Analysis of the development status and prospects of China's mold industry

First, it has entered the ranks of mold manufacturing countries, but it is not a mold power.

Since the beginning of the new century, China's mold sales have grown at an annual rate of around 20%. In 2006, mold sales reached RMB 72 billion, ranking third in Japan and the US; mold exports exceeded US$1 billion. China's mold production plants, points reached about 30,000, employing nearly 1 million people. All of these indicate that China's mold industry has a considerable scale.

However, China now imports more than $2 billion in molds from overseas each year. These are mostly high-end molds that cannot be produced in China. The self-matching rate of domestic medium and high-grade molds only accounts for about 50%; large, precise, complex, long-life and other high-tech molds account for only about 30% of the total mold. The labor productivity of China's mold industry is still low, with an average of only 150,000 yuan / person per year; China's mold commercialization rate is only 50% (developed countries more than 70%); mold standard parts use coverage is also low Only about 50%; the level of specialization in mold production is still low. All of these indicate that China's mold industry is not strong enough, and China is not a mold power.

Second, the level of mold products has been greatly improved, but the gap is still very large.

In recent years, the design and manufacturing level of Chinese molds has been greatly improved. New technologies such as CAD/CAE/CAM and other computer-aided technologies, high-speed processing technology, hot runner technology, gas-assisted technology, and reverse engineering have been widely used.

Now, China has been able to produce multi-station progressive die with an accuracy of 2 microns and a service life of more than 300 million cycles. The multi-station progressive die produced by individual companies can be used on high-speed punching machines of 2000 times/min with an accuracy of 1 micron.

In terms of large-scale plastic molds, China has been able to produce plastic molds for 43-inch large-screen color TVs and 65-inch rear-projection TVs, complete plastic molds for 10 kg large-capacity washing machines, and plastic molds such as automobile bumpers and integral instrument panels.

In terms of precision plastic molds, China has been able to produce molds for camera and mobile phone plastic parts, multi-cavity small-modulus gear molds and 7800-cavity plastic molds with a precision of 5 μm.

In terms of large-scale precision and complex die-casting molds, domestically produced escalator integrated pedal die-casting molds, automotive rear axle gearbox die-casting molds, and casting molds for automobile engine casings have been produced.

In terms of automotive panel parts, China has been able to produce cover molds for mid-range new cars.

Radial tire active molds, aluminum alloy and plastic door and window profile extrusion molding die, precision casting or resin rapid forming drawing die have also reached a very high level, and the manufactured mold can be comparable to imported molds.

The largest set of molds produced in China has exceeded 100 tons.

However, in general, the manufacture of molds in China is mainly based on medium and low grades. Many medium and high-grade molds rely on imports. Although enterprises attach importance to the promotion and application of new technologies, the application level of these new technologies is not high enough. The level of China's mold products is generally 10 to 15 years away from the developed countries.