Mold processing industry is a very important industry and was once known as "mother of machines" in the world. Chinese mold authorities believe that molds are money printing machines; American industrial community believes that mold industry is cornerstone of American industry. Germany believes that molds are the king of metal processing; Singapore believes that mold industry is a very important magnetic industry; many EU countries believe that molds are gold. It can be seen that mold industry is a very important indicator of product manufacturing level of a country and region. It is worth mentioning that China once listed molds as the first in sequence of technological transformation of machinery industry in its industrial policy in 1989!

 

Japanese mold industry has always maintained its position as the world's largest mold country and mold power. Japan's mold production capacity once accounted for about 40% of world, ranking first in the world, and it exports a large number of molds to foreign countries every year. Top five importing countries of Japanese molds and their import share are: South Korea (59.8%), mainland China (18.4%), Thailand (4.3%) and United States (2.8%). Japan has world-renowned large carbide tool manufacturers such as Mitsubishi Materials, Sumitomo Electric, Toshiba Tungaloy, Dijet, Hitachi Tools, Japan Tungsten, and Fuji Mold. In addition, Japanese mold manufacturers pay more attention to polishing and grinding processes in terms of technology, while German mold manufacturers start from improving accuracy and efficiency of mechanical processing and electrical discharge processing to reduce time of manual processing.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to controlling core technology of global molds in many fields, Japan also controls the most profitable links in industrial chain, leaving only assembly link profit for most joint ventures in other markets around the world. In fact, Japan's "industry-based country" economic model is worth learning. It is worth mentioning that Japan has proposed six main directions for mold development: adopt as many high-tech technologies as possible to improve level of digitalization and informatization; open up new areas for mold use, such as various new energy, new materials, medical, aerospace and other fields; extend mold industry chain; carry out diversified operations; update knowledge; do a good job in development and integration of industry, academia and research.
At government level, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan has organized "Technical Strategy Research Committee for Plain Shape Materials" and issued "Technical Strategy for Plain Shape Materials" which is a guideline. Goal of implementing this technical strategy is very clear, that is, "to grasp lifeline of the world's manufacturing industry by mastering important technology of raw materials".
There are about 10,000 mold companies in Japan. Divided by number of employees: about 91% of employees are below 20, and the rest are 9%. This number is quite scary. However, it can also be seen that scale of its mold companies is generally not large, and main advantage is concentration, single matching and cooperation. Taking automobiles as an example, a complete car requires about 8,000 stamping parts, so that each mold factory can share several fixed parts. Achieve "precision, concentration and singleness" to reduce costs. Annual per capita production capacity of Japanese is about 1.2 million yuan.
Due to rapid rise of Chinese and Korean molds, they have caused a great impact on Japan with their price advantages, especially in mold market with medium and low-end technical content. It has become main competitor of Japanese small and medium-sized mold companies. Therefore, Japanese mold companies began to focus on production and technical upgrading of high-end molds to avoid price competition. That is, accumulation of small but fine, small but specialized skills is source of competitiveness, which prompts small and medium-sized mold companies to innovate continuously and build an environment for sustainable development. Many Japanese mold manufacturers are actively expanding their equipment investment. In terms of processing, a large number of unattended processing units are used, or they are controlled online by computers. Technical development of molds is mainly carried out in aspects of high precision, high speed, long life, complexity, large size, integration and high performance.

Germany is a recognized power in mold manufacturing. Germany is one of the earliest countries in Europe to engage in mold production. Its mold manufacturing technology and mold quality are recognized by users around the world. It enjoys a high reputation in the world and is one of the most important high-end mold suppliers in the world. German mold manufacturers have formed a consensus: the whole industry must work together, work together, innovate technology, learn from each other's strengths, make progress together, and give full play to the overall advantages in order to achieve success in industry. In order to meet needs of rapid development of new products today, not only large companies in Germany have established new development centers, but also many small and medium-sized enterprises have done so, actively do research and development work for customers.
Germany has always attached great importance to research, which has become an important basis for Germany to remain undefeated in global market. In fierce competition, German mold industry has maintained a strong position in international market for many years, and its export rate has remained stable at around 33%. According to data of German Mechanical Factory Manufacturing Association (VDMA), there are about 5,000 mold manufacturers, but mold industry structure of country is still dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises: 80% of them are less than 20 people, 19% of them are 20-100 people, and 1% of them are more than 100 people.
 Germany has always been at the top of global technology, especially in the fields of machinery and manufacturing, and its equipment is very advanced. Since its mold industry developed earlier, its technology is also quite advanced. Annual per capita production capacity in Germany is about 2 million RMB.
German mold companies have a common principle to abide by: "coordination, collective wisdom, technological innovation, learning from each other's strengths, common progress, giving full play to overall advantages, and jointly achieving industry leadership." It can be said that few companies in the world can fully achieve such mutual cooperation in Germany. This is also an important foundation for strong development of German industry. Germany has always been famous for its exquisite processing skills, production of precision machinery and tools. Its mold industry fully reflects this outstanding feature. German mold manufacturers must work together in industry, pool their wisdom, tap development potential, jointly promote spirit of innovation, make joint technological progress, learn from each other's strengths and make full use of overall advantages to achieve consensus of industry's success. In Germany, not only large companies have established new development centers, but many small and medium-sized enterprises have also done so, taking initiative to do research and development work for customers. Germany has always been very active in research, which has become an important basis for its unbeaten in international market.
According to statistics from German Die and Mold Association (VDMA), German industry organization for industry and mold industry, output value of 90 backbone mold companies in Germany accounts for 90% of output value of German molds.

China's mold manufacturing industry occupies an important place in the world, but due to its late start, its technical level is far behind that of Western developed countries. Especially compared with core mold technology countries in the world. It is worth mentioning that China's molds are as famous as United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and Italy, and basically divide big cake of world mold market, but we are not because of core technology, relying on good quality and low price. Comparing per capita output value of molds, Japanese molds are 1.2 million yuan, American molds are 1.27 million yuan, and German molds are 2 million yuan, which means that per capita output value of molds in United States and Germany is 5-9 times that of ours.
There are about 30,000 mold companies in my country, of which 5% are in China, 10% are in Sino-foreign joint ventures, and the rest are private enterprises. According to statistics based on staff, it is conservatively estimated that number of employees exceeds 1 million.
 According to analysis of Secretary-General of International Mold and Hardware Plastic Industry Suppliers Association, development trend of China's mold industry in next ten years is: mold products will develop in direction of large, precise, complex, economical and fast; technical content of molds will continue to increase, and mold manufacturing cycle will continue to shorten; mold production will develop in direction of informatization, non-graphics, refinement and automation; mold companies will develop in direction of technology integration, sophisticated equipment, product branding, management informatization and internationalization of operations.
As we all know, molds are "mother of machines". And automobile molds are "pioneers" of automobile manufacturing. According to their functions, automobile molds can be divided into five categories, including stamping molds and injection molds. As a cold stamping die, large car body cover mold is the most iconic process equipment product in automobile molds. Due to complex manufacturing process technology of large body outer cover molds, high requirements for size and surface accuracy, and need for high-precision CNC equipment such as five-axis high-speed machining centers, its manufacturing technology has long been controlled by multinational professional companies.
It is worth mentioning that China's mold manufacturing technology has made a qualitative leap in the past decade. Mold industry has grown rapidly from small to large and has become a global mold manufacturing power. Especially with development of China's automobile industry, independent brands have entered mid-to-high-end market, and new energy vehicles have emerged. Market has put forward new demands for us, requiring us to move from low-end molds to high-end molds, from a mold power to a mold power, and realize second take-off of Chinese molds. It is worth mentioning that mold output value of six major mold manufacturing countries, China, United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea, and Italy, occupies an absolute position in the world, and China's mold output value is the highest in the world.
China Die & Mold Industry Association once conducted a comparative analysis of the world's 20 major die manufacturing countries from perspectives of market size, competitiveness and development potential, and divided aforementioned 20 countries into four groups, namely "All-Stars" (Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United States, China), "Well-known" (Switzerland, Canada, Austria, Italy, Spain), "Rising Stars" (Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey), and "Rookies" (Mexico, South Africa, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam).
Design and manufacturing level of Chinese molds has improved rapidly, especially computer-aided technologies such as CAD/CAE/CAM, high-speed machining technology, hot runner technology, gas-assisted technology, reverse engineering and other new technologies have been widely used, composite material stamping mold technology, dual-material integral injection mold technology, and high-gloss mold technology have been used. Status of a mold power has been recognized by world.
China can now produce multi-station progressive dies with an accuracy of 2 microns, and service life can reach more than 300 million punches. Multi-station progressive dies produced by some enterprises can be used on high-speed punching machines with a speed of 2,000 punches per minute, with an accuracy of 1 micron.
In terms of large plastic molds, China can produce plastic shell molds for 43-inch large-screen color TVs and 65-inch rear-projection TVs, a full set of plastic parts molds for 10-kilogram large-capacity washing machines, and plastic molds for automobile bumpers, integral instrument panels, etc.
In terms of precision plastic molds, China can produce plastic parts molds for cameras and mobile phones, multi-cavity small-module gear molds, and 7800-cavity plastic sealing molds with an accuracy of 5 microns.
In terms of large-scale precision and complex die-casting molds, China can produce escalator integral pedal die-casting molds, automobile rear axle gear box die-casting molds, and automobile engine housing casting molds.
In terms of automobile cover molds, China can produce cover molds for mid-range new cars.
China's radial tire active molds, aluminum alloy and plastic door and window profile extrusion molds, precision casting or resin rapid prototyping drawing molds, etc., have also reached a fairly high level, and molds manufactured are comparable to imported molds.

 

United States is a global mold manufacturing power, and industry ranks first in the world mold field. There are about 8,000 mold companies in United States, 60% of which have less than 15 employees, and 30% have 15-50 employees. Due to high development of industrialization, mold industry in United States has long become a mature high-tech industry, and is therefore at the forefront of world. It is worth mentioning that professional division of labor in molds in United States is very clear. Each mold factory has its own outstanding products, and basically specializes in one path. For example, American Synergis mold factory specializes in chassis subframe molds, progressive molds and multi-station molds.
According to survey, there are currently about 8,000 mold companies in United States. More than 90% of them are small companies with less than 50 people. According to number of staff, about 60% of them have less than 15 staff, about 30% of them have 15-50 staff, and the rest of companies are 10%. Although there are few people, they have advanced equipment, management mechanisms and automated production. According to survey, per capita production value of its mold industry is more than 1.5 million yuan.
It is worth mentioning that United States has achieved standardized production and supply of mold steel. CAD/CAE/CAM technology is widely used in mold design and manufacturing. Advanced equipment is used in processing technology and inspection and testing. Development of large, complex, precise, long-life, and high-performance molds has reached world's leading level.
Mold manufacturing industry in United States has following characteristics in terms of production and operation:

(1) Streamlined staff: Most mold companies in United States are small in scale, and few have more than 100 employees. Number of employees in mold companies is generally between 20 and 50. Configuration of various types of personnel in the company is very streamlined, with one person having multiple skills and one person having multiple positions. There are no idle people in company.

(2) Product specialization + accurate positioning. Most mold factories in United States determine their product positioning and market positioning based on demand for various types of molds in automotive, electronics and other industries. In order to survive and develop in the market competition, each mold manufacturer has its own unique advantages, technologies and products, and adopts a specialized production method.

(3) Use of advanced management information system + integrated management. Mold companies in United States, especially large-scale mold companies, have basically achieved computer management. From production planning, process formulation, to quality inspection, inventory, statistics, etc., computers are widely used, and various departments within company can share information through computer networks.

(4) Advanced process management + high degree of standardization. American mold manufacturers rely on advanced process equipment and process routes to ensure part accuracy and production progress. Advanced technology and advanced management of European and American mold companies have enabled them to produce large, precise, and complex molds, which have played an extremely important role in promoting development of industries such as automobiles, electronics, communications, and home appliances.

For example, Ford Automobile Mold Factory in United States processes side panel molds with a manufacturing cycle of only 8 weeks. This seems like a miracle to many people, but Americans did it. Early process and design of mold are not done in mold factory, but in R&D department. Mold factory is only responsible for manufacturing process starting from foam model. Because preliminary work is well done, there are few changes during processing, which saves a lot of time for mold manufacturing. Mold factory processes foam mold and sends it to casting. After casting comes back, it starts CNC processing. Because it is a multi-workbench automatic conversion, it does not stop for 24 hours, and processing efficiency is very high. In addition, because preliminary work such as rebound and deformation are considered more carefully, coupled with actuarial technology, processed mold can be directly debugged on press, and the first piece qualification rate can reach 85-90%. It can be seen that professional processing technology in United States is very high.

Production technology level of Italian mold enterprises is first-class in the world. According to executive secretary general of International Mold and Hardware Plastic Industry Suppliers Association of China, application of high-tech to mold design and manufacturing has become a powerful guarantee for Italy to quickly manufacture high-quality molds. It is worth mentioning that use of CAD/CAE/CAM, high-speed cutting technology, rapid prototyping technology and rapid mold making technology in Italian mold enterprises has become a very common technology. Following focuses on:

(1) Wide application of CAD/CAE/CAM: It shows superiority of using information technology to drive and enhance mold industry. In terms of CAD application, it has surpassed primary stage of throwing away drawing board and two-dimensional drawing. At present, 3D design has reached 70% to 89%. Application of software such as PRO/E, UG, and CIMATRON is very common. Application of these software can not only complete 2D design, but also obtain 3D models, which provides a guarantee for integration of NC programming and CAD/CAM. Application of 3D design can also check assembly interference during design to ensure rationality of design and process. Widespread application of CNC machine tools ensures processing accuracy and quality of mold parts. If a mold company with 30 to 50 people generally has more than ten CNC machine tools. Parts processed by CNC machine tools can be assembled directly, which greatly reduces number of assembly fitters. CAE technology is very mature in Italy. In particular, CAE analysis software is used in injection mold design to simulate die punching process of plastics, analyze cooling process, and predict defects that may occur during molding process. CAE software is used in die design to simulate metal deformation process, analyze distribution of stress and strain, and predict defects such as rupture, wrinkling and rebound. CAE technology plays an increasingly important role in mold design. After applying CAE technology, COMAU, Italy, reduced mold trial time by more than 50%.

(2) In order to shorten mold making cycle and improve market competitiveness, Italian mold companies generally adopt high-speed cutting processing technology. High-speed cutting is a processing technology characterized by high cutting speed, high feed speed and high processing quality. Its processing efficiency is several times higher than that of traditional cutting technology, or even more than ten times higher. It is worth mentioning that Italian mold companies widely use CNC high-speed milling, three-axis linkage, and even five-axis linkage in production, with number of revolutions generally ranging from 15,000 to 30,000 r/min. Use of high-speed milling technology can greatly shorten mold making time. Mold surface after high-speed milling fine processing only needs a little polishing before it can be used, saving a lot of time for grinding and polishing. Italian mold companies attach great importance to technological progress and equipment renewal. Equipment depreciation period is generally 4 to 5 years. Adding CNC high-speed milling machines is one of key points of equipment investment for mold companies.

(3) Italy's rapid prototyping technology and rapid mold making technology have been widely used. Due to increasingly fierce market competition and continuous acceleration of product updates, rapid prototyping and rapid mold making technologies have emerged and quickly gained widespread application.

It is worth mentioning that Italian plastic & rubber processing machinery and mold manufacturing industry was once one of 10 special machinery manufacturing industries of Italian Machinery Manufacturing Alliance. More importantly, it once had more than 500 European patents, with a very high degree of specialization, leading technology, and a wide range of products, while providing customers with a variety of value-added services. According to reports, per capita annual sales of Italian mold enterprises is more than 100,000 US dollars. Output value of Italy's plastic and rubber processing machinery and mold manufacturing industry accounts for 16.5% of the total output value of 10 industries of Machinery Manufacturing Alliance.
Italian mold enterprises have very advanced technology and advanced management in the world, which makes large, precise and complex molds they produce play an extremely important role in promoting development of automobile, electronics, communications, home appliances and other industries.

South Korea is an economic powerhouse that relies on high-tech development. As early as the 1970s, due to its sustained high-speed growth, South Korea's per capita GDP increased from 87 US dollars in 1962 to 10,548 US dollars in 1996, creating "Han River Miracle". In 1996, it joined Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and became one of founding countries of World Trade Organization (WTO) in same year.
South Korea's shipbuilding, automobile, electronics, steel, textile and other industries are all among top 10 in the world. Semiconductor sales rank first in the world, and crude steel production ranks sixth in the world. Flat display devices such as memory, LCD and plasma screens and mobile phones are all leading in the world market. Number of industrial robots in South Korea ranks third in the world. As early as 2013, number of robots shipped from Korean manufacturing industry ranked fourth in the world.
Since 2014, South Korea has launched "Manufacturing Innovation 3.0" strategy, vigorously developing 13 emerging power industries such as drones, smart cars, robots, smart wearable devices, and smart medical care. South Korea will build 10,000 smart manufacturing factories by 2020, and transform 1/3 of country's factories with more than 20 employees into smart factories. According to South Korean government's expectations, through implementation of "Manufacturing Innovation 3.0" strategy, it is planned that by 2024, South Korea's manufacturing exports will reach 1 trillion US dollars, and its manufacturing competitiveness will enter top 4 in the world. South Korea's industry is the first lineup in global mold field. In Korean mold processing industry, almost every factory is a professional factory.
It is worth mentioning that South Korea places great importance on introduction and use of new technologies. South Korea's mold production in 2012 was about 10 billion US dollars, close to Japan, and a quarter of it was exported to Japan, China, United States and other places.
It is worth mentioning that future development trend of South Korea's world-leading motorcycle mold processing is a non-graphic and networked processing mode. Mold development has also transitioned from profiling to full CNC, such as PRO/ENGINEER software for three-dimensional solid modeling, mold design and CNC programming processing, making rapid and high-quality mold development a reality.

 

Singapore is a small country with a population of only 3 million. Singapore government attaches great importance to, supports development of precision molds and has introduced many important policies to enable mold industry to grow rapidly and promote rapid development of Singapore's economy. Singapore has more than 1,000 molds and precision processing-related companies of various types. Annual output value of molds has exceeded RMB 4.5 billion. Singapore's mold processing industry has a very important influence and role in Asian mold industry.
It is worth mentioning that there are more than 10 listed mold companies in Singapore. More than 65% of molds produced by Singapore companies are for IT electronics-related industries. Although molds produced are not large, they are all high-precision and high-level molds. Singapore mold companies are mainly concentrated in the fields of semiconductor frame/packaging molds, hardware stamping molds, plastic molds, silicone rubber molds, etc.

Switzerland has a land area of only 41,000 square kilometers and a population of 8.5 million (2018), but its economic size is at elephant level in the world. Switzerland has 21 Fortune 500 companies (2019). And it has been "dominating the list" all year round, involving finance, medicine, retail, industrial manufacturing, etc.
Swiss manufacturing means brand and quality, which not only covers sophisticated technology, but also meets aesthetic needs. From well-known Swiss watches, Swiss Army knives to precision instruments, precision is characteristic of these items. Compared with German manufacturing, Swiss often joke that Switzerland is just a little more expensive than German manufacturing, but a little more precise, which also reflects uniqueness of Swiss manufacturing from the side.
Since 1901, Switzerland has produced 24 Nobel Prize winners. According to average of the total population, Switzerland is the country with the most Nobel Prize winners per capita in the world. Among them, famous Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) is Einstein's alma mater and has produced 32 Nobel Prize winners.
Switzerland attaches great importance to innovation. Among the world's top 20 innovative economies, it has ranked first in Global Innovation Index for eight consecutive years. On average, 11.2 out of every 1,000 people in Switzerland are scientific researchers, and Switzerland's R&D expenditure accounts for about 2.9% of GDP.
On December 11, 2019, 2019 "World's Top 500 Brands" ranking compiled by World Brand Lab was announced in New York, USA. A total of 29 countries were selected for this ranking. From national distribution of number of brands, Switzerland has 21 brands selected.
Swiss electromechanical metal industry is main body of Swiss industry. Output of textile machinery, printing equipment, packaging machinery, precision tools, turbines and other products ranks among the top in the world.
After 25 years of operation, Swiss Mold has developed into one of the most important mold manufacturing companies in Switzerland. For example, Swiss Area Company specializes in manufacture of die-casting molds and plastic parts molds. In terms of injection technology, AWM hot runner injection system has been developed in Switzerland. Molds produced by company are mainly used to manufacture cassette boxes, such as music, video, movie, color tape boxes, etc., as well as other high-precision parts produced in large quantities, such as connectors for electronics industry. More than 90% of its products are exported to countries around the world.
It is worth mentioning that Switzerland's mold production technology is at a high level, with high surface finish of parts and small mold clearance. Large die-casting molds mostly use hydraulic core pulling. Production efficiency is high, with an average of 5 to 8 pairs of molds (die-casting molds or injection molds) manufactured per person per year, which is higher than many countries. Mold life is long. Die-casting mold life of sewing machine body of Swiss Buhler Company has reached 70,000 to 80,000 times. Main equipment used in Switzerland to manufacture molds is CNC machine tools. It is worth mentioning that Switzerland once accounted for 40% of number of companies in the world's top ten areas.

Austria is an important mold manufacturing power in the world, and many mold companies in Austria have a very high manufacturing level. Although Austrian mold factories have not achieved fully automated mold manufacturing standards, mold manufacturing process in Austria uses unified reference fixtures, there is no manual calibration link, and some repeated production uses manipulators or robots. Austrian mold high-end equipment is also standard in workshop, especially clean and bright workshop environment, and workers' spirit of craftsman confidence, etc., all reflect height of Austria's mold industry.
Austria has the world's top mold giants, such as Austria's K.T.W, one of the world's top ten mold giants, is world's leading mold manufacturer for bottle caps. It was acquired by Husky in 2011. KTW molds provide innovative technical solutions including: multi-component technology, in-mold assembly and in-mold closure, cube, single-sided or stacked mold design, and unique EASYcube technology provides industry-leading reliability, flexibility and compatibility with similar professional bottle cap products.

France is an industrially developed European country. Europe is one of the most developed regions in the world for mold industry. Standard for French injection molds is ROUBARDIN standard, and famous German HASCO standard is also adopted in France. As we all know, European molds have advantages of high efficiency, precision and long life. In addition to mold design and mold maintenance, the most important factors that determine mold reliability also depend on mold steel, heat treatment methods and mold processing technology.
Characteristic of French molds is fully automatic molding. For example, French molds in subdivided industries use hot runners (hot nozzles) to inject glue as much as possible, or diving, bananas (horns) into water, all nozzles must be automatically cut off and automatically dropped. According to size and structural characteristics of product, French mold adopts a 1-out-8 design, and glue injection method is to inject glue on the side of product with a diving port, which can be automatically separated when mold is opened. All molds avoid ordinary large nozzles for glue injection, rely on manual post-processing to cut off nozzles to achieve separation of nozzles and products. In this way, because of high labor cost, manual post-processing cutting of nozzles is very different. Manual cutting of nozzles requires nozzle pliers or knives, which can easily scratch plastic parts and produce defects, people are also easily injured and fatigued. Therefore, manual cutting of nozzle materials does not meet customer's concept.
France has the world's top mold giants. For example, France's PLASTISUD, as a global leading supplier of high-performance, high-precision and high-cavity molds, mainly provides customers with fast, high-performance and high-cavity molds for beverage bottle caps, medical components (such as culture dishes, actuators and sprayers, etc.) and packaging fields (such as thin-walled containers and in-mold labeling applications, etc.).
In terms of high-cavity bottle cap molds, PLASTISUD is the only company that can produce 144-cavity bottle cap molds and put them into commercial application. Its 144-cavity 29/25 mineral water bottle cap molds running in customer factories have a molding cycle of only 2.8s and a production capacity of about 3,000 bottle caps/min. 144-cavity mold used in CSD applications produces 2.8g 1810 bottle caps with a cycle of only 4.5s, and its production capacity is 1,920 bottle caps/min.