Interpretation of "Made in China 2025": Promoting the Development of High-End CNC Machine Tools

　　“Made in China 2025” lists numerically controlled machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment as “strategic areas for accelerated breakthroughs”, proposing to strengthen forward-looking deployment and key technological breakthroughs, actively planning to seize future technological and industrial competition manufacturing points, and improve the level and voice of international division of labor. The proposal of this strategic goal is determined by the strategic characteristics and development stage characteristics of the numerically controlled machine tool and basic manufacturing equipment industry, which we should carefully study and understand, and thoroughly implement.

　　I. Numerically controlled machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment have strategic and indispensable industrial characteristics

　　1. Anchoring China's global competitive position in equipment manufacturing

　　Numerically controlled machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment are the "mother machines" of the equipment manufacturing industry. The technological level and product quality of a country's machine tool industry are important indicators to measure the development level of its equipment manufacturing industry. “Made in China 2025” lists the numerically controlled machine tool and basic manufacturing equipment industry as one of the strategic areas for China's manufacturing industry. The main reason is that it has an "anchoring" effect on the position of a country's manufacturing industry, especially the equipment manufacturing industry, in international division of labor: numerically controlled machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment are the foundation of value creation in manufacturing and the fulcrum of industrial upgrading, and the core of the basic manufacturing capabilities. Only by possessing solid basic manufacturing capabilities can advanced equipment products be produced, thus achieving the production of high-value products.

　　2. Supporting the strategic needs of national defense and industrial security

　　In terms of national defense security, numerically controlled machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment have strategic significance beyond economic value for manufacturing advanced national defense equipment. Many key components in modern national defense equipment have certain particularities and processing difficulties in terms of materials, structure, and processing technology. Ordinary processing equipment and traditional processing technologies cannot meet the requirements. Multi-axis linkage, high-speed, and high-precision numerically controlled machine tools must be used to meet the processing requirements. Even in today's global integration, developed countries still impose technological blockades and restrictions on China. In terms of industrial security, with the acceleration of domestic manufacturing upgrades, the competition between high-tech and high value-added industries represented by the equipment manufacturing industry and developed countries is intensifying. Engineering machinery, electrical machinery, and transportation equipment are in the critical period of entering the international high-end market, while domestic machine tool products still have certain gaps in processing accuracy, reliability, efficiency, automation, intelligence, and environmental protection, resulting in weak overall industrial competitiveness.

　　3. Important support for the transformation and upgrading of user fields

　　Currently, the demand structure of downstream users in the machine tool industry shows a trend of high-end development. Many industries will carry out large-scale and in-depth structural adjustments and upgrades, and the demand for high-quality and high-tech machine tool products is urgent. Overall, the demand for medium and high-end numerically controlled machine tools is rising rapidly, and users need more high-speed, high-precision, composite, flexible, multi-axis linkage, intelligent, high-rigidity, and high-power numerically controlled machine tools. For example, the automotive industry shows a development trend of producing large quantities, multiple varieties, and rapid model updates. The development of new energy vehicles is accelerating, requiring processing equipment to continuously develop towards precision, efficiency, and intelligence. In the aerospace industry, with the sharp increase in the demand for civil aircraft and the cross-generational development of military aircraft, new-generation aircraft are developing towards lightweight, high reliability, long life, high stealth, multi-configuration, rapid response, and low-cost manufacturing. New-generation technologies urgently need more advanced processing equipment to support them, and aerospace manufacturing equipment is developing towards automation, flexibility, digitalization, and intelligence. For example, in the "two-machine special project" committed to breakthroughs in aircraft engine manufacturing, typical parts such as engine blades, entire engine casings, and rotors are gradually developing towards larger sizes, more complex surfaces, lighter weight, and more precise manufacturing, especially the large-scale application of new lightweight materials such as high-strength, high-temperature-resistant alloys. The geometric configurations of these integral structural parts are complex and difficult to process, placing new and higher demands on large-torque, high-precision numerically controlled machine tools. The portability or mobile multi-axis linkage numerically controlled equipment required for the on-site repair of large structural parts and large equipment of gas turbines poses a greater challenge to the structural design, process specifications, and high-efficiency processing technology of new numerically controlled equipment. This processing method, which uses small machine tools with no fixed base and reconfigurable assembly to process large workpieces, poses a greater challenge to the structural design, process specifications, and high-efficiency processing technology of new numerically controlled equipment.

　　4. A strategic highland for the new technological revolution

　　The elements of intelligent manufacturing, energy internet, and new generation information technology innovation contained in the new round of technological revolution provide the driving force for technological breakthroughs in China's equipment manufacturing industry, and also provide a huge market for the equipment manufacturing industry, especially the high-end equipment manufacturing industry. The machine tool industry is an important intersection of information technology and industrial technology, and the industry itself is highly sensitive to new technologies and is also a major source of new technology diffusion. Driven by the wave of the new technological revolution, the integration and innovation trend of the machine tool industry is obvious. World-leading enterprises are accelerating the integration of new technologies into the machine tool industry, and network technology and intelligent technology are accelerating the integration and application into machine tool products. More and more internationally renowned machine tool component and complete machine enterprises are accelerating the integration and application of new technologies in numerically controlled machine tools.

　　5. A strategic fulcrum for the adjustment of the global manufacturing landscape

　　Entering the post-crisis era, developed economies have paid attention to the development of their own real economies: either continuously promoting the integrated development of emerging technologies to promote the high-end development of industrial technologies; or by restructuring the industrial chain, allowing more high value-added production and manufacturing links and matching jobs to return to their home countries. The United States has successively proposed to implement the "Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Plan" and the "National Strategy Plan for Advanced Manufacturing" to develop advanced manufacturing and technology; Germany has proposed the development blueprint of Industry 4.0, aiming to develop German Industry 4.0 with CPS as the core and smart factories as the carrier, and positioning it as a technological platform for the new round of industrial revolution; Japan has announced an industrial structure blueprint, identifying 10 cutting-edge technology fields and using this as a basis to strengthen domestic manufacturing; the UK, South Korea, India, and Taiwan have also put forward positive strategies and policies to promote the accelerated integration of emerging technologies in equipment industries such as numerically controlled machine tools. The machine tool industry has always been an important strategic layout point for major countries and leading enterprises. In the future adjustment of the manufacturing landscape, especially for high-strategic industries such as global automobiles, aerospace, and high-end equipment manufacturing, the machine tool industry is an important strategic fulcrum, playing an important role in the future competitiveness leverage. China should strengthen its attention to the machine tool industry, deploy key strategic areas in advance, and strive for a favorable position in global manufacturing competition.

　　II. The trend of industrial upgrading is obvious

　　1. Break through key core technologies and form a number of iconic products

　　In the aviation field, independently developed 800MN large-scale die forging presses and 120MN aluminum alloy plate tension stretching machines, filling the gap in the domestic aviation field's integral forming technology for large and critical parts, and providing strong support for the cross-generational development of military aircraft and the development of large aircraft. Among them, the 800MN large-scale die forging press has achieved integral forming of more than 30 types of titanium alloy key parts in the aviation field, and the 120MN aluminum alloy wide and thick plate tension stretching machine has produced high-quality aluminum alloy thick plates that have been applied to the main load-bearing structural parts such as aircraft wings, getting rid of China's complete dependence on imports of aluminum alloy thick plates for large aircraft.

　　In the automotive manufacturing field, large-scale, fast, efficient, numerically controlled, fully automatic stamping production lines have won bulk orders for production lines in American automotive factories in international bidding with world-class enterprises, and have been recognized and respected by international counterparts. Currently, the domestic market share of automotive cover stamping lines exceeds 70%, and the global market share exceeds 30%, effectively promoting the independent development of domestic automotive equipment.

　　In the field of power generation equipment, a 36,000-ton black vertical metal extrusion press has enabled the independent production of domestically produced high-end heat-resistant steel large-diameter thick-walled seamless steel pipes used in 1000MW ultra-supercritical thermal power units; large-scale opening and closing heat treatment equipment has produced Asia's largest nuclear power integral rotor forging, forming a batch production capacity for large rotors; ultra-heavy-duty CNC vertical turning and milling composite machine tools, CNC heavy-duty bridge-type gantry five-axis linkage turning and milling composite machine tools, ultra-heavy-duty CNC floor-type milling and boring machine tools, ultra-heavy-duty CNC horizontal boring machine tools, and special CNC axial wheel slot milling machine tools developed for the nuclear island and conventional island equipment of the third-generation nuclear power plants have solved the processing problems of nuclear power pressure vessels and baskets, heat exchangers, turbine casings, and generator rotors, and have been installed and used in multiple nuclear power equipment.

　　2. Product structure optimization and adjustment, steady improvement of technical level

　　First, the level of mid-to-high-end equipment has rapidly improved. Currently, more than 10 types of equipment, such as large-scale automotive body panel automatic stamping lines, have reached the internationally leading level and can completely replace imports. More than 20 types of products, such as high-speed gantry five-axis machining centers, have basically reached the internationally advanced level and have the ability to replace imported products. Precision horizontal machining centers have formed core technologies of independent intellectual property rights and flexible manufacturing systems. High-speed and composite high-end CNC machining centers have completed phased research and development, but there is still a certain gap with the internationally advanced level in terms of function, performance, and reliability. Second, the CNC system has moved up a notch. China has made significant progress in the research and development of mid-to-high-end CNC systems. Since 2010, a cumulative total of more than 35,000 domestically produced mid-to-high-end CNC systems have been used in key fields such as aerospace, energy, shipbuilding, and automobiles, replacing imports. Multi-channel, multi-axis linkage, and other high-performance CNC system series products have broken foreign technology monopolies, and their main technical indicators have basically reached the level of international mainstream high-end CNC systems, realizing supporting various high-speed and precision CNC machine tools. High-end CNC systems have been used in small batches in key military enterprises. The developed standard CNC systems have achieved mass production, and the domestic market share has increased from 10% to 25%. Several industrialization production bases have been formed, among which Guangzhou CNC Equipment Co., Ltd. has formed an annual production capacity of 100,000 CNC systems of various types, ranking second in the world. China's CNC systems have initially possessed the competitiveness of similar foreign products and have achieved mass exports of CNC systems. From 2010 to 2014, a cumulative total of more than 9,600 CNC systems of various types were exported, including nearly 700 five-axis linkage CNC systems. Finally, the quality level of functional component products has steadily improved, and the variety and series have been continuously improved. Domestic functional components have achieved batch matching with machine tool mainframes; tool products have basically acquired the ability to provide modern cutting tools for the automotive industry. The application demonstration and batch matching of CNC systems, functional components, and tools with CNC machine tool mainframes will help form a complete industrial chain and promote the structural adjustment of the machine tool industry.

　　3. Significant improvement in independent innovation, ensuring sustainable development

　　In recent years, research on the basic and common technologies of machine tool manufacturing has been continuously strengthened, and product development and technological research have been promoted simultaneously. The maturity of several key technologies, such as the reliability design and performance testing technology of machine tool products and multi-axis linkage processing technology, has been greatly improved. The research results of digital design technology have been practically applied in the design of products such as high-precision CNC coordinate boring machines and vertical machining centers; multi-error real-time dynamic comprehensive compensation and embedded CNC system error compensation software and hardware systems have been demonstrated in multiple enterprises and multiple products, significantly improving the precision of CNC machine tools.

　　III. The high-end development of the industry still has a long way to go

　　China's machine tool industry occupies an important position in the world machine tool industry system and the global machine tool market, but it cannot yet be considered a machine tool power. Compared with the world's machine tool powers, China's machine tool industry still has a certain gap, especially in the weak competitiveness of mid-to-high-end machine tools. In addition, affected by the complex domestic and international economic situation, the development of China's machine tool industry has returned to the new normal, and the urgent need for the industry to transform and upgrade to the mid-to-high end is urgent.

　　1. International competitiveness needs to be improved

　　According to statistics from the consulting agency Gardener, in the world machine tool consumption market, in 2014, China's machine tool exports amounted to US$3.3 billion, accounting for less than 5% of the world's total machine tool consumption; while Japan and Germany both accounted for more than 10%. At the same time, a considerable part of the mid-to-high-end CNC machine tools urgently needed domestically rely on imports, such as the import equipment in the automotive field accounting for more than 40%.

　　2. The development of key components of the machine tool industry urgently needs to be strengthened

　　Domestic functional components cannot meet the requirements of host matching in terms of variety, quantity, and grade; the market share of domestically produced mid-range matching functional components still needs to be improved; high-end products largely rely on imports. The competitiveness of supporting functional component industries needs to be rapidly improved.

　　3. Process verification and demonstration application need to be strengthened

　　From prototype development to actual production application of CNC machine tools, a large number of experiments need to be conducted to verify manufacturing processes, reliability and precision retention, and engineering, and continuous improvement is needed, and users also need to provide process verification. Process verification and application demonstration are also a shortcoming in the development of China's CNC machine tool industry.

　　4. The pressure on industrial development remains high

　　Global machine tool production and consumption continue to show a shrinking trend. According to data released by the US Gardner company, in 2014, the global machine tool consumption amounted to US$75.3 billion, an increase of only 0.3% compared with 2013, and global machine tool production has declined for three consecutive years. In 2014, the global machine tool output value was US$81.2 billion, a decrease of 3.1% compared with 2014. China's CNC machine tool industry is also under continuous pressure and is generally in a downward trend. In 2014, the domestic output of metal processing machine tools decreased by 2% year-on-year, of which the output of metal cutting machine tools decreased by 1.7% year-on-year, and the output of metal forming machine tools decreased by 3.3% year-on-year. At the same time, the domestic demand for imported machine tools has increased instead of decreased. In 2014, the total import value of machine tools was US$17.78 billion, an increase of 10.8% year-on-year, of which the import value of metal processing machine tools was US$10.83 billion, an increase of 7.6% year-on-year. This shows that the domestic machine tool industry cannot meet the high-end needs of enterprises, and the domestic machine tool industry is suffering from the double superposition of cyclical pressure and structural pressure, and urgently needs to find new breakthroughs in development.

　　IV. Accelerate the promotion of the strategic thinking of the industry's great transformation and strengthening

　　1. Promote the focus of advantageous resources on development

　　Based on improving the independent innovation ability and market competitiveness of domestically produced CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment, promote the focus of advantageous resources on the two major fields of aerospace and automobiles, focusing on core equipment and key technologies, and focusing on solving key technical bottlenecks such as the performance reliability, stability, and integrity of research and development equipment.

　　2. Promote the demonstration application of advanced products

　　Increase investment in the construction of application verification and demonstration bases for representative user needs and the ability to concentrate on verifying key technologies and core equipment of machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment, selectively support market-oriented projects with strong integrity, high flexibility, and intelligence, and focus on solving the efficiency and intelligence of equipment.

　　3. Meet the new needs of national strategies

　　Accelerate the development of CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment to meet the needs of national strategic development, further focusing on core equipment for key national projects, developing major products, and breaking through key technologies. Strive to improve the technological level of CNC equipment and break the constraints of relying on imports for strategic national equipment.

　　4. Build a complete machine tool supporting industrial chain

　　Encourage and support the establishment of long-term and stable strategic partnerships between related units in the industrial chain, such as CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment hosts, CNC systems, and functional components. Establish long-term supporting relationships between CNC system and functional component companies and machine tool companies to build a complete supporting industrial chain for CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment.