card" of the EU again. With the current emphasis on China's financial, heavy literature, and stardom, and the formation of light industry, light technology, cultural orientation, but also to retain the number of people for our industrial revival? If China cannot make a difference in the talent field, it will be difficult to completely reverse the situation of being big and not strong.

Fourth, technical standards are barriers to development.

The European Union’s Blue Revitalization Plan for Machine Tools is the core of standards, and it may also be a technical standard that has risen to regulations. This is an important trend in modern industrial competition. In this respect, the backwardness of Chinese industry is very obvious.

The relatively weak position of industry associations, the formation of the dominant position of some large enterprises, the lack of capital investment, and the lack of sounds of small and medium-sized enterprises have led to the slow development of the standardization process of China's industry, which has also constrained the improvement of the industry. Without technical standards, China’s huge market has completely become an undefended market. At the same time, the export of high-tech products in China has encountered many barriers to foreign technology barriers in foreign countries.

Fifth, innovation and design protection need to be improved.

Innovation and design This is the source of any industry development, and the machine tool industry in particular needs innovation and design. Innovation and design issues are appealing at all levels in China, but this is precisely a problem that has not been seriously discussed and studied at the national strategic level.

Without the serious protection of creativity and design and the corresponding institutional formation, an industrial culture featuring copying is an inevitable result. The most fundamental reason for this problem is that the amount of court compensation is surprisingly low. China needs to attach importance to the protection of proprietary technologies, and it also includes the importance of confidentiality agreements, trademarks, and patents.

Sixth, commercialization should be considered as a strategic issue.

If the machine tool industry is used as a national strategic industry, commercialization must also be considered as a strategic issue. Taiwan has done a very good job in this regard. The Taiwan government has done a lot of work in this area to help commercialize outstanding technologies and products.

At present, the biggest problem of commercialization of Chinese industries is that banks do not want to invest their money in strategic industries with certain risks, but instead prefer to invest in cash flow markets where cash is immediately realized, such as insurance products, financial products, real estate products, and listed companies. If banks can share a little risk for Chinese industry, it will be conducive to industrial development.