The rise of Chinese companies forced Japanese mold companies to find additional value

Japan's mold industry is in trouble because of the hollowing out of domestic industries, the rise of China's mold industry and the impact of the economic downturn caused by the Lehman incident. In this context, the number of mold manufacturers in Japan has decreased from more than 8,000 in 2000 to more than 5,000 in 2008. Mold production has also fallen by half, from about 1 million units in 2002 to more than 500,000 units in 2009. .

In this environment, Japan's mold makers and machine tool manufacturers who have worked hard to get out of their difficulties and create new charm for customers are also eye-catching. This charm lies in 1 ultra-precision, 2 long life, 3 high speed in three aspects. This article will introduce the charm of Japanese molds through what we have seen and heard at the "INTERMOLD2010" venue.

Keywords are ultra-precision, long life, high speed

“Including freight, the price is only 60-70% of Japan.” At the mold processing technology exhibition “INTERMOLD2010”, Dalian Hongsheng Machine, a part processing and mold maker in Dalian, exhibited mold parts and Next to the introduction of the name of the exhibits and the simple performance of the card, the price is marked on the top. Being attracted by the low price of 30% or 40% lower than Japan's dies, "There are currently more than 10 Japanese companies having deals with us. Customers have been increasing in recent years" (Mr. Morita, general manager of the company).

Not only is the price cheap, but the level of China's mold technology is also rapidly improving. Employees of HunanBoyunDongfangPowderMetallurgy, who manufactures superhard alloy rods and uses their tooling molds, said: “The accuracy of Chinese molds is quite close to that of Japanese molds. There are even manufacturers that have produced zero surface roughness. Μm mold."

Boyun Dong has used raw materials with a fine particle size of 0.2 μm to 0.3 μm to develop a cemented carbide rod with high hardness and excellent flexural strength (bending strength) (Fig. 1). It can be used to manufacture drills and end mills that cut workpieces that are difficult to machine. It can also be used as a material for mold parts. In terms of performance, the Rockwell hardness (HRA) is 92.0, and the fracture resistance is 4GPa, which is no less than the products of Japanese cemented carbide manufacturers.

In addition, Boyun Dong also engages in the molding die business of motor rotors and supplies it to Japanese precision equipment companies. In order to suppress eddy currents that generate iron loss, a motor rotor is generally manufactured by laminating silicon steel plates having a thickness of only several tenths of a millimeter. It is technically very difficult to punch a thin and brittle silicon steel plate with a stamping process. Therefore, the company achieved excellent results in Japan with this tool. The price is "6 to 70% lower than Japanese manufacturers" (the company's employees).

Through the thorough management to make up for the strength gap

However, the strength of China's mold manufacturers is "variety." The president of a Japanese mold maker who is familiar with the situation of Chinese mold manufacturers warned: “There are quite a few Chinese companies that have taken samples with good accuracy, but mass production molds are completely inaccurate. More seriously, some Although Chinese manufacturers have the most advanced machine tools and say that they can 'manufacture with accuracy exceeding that of Japanese manufacturers', in reality, this is just a publicity slogan. After receiving the deposit, they will confuse it with 'not possible'.

Mr. Morita, general manager of Dalian Hongsheng Machinery Co., Ltd. added a condition when he said that China's mold technology strength is not inferior to Japan's. This means that experienced Japanese employees need technical guidance and management. Because he believes that "to give full responsibility to Chinese employees, there is a risk that quality cannot be maintained." Therefore, the company through the use of Japanese management personnel for thorough management, to ensure the accuracy and quality of the mold.

Finding Chinese mold manufacturers that are both technically and financially reliable and making full use of their low price advantage to reduce their own costs. This practice will expand in Japanese companies in the future.

If it is possible to purchase high-level molds from Chinese manufacturers at a low price, Japanese customers will of course request that molds purchased in Japan provide added value that Chinese molds cannot provide.

Japan's mold industry has fallen into a predicament due to the hollowing out of domestic industries, the rise of China's mold industry, and the economic downturn caused by the Lehman incident. As a result, the number of mold manufacturers in Japan decreased from more than 8,000 in 2000 to more than 5,000 in 2008. Mold production also fell by half, from about 1 million units in 2002 to more than 500,000 units in 2009. The number of mold manufacturers refers to the "Industrial Statistics" of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and the output refers to the "Machine Tool Statistics" of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.

In this environment, Japanese mold makers and machine tool manufacturers who are trying to get out of their difficulties and create new charm for their customers are very eye-catching. This kind of charm exists in three aspects: 1 ultra-precision, 2 long life, 3 high speed.