Chinese robotic market bursts: "pie or trap" for local companies

"Made in China" is facing a transformation, from labor-intensive to intelligent manufacturing, which urges the domestic industrial robot market.

China has become the world's largest buyer of industrial robots, according to data. However, the use of industrial robots in China is still low compared with China's vast manufacturing base. According to the International Federation of Robots, the number of robots per million manufacturing workers, Korea 396, Japan 332, Germany 273, the world average of 58, and China only 23.

More worrying is that, although many domestic industrial robot suppliers, but most of the market share is still occupied by foreign enterprises. How to grasp the opportunity of local robot enterprises in China?

Manufacturing 99% is still artificial

Rapoo Technology, a computer peripherals manufacturer based in Shenzhen, has tasted the sweetness of robots and has become an active disseminator.

According to Rapoo Technology general manager Deng Chuwei introduced, Rapoo 2011 introduced 75 robots, through the robot integration platform, the implementation of product design, integration, logistics reorganization, scheduling optimization and other changes, the company's employees from 2011 3200 people to 2012 1100 people.

As one of the first "crab-eating" companies, Rapoo Technology robot investment year to save labor costs 80 million yuan.

In Huizhou, which is adjacent to Shenzhen, Huayang, the local electronics manufacturer, also "fell in love" with the robot. Huayang Multimedia Electronics Co., Ltd. Deputy general manager Luo name Lamp said, their manufacturing system more than 1200 people, in recent years encountered "recruitment difficult, labor expensive, loss of large" problem.

After the employment of the population decline, the rise of the mainland industry, the development of the tertiary industry, so that recruitment more difficult, the cost of recruitment in Huizhou has reached 370 yuan/person; and the employment concept of a big change, work is not the only, freedom is the first choice, the general electronic industry average monthly loss rate Standing job loss rate is higher, coupled with the difficult management of workers, productivity decline. Therefore, Huayang Multimedia 2008 set up a special division, the promotion of automated technical transformation, and the development of three-axis robot platform and other products.

Luo famous lamp deep feeling to say: "The robot price must descend greatly, otherwise cannot promote." "Deng Chuwei is more optimistic, and he predicts that as industrial robots have fallen by 4% per cent a year and labour costs have risen, from 2004 to 2013, average annual wages have risen by 15%, which has led to a downward trend in robotic automation investment return (input cost/annual earnings), and 6 years in 2010, It is estimated that the 2015 year is shortened to about 2.4 years.

According to The Economist, the Chinese market sold 36500 industrial robots in 2013, China has overtaken Japan as the country that buys the largest number of industrial robots in the year, and "factory owners are now more inclined to use manageable robots".

Zhangxiaofei, chairman of the Institute of Engineering Robotics, told the first financial daily that sales of domestic robots continued to grow at a high rate in the first three quarters of this year. 2014 1 ~ September, domestic industrial robot sales of 33,600 units, an increase of 32.5%, is expected to reach 45,000 units this year.

Even so, the space in the domestic robot market remains huge. Zhangxiaofei forecast, China 2015 intelligent Manufacturing Equipment Industry output value 1 trillion yuan, the next five years growth three times times, 2020 will reach 3 trillion yuan.

"Why is it that more than 99.42% of China's manufacturing jobs can't be replaced by robots?" When and where to be replaced? "Qutauqui, president of the China Robotics Alliance and Siasun Robotics Automation Co.," asked.

Small and medium enterprises are difficult and gold

Qutauqui that the high-end application of low-end industry is the bottleneck of China's industrial robot market expansion.

For example, he said, the bathroom hardware industry polishing, robot requirements dustproof, waterproof, explosion-proof, more complex than ordinary welding robot; At the same time, the industry's original mode of production is very backward, the market space is very large, but the price is extremely sensitive, this contradiction how to solve it?

Baixiaopo, Director of Guangzhou Institute of Engineering Research, also shares the same feeling. After investigation, he thinks the development of the Pearl River Delta region robot faces problems, mainly in small and medium-sized enterprises.

Baixiaopo said that the Pearl River Delta labor-intensive Enterprises, the use of robotics, to achieve less human, unmanned demand increasingly strong, but "short, flat, fast" low-cost operating mode, so that long-term commitment to the weak. At present, there have been a number of successful transformation and upgrading of enterprises, such as Guangzhou Auto Group Integrated 138 robots to build automotive parts welding production lines.

However, "small and medium-sized enterprises have strong demand, but face many difficulties. Baixiaopo analysis, the transformation from the traditional production mode to the modernized production mode will produce the" mixed production line "of automation, Robot and manual operation, which increases the complexity of the robot automation scheme and increases the investment cost.

"Enterprises usually require that the cost of replacement of the automation equipment can be recovered within 2-3 years, and that the actual automated production lines and equipment will live for 5-8 years or longer." Baixiaopo suggested that managers need to build new ideas to adapt to the development of the situation.

Deng Chuwei shared Rapoo's experience that robot line (using robot as the main body of the automated production line) the cost of input, should not be "robot automation input + traditional operating platform", but "robot body + peripheral matching-the original operating platform input." He said, for example, that a power adapter manufacturer expands capacity, New line body, originally planned 20 meters long belt input 40,000 yuan, now robot automation line Body 8 Flexible worktable input cost only 6,000 yuan, save input cost 34,000 yuan.

Small and medium-sized enterprises are not only difficult, but also gold. Zoli, Vice general manager of Raytheon Intelligence, believes that the breakthrough of domestic industrial robots is economic robots. In the automotive industry, a very high precision robot, domestic enterprises in the short term can not compete with foreign enterprises.

"Domestic enterprises should focus on the development of applications outside the automotive industry general manufacturing (metal processing, rubber and plastics, ceramics, food and medicine, such as the economy of the robot, such as punching, injection molding machine, such as the special upper and lower material manipulator, electronic product assembly (screws, dispensing) robot, polishing robot, palletizing robot. Zoli said, "The dirty, tired, dangerous, repetitive monotonous work let the robot do!" ”

Zoli that the characteristics of domestic economic industrial robots are less use of rotational joints, as far as possible using domestic components, only focus on doing one thing, so low cost, high efficiency, easy to control.

Qutauqui admits that industrial robots and robotic arms are the lowest value-added robots, but local companies must do so, which is the need for China's manufacturing industry to upgrade. and Zhangxiaofei points out that once local robotics companies can break through these traditional industries ' robotics, they can be extended to other emerging industrial countries such as India, where Chinese robotics companies can become multinationals.

Don't go the way of the auto industry

Chinese robot market demand suddenly broke out, Qutauqui sigh: "Is this pie or trap?" Because the market development too fast, the foreign giants are all attracted to the local enterprises to slowly grow time to shorten. "He believes that China is the world's largest car market, but the local auto industry has not really risen, the robot industry to avoid repeating the mistakes of the auto industry."

According to the International Federation of Robots, foreign-owned enterprises sold more than 27000 industrial robots in China in 2013, up 20% from a year earlier; According to the China Robot Industry Alliance, 2013 domestic companies sold more than 9500 industrial robots in China, up 65.5% from 2012.

"It is not to be overlooked that China's robot enterprises mainly occupy the low-end market, low value-added." "Qutauqui reminded that the high-end industry must avoid low-end, in the robot high-end industry is just doing processing, meaning is not," local governments, enterprises should do a good job strategic planning.

At present, in the capital market and the promotion of local government support policy, the domestic robot industry has been heating up, the country has more than 30 robot industrial park, a-share market has more than 40 robot concept of listed companies. Some companies want to do everything from robot ontology, components to system integration solutions. Zhangxiaofei that in the face of competition from multinational giants, domestic enterprises "first in a subdivision of the field cut down."

According to the statistics of the Institute of Industrial Engineering Robotics, as of September 2014, the number of Chinese robot-related enterprises 428, of which this year 1~3 quarter increased 175. Of these 428 robot enterprises, 88% are system integrators, from the regional perspective, 117 of the Guangdong region, accounting for 27%, such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai Enterprises add up, then the Yangtze River Delta Enterprise number over the Pearl River Delta.

Zhangxiaofei said that Chinese robot parts enterprise, the product is not mature enough, the market acceptance degree is low, the robot ontology enterprise, the shipment quantity is small, does not realize the profit, relies on the main business to feed; system integrators, most of the profits, but the size of the enterprise is small; end users, preference for foreign brands, demand

"Outside the automotive industry, the demand for robots is growing faster, and the food and pharmaceutical industry is expected to grow by 45% in 2014; the electronics and electrical industries are growing 33%; The metal processing industry is up 31%." Zhangxiaofei said, so to "find the market positioning."

At the same time, through cross-border cooperation and cooperation with foreign investment to upgrade the technical level. This year, the company shares with Leica, Christie's technology and CQS have launched strategic cooperation.

"It is imperative for China to pursue high-end manufacturing from low-end manufacturing. Zhangxiaofei said that the Chinese robot market has become the global focus of competition, ABB, Kuka and other international "four families" did not have a foothold in China, service security has not been followed, this gives local robot enterprises a lot of space, "domestic components are the basis for the development of domestic robots, integration is the best way for the rapid development of domestic robots , capturing the market is the best competitive strategy. ”

(Responsible editor: Lvguang)