World's five major mold-leading countries (regions)!

Time：2019-04-05 08:49:06 / Popularity： / Source：

In past decade, China's mold making technology has made a qualitative leap. Mold industry has grown from small to large and become a world mold making country. We can call this stage the first take-off of Chinese molds. With development of China's automobile industry, independent brands have entered mid-to-high end, new energy vehicles have emerged, and market has put forward new demands for us. We are required to move from low-end molds to high-end molds, from mold giants to mold powers, to achieve the second take-off of Chinese mold. How to realize transition from low to high, from big to strong, how to realize the second leap of Chinese mold is worthy of consideration for every china mold factory and every china mold maker.

At present, mold production value of these six major mold making countries(China, United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Italy) occupy absolute position of world, China's mold production value is the highest in the world.
Mold making industry in developed countries such as United States, Japan, and Germany has following characteristics in production and operation:
(1) Staff is streamlined. Most of mould manufacturing companies in Europe and United States are small, there are fewer companies with more than 100 employees. Number of employees in moulding company is generally 20 to 50. Configuration of all kinds of personnel in the enterprise is very streamlined, one person has multiple positions, and there are no idlers inside enterprise.
(2) Adopt specialization and product positioning. Most mould manufacturing companies are concerned with demand for various types of molds in automotive, electronics and other industries to determine their product positioning and market positioning. In order to survive and develop in market competition, each moulding company has its own superior technology and products, and all adopt professional production methods. Most mould manufacturing companies in Europe, America and Japan have a group of long-term cooperation mold users, and there are a number of mold production cooperation manufacturers around large mould manufacturing companies.
(3) Advanced management information system to achieve integrated management. Mould manufacturing companies in Europe and United States, especially large-scale mould manufacturing companies, have basically realized computer management. From production planning, process development, to quality inspection, inventory, statistics, etc., computers are commonly used. All departments within company can share information through computer networks.
(4) Advanced process management and high standardization. Unlike China mold factory, which adopts production organization mode of bench work or fitter, mould manufacturing companies in Europe and America rely on advanced process equipment and process routes to ensure accuracy and production progress of parts. Advanced technology and advanced management of European and American mould manufacturing companies have made production of large, precise and complex molds, which have played an extremely important role in promoting development of automobiles, electronics, communications, home appliances and other industries, brought good economic benefits to mould manufacturing companies.

▌American mold industry

There are about 7,000 mould manufacturing companies in US, 60% of them are under 15 people, and 30% are 15-50 people. Due to high development of industrialization, US mold industry has long been a mature high-tech industry and is in the forefront of world. Division of labor in United States is very clear. Each molding factory has its own superior products. It is basically a specialization. Take US Synergis moulding company as an example. They are specializing in chassis sub-frame molds. Progressive die and multi-station die. They have worked on a sub-frame of one model, three for each, one for Americas, one for Europe, and one for Asia. China mold factory are responsible for processing, assembly, and delivery to initial acceptance level, and final commissioning by US moulding company. This kind of cooperation is beneficial to both parties, and they have learned a lot in design and manufacture of large multi-station molds.

Side wall molds processed by Ford Motor Mould Factory in United States have a manufacturing cycle of only 8 weeks. This is a miracle in our view, but they did it. Process and design of mold in early stage are not in molding factory but R&D department, molding factory is only responsible for manufacturing process starting from foam model. Since preliminary work is done well and there are few changes in processing, CNC machining is started as soon as castings come back. Molding factory processes foam-type casting, and castings come back to start CNC machining. Because of automatic conversion of multiple work stations, processing efficiency is very high without stopping for 24 hours. Moreover, due to careful consideration of previous work such as rebound and deformation, coupled with actuarial technology, processed mold is directly applied to press, and the first pass rate can reach 85-90%, which shows high level of specialized processing technology in United States.
According to statistics, in 2014, per capita output value of molds in United States was about 1.27 million yuan.

▌Japan mold industry

According to statistics of Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan, there are about 10,000 molding factory in Japan, of which company with 20 employees or less account for more than 91%. That is, Japanese mold industry is mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, mainly relying on specialized division of labor to complete high-quality mold design and processing. Due to good division of labor in Japan, overall manufacturing level of small and medium-sized mould manufacturing companies is relatively high, which makes Japanese molds occupy a high share in the world mold market.
We went to Japanese molding factory and real casting workshop before. Molding factory only processed large pieces of main parts, and the rest were distributed to small factories for processing. Designed with a special design company, missing steel plate, make a call, quickly process it and send it to designated location. Lack of screws or nails is also a quick call to designated location. Division of labor system, supporting system is very perfect.
However, due to rise of China and South Korea's molds, price advantage has caused a great impact on Japan, and it has become main competitor of Japanese small and medium-sized mould manufacturing companies in mold market of medium and low-grade technology. It is precisely because of this, Japanese mould manufacturing companies have to work on high-end mold production and technology upgrades to avoid price competition. That is use small, fine, small and specialized technology accumulation as a source of competitiveness, promote small and medium-sized mould manufacturing companies to innovate and create a sustainable environment. Many moulding company in Japan are actively expanding equipment investment. In terms of processing, a large number of unattended processing units are used, or online control is performed by a computer. Development of mold technology is mainly to development of high precision, high speed, long life, complexity, large scale, integration and high performance.
According to statistics, per capita output value of Japanese molds in 2014 was about 1.2 million yuan.

▌Germany mold industry

Germany is one of the first countries in Europe to produce molds. Its mold making technology and mold quality have been recognized by users all over the world. It is well-known in the world and is one of the most important high-end mould suppliers in the world. After years of practice and exploration, German moulding company have formed a consensus: the whole industry must be coordinated, teamwork, technological innovation, learn from each other's strengths, make progress together, and play a good overall advantage to achieve industry success. In addition, in order to meet needs of rapid development of new products today, not only large companies have established new development centers in Germany, but also many small and medium-sized enterprises have done so, and actively carry out research and development work for customers. Germany has always been very active in research and has become an important foundation for its unbeaten success in the international market. In fierce competition, German mold industry has maintained a strong position in international market for many years, and export rate has been stable at around 33%. According to German Machinery Factory Manufacturing Association (VDMA), number of moulding company is about 5,000, but country's mold industry structure is still dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises: 80% for 20 people or less, 20% for 20-100 people, and 1% of 100 or more.

▌Taiwan mold industry

Mold industry in Taiwan is basically a small and medium-sized enterprise, with a fine division of labor, close coordination of production and relatively stable customers. Each company only produces a certain type of mold, each family has its own fist products, which is conducive to technical excellence, so that it survives and develops in fierce competition. Mold standard parts required by molding factory are purchased out, and some parts processing industries are produced by other cooperative factories.
Mold industry is more common with production of parts. Taiwan mold industry pays attention to integration of molds and products. Molds and products complement and promote each other. Conducive to development of mould manufacturing companies.
Keep up with main product demand and develop molds, focusing on opening up overseas markets. Taiwan's mold industry is developing rapidly. Among them, it is also an important factor to develop and manufacture molds in keeping with needs of main products. In recent years, rapid development of electronics industry and automotive industry has driven development of Taiwan's molds. At present, 76% of Taiwan's mold production value comes from electronics and automobiles.
I have visited CNC machine tool factory in Taiwan. Main engine factory is only responsible for assembly and some finishing (partial scraping). Machine body is welded by steel plate. There is a special factory responsible for cutting, then sent to welding factory. After welding, it is sent to annealing and processing plant. After processing is completed, it is sent to main engine factory for assembly. Except for larger scale of mainframe factory, scale of other factories is very small, and each factory is only responsible for one process. This shows that division of labor in Taiwan's manufacturing industry is fine and coordinated.

▌China mold industry

Chinese mold industry started relatively late. Since mid-1980s, Chinese mold industry has undergone great changes. Especially in the past ten years, change can be said to be earth-shaking, and now it has become a major producer of molds in the world. In most areas, Chinese mold have already taken a considerable share. However, in high-end molds, it still has to be imported from abroad. From overall perspective of mold industry, overall level of Chinese mold is still dominated by low-end molds.
From development history of mould factory in China, after founding of People's Republic of China, there was no professional mould factory in China. In 1950s and 1960s, with establishment of automobile factory, tool factory attached to mainframe factory was gradually established. They are basically large and complete tool factories built with reference to Soviet model. With development of automotive industry, these tool factories gradually turned into mould manufacturing companies.
Take Beiqi as an example. In 1960s, it was called Beiqi Tools Branch. In 1980s, Beijing Jeep was established, called tool workshop. Main production of measuring tools, cutting tools, die, forging die, casting type core box, die-casting mold, injection mold, rubber mold and all kinds of fixtures, gradually turned into a stamping die factory in late 1990s.
Since 1990s, rise of private mould factory in China, introduction of CNC machine tools, gradual implementation of CAD, CAE, CAM, mold industry is booming, China has become a big mold making country, but production of these factories is basically low-end molds, and there are few high-end molds. Everyone basically competes in low-end market.
What hinders us from being strong, professional, and refined? One of the biggest obstacles is our large, full or small production method. There is no special division of labor in our mold production or our specialized division of labor is not sufficient.
At present, there are about 30,000 mould manufacturing companies in China, about 5% of which are owned by state-owned enterprises, 10% of joint ventures, 85% of private enterprises, about 1 million employees, and about 5,000 enterprises with an annual output value of more than 20 million yuan. In 2015, the total output value of molds was about 170 billion yuan, and output value of self-use molds was about 40 billion yuan, which is 20 billion yuan. Per capita output value of molds is about 210,000 yuan. According to statistics of 82 key enterprises from China Mould Association in 2014, the total output value of these enterprises in 2014 was 9 billion yuan, with a total of 26,800 employees, and per capita output value was about 335,000 yuan.
From per capita output value of the mold, Japanese mold is 1.2 million yuan, US mold is 1.27 million yuan, and German mold is 2 million yuan, which means that per capita output value of United States and Japan is 3-5 times that of China , and Germany is 5-9 times of China.
There are two main reasons for low per capita output. First, most of molds we produce are low-end molds with low added value. Second, our production efficiency is low. Our equipment is no worse than them. Why is added value low and inefficient? A very important reason is that we are not "specialized." Practice makes perfect, "special" can produce technology. "Special" can produce quality, "special" can produce efficiency. Professional division of labor is good, so quality of mold is good and efficient. We are big but not strong, wide and not specialized, doing everything, and not doing anything, which causes our technology to improve slowly, improve quality slowly, and improve efficiency. Therefore, specialization and intensification of mold production is the only way for mould manufacturing companies to upgrade technology, improve quality, improve efficiency, and transform to a large, strong, specialized and refined manufacturer.

With continuous improvement of mold making technology, types of molds will become more and more abundant in the future. It is impossible for any moulding company to fully master these technologies, so future mold making industry is bound to be a highly specialized industry.
From nowadays, large and complete, small and complete mold making mode has gradually changed to a large and strong, specialized and refined, forming a specialized, intensive production mode with large and small, point-to-face. That is to use a mold center to drive a number of small china mold factory and multiple process processing plants to form a large, strong, small and specialized production situation, each center has a professional focus, such as side molding factory, door molding factory, beam molding factory, etc. There are many rules for market segmentation, some will be divided according to different molding materials; some may be classified according to type of mold; some will be classified according to inner panel, outer panel and even body assembly.
These phenomena indicate that Chinese mold industry has seen a trend of specialized production and intensive production, which has helped us to promote this trend and continue to develop. We hoped that Chinese mold garden will be beautiful, flowers are fragrant, green leaves are green, and life is flourishing. Road to professional production of Chinese mold is long. As long as we keep going, we will see dawn of mold powerhouse. This is dream of our generation of mold people!

Gud Mould Industry Co., Ltd

World's five major mold-leading countries (regions)!

Recommended

Related