industrial overlord

Chapter 662 Accessories Problem
The machine tool accessories mentioned by Hu Wei are just a general term, which actually includes more than a dozen categories of products such as cutting tools, measuring tools, digital display devices, CNC systems, machine tool accessories, fixtures, spindle functional parts, and rolling functional parts. Divide into hundreds of product subcategories.

For example, in the category of spindle functional components, there are products such as electric spindle unit, rolling support, oil film support, air film support, pressure oil source, automatic balancing system, etc., each of which has different specifications and models.

Naturally, it is impossible for all these products to be completely produced by the same enterprise.Most of the machine tool companies in the world adopt the method of outsourcing some parts, and they are only responsible for the complete machine.In fact, this division of labor is the most efficient, because in the hundreds of years of the development of the machine tool industry, the production of many parts has formed a relatively complete division of labor system.

Especially in those old industrial countries in Europe, there are quite a few companies that are only engaged in the production of accessories. Since they focus on making one product, it is easier for them to achieve a professional level.Machine tool companies all over the world purchase professional accessories from them. For some specific accessories, no one can do better than them.

The development of Chinese machine tool enterprises was greatly influenced by the Soviet model, and they did not pay much attention to specialization and division of labor. Traditionally, they formed a way of thinking of "big and complete" and "small and complete".That is, regardless of the size of the accessories, we should try our best to make them ourselves. Only products with a really high degree of specialization, such as bearings and motors, will be considered for outsourcing.

In the years when politics was in command, due to the influence of fragmentation, local protectionism and other factors, the cooperation among enterprises was more difficult. Therefore, each enterprise even developed self-support to the extreme under the banner of "self-renewal".It seems that as long as there is a gear that needs to be purchased from outside, there is a hidden danger of being "stuck".

With the development of market economy, the concept of division of labor and cooperation began to be slowly accepted by people.Especially those emerging township enterprises and private enterprises do not have complete supporting capabilities themselves, and can only solve the demand for accessories through the market.As for whether these accessories come from domestic or foreign countries, it is not a special issue that needs to be considered.

After more than ten years of development, Hanhua Machine Tool Co., Ltd. now has a full range of machine tool products including lathes, milling machines, drilling and boring machines, grinding machines, plug-and-pull planers, sawing machines, forging and casting machines.There are so many types of machine tools, and the accessories involved are also diverse. It is neither possible nor necessary to completely rely on yourself.

In particular, ball screws, precision bearings and other accessories used in high-end precision machine tools have a very high degree of specialization and cannot be produced casually.The performance and quality of these accessories have a great impact on the accuracy and service life of the machine tool. For such accessories, Hanhua has always adopted the method of outsourcing, and the objects of purchase are mainly professional accessories from western developed countries. manufacturer.

Here I need to talk about a misunderstanding. Some people see that Chinese companies purchase accessories from abroad, and they think this proves that China's technology is backward and cannot produce certain accessories.In fact, as a country that can send satellites into the sky, it is completely illogical that it cannot manufacture a pair of ball screws that meet the requirements.

The real reason is that the demand for such a lead screw itself is not large, and it can be easily bought in the international market. In this case, it is completely unnecessary to research and develop it yourself.A pair of screw or a set of bearings may not seem like a big deal, but there are so many kinds of accessories on machine tools. In this world, no country can guarantee the production of all these accessories.If you must say yes, then this country must be called "foreign", which is the general term for the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

When machine tool designers design machine tools, they always have a list of various accessories available in the international market in mind.They design a machine tool to use some kind of ball screw because the screw itself already exists and is available.If this kind of screw does not exist at all, or for some reason, the company cannot purchase this kind of screw, then the designer can generally find other alternatives.

In other words, when Chinese companies need to purchase Western accessories, the first reason is that such accessories do exist in the market and are available to Chinese companies.In an economics term, this is called Say's Law, which is the so-called "supply determines demand".Of course, this is a spoof of Say's Law. When Mr. Say said this law, he didn't aim at microscopic problems.

Hanhua's machine tools were initially low-grade and could only be sold to backward countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.This low-end machine tool market is not looked down upon by European powers. Therefore, Hanhua and its European counterparts are complementary in terms of product grades, and there is no direct competition.At that time, Hanhua purchased machine tool accessories from European companies, and did not need to worry about others getting stuck.

In recent years, Hanhua's technical level has been continuously improved, and its machine tool products have become more numerically controlled and more precise, and gradually began to touch the market of European companies, causing conflicts of interest with them.Hanhua uses parts from Europe to produce machine tool products that are cheaper than European manufacturers and even have better performance, and seize the market of European manufacturers, which is unacceptable to competitors.In this case, it is an inevitable choice for the other party to weaken Hanhua's competitiveness by interrupting or reducing the supply of accessories.

Seeing Hu Gui looking at him, Cen Youjun pressed the microphone in front of him and said, "The situation that Minister Hu said does exist. However, Zhenhua has long been prepared for this. Our machine tool company has not relaxed over the years. Efforts to localize accessories. The year before last, after Zhenhua came back from the Frankfurt exhibition, he conveyed that Khedira was lobbying other manufacturers to jointly curb Hanhua, which gave us a little more sense of urgency.

In the past two years, in addition to stepping up the research and development of key accessories, our machine tool company has also sent a large number of special research topics to domestic accessory manufacturers, universities, and scientific research institutes. Most of the localization of accessories has eliminated hidden dangers in the bud. "

Hu Wei also knew about the preparations Cen Youjun mentioned, but he didn't know the details.He asked: "Mr. Cen, do you estimate how much your production and sales will be affected if Western manufacturers completely cut off your parts supply?"

Cen Youjun said: "The impact is still quite large, mainly because some high-speed and precision CNC machine tools may be discontinued due to the supply of spare parts. I can't estimate the specific impact. In fact, the most important thing is not yet. It’s about losing some immediate orders, which may damage our brand image.”

Xiang Zhe said: "About this issue, we need to take a multi-pronged approach. First of all, you should try your best to communicate with European parts suppliers to persuade them to give up this extreme method. If necessary, you can consider raising some purchase prices, at least first. Gain some buffer time. Secondly, we must speed up the process of localization of accessories. As the saying goes, it is a mediocrity not to be envied by others. If we want to develop, we will definitely be envied by others. The key technical links must be in our own hands , we can have the initiative.”

Donnie Yen said nonchalantly: "These European companies, don't they take the WTO rules too seriously? Using the monopoly of accessories to conduct unfair competition is an act that violates business ethics. If everyone does this, the world will The industrial division of labor cannot be sustained at all.”

"Hehe, Zifei, are you angry again?" Lin Zhenhua said with a smile.Although Donnie Yen is a returnee, he is quite reckless, and he speaks outrageous words from time to time, which has the air of an angry youth.

"Why am I angry?" An angry youth never thought of himself as an angry youth, and Yen Zifei did the same. He stared and said, "What I'm saying is the truth. American companies don't have to worry about being blocked all the time like us. Whoever dares to If something like accessories is used to make things difficult for an American company, it will definitely take the other party to court, which is an obvious act of unfair competition."

Lin Zhenhua said: "That is in the United States, but we are talking about China. You have to know that in the eyes of Europeans, China has an original sin. The original sin is too large a population and a long history. Didn't Napoleon say that Well, China is a sleeping lion, and once it wakes up, it will shock the world. Now we are just waking up from the dream, and everyone regards us as an opponent worthy of attention. As for the WTO rules and the like, they are just one piece It’s just a fig leaf, and when the stakes are at stake, Western countries won’t care about rules or irregularities.”

"We can also take them to court, or file a complaint with the World Trade Organization." Donnie Yen suggested.

He Fei said: "Zi Fei, your idea is correct, but in reality, I am afraid it is not feasible. The other party can find various excuses to delay the supply to us. If we resort to WTO rules, it must be a problem. A protracted war of words. After the WTO ruling, I am afraid that our machine tool companies will have closed down."

"In your opinion, what should we do?" Zhen Zifei asked.

He Fei spread his hands: "I'm an amateur. Mr. Xiang just said that it is better to ask for help than to ask for oneself. To break the blockade of the West, we can only rely on ourselves, so we should speed up the localization of accessories. We can make it ourselves. If we don’t, others will do nothing to us.”

"But in this way, it is equivalent to us as a country competing with the entire Western camp. Isn't that too unfair?" Donnie Yen said.

Lin Zhenhua said: "Is there any way? This cannot be transferred by our will. However, Western countries are not monolithic. It can be seen from the events of the St. Tropez meeting that even among European companies , and blame each other, it is difficult to form an unbreakable alliance. As for us, we also have our advantages, that is, the nationwide system."

"National system..." Donnie Yen pouted, "This is a remnant of the planned economy. We are all a market economy now, and it is really outdated to have this kind of nationwide system."

Lin Zhenhua said: "You don't care what remains of it? As long as it can play a good role, it is a good system. Do you think European countries don't have a nationwide system? Humph, what they have is not just a nationwide system, it is a global system. It’s a system. Think about it, Western countries jointly impose high-tech restrictions on China, is this a kind of global system?”

"Uh..." Donnie Yen was dumbfounded by Lin Zhenhua.Isn't it true that Western countries have taken concerted action in terms of technological blockade against China.They always say that China is not a complete market economy country. Is the high-tech embargo against China in the form of law a manifestation of a market economy?
"Mr. Lin, regarding the issue of machine tool accessories, I'm afraid we really have to use this nationwide system." Hu Wei interjected, "With the strength of our Hanhua family, it is difficult to completely solve the research and development of so many accessories. The cooperation of the units is the only way. I think, do you have to work harder, run around those cooperative units that can be used, and mobilize everyone's strength together?"

"Oh, I'm so miserable." Lin Zhenhua complained exaggeratedly.In fact, he also knows that he is the only one who is most suitable for the whole Hanhua to coordinate work with other units, especially the central ministries and commissions, and others are not qualified at all.

"Mr. Lin, just make a trip there." Hu Wei didn't have the slightest awareness of being a subordinate, and directly assigned him a job for the chairman, "The Huaqing University is your old relationship, and they only recognize you. Your account. We have a lot of research on accessories, so it falls on them. Also, the Science and Industry Committee should have some cutting-edge technologies in their hands. If they can lend a helping hand, I estimate that more than half of our problems can be solved. .”

"There is also Xingbei Heavy Machinery. They will also have the same problems we encountered. As the largest machine tool companies in China, we need to unite to effectively deal with the blockade of European manufacturers. The Xingbei Heavy Machinery side Mr. Gu, I only care about your face." Xiang Zhe also added.

"Okay, I'll go to the capital tomorrow and visit the temple gates one by one." Lin Zhenhua agreed with a smile.

"Well, with Boss Lin stepping in, everything will be solved." Hu Wei patted Lin Zhenhua's flattery lightly, and then turned his gaze to the notebook in front of him, "The third method proposed by the other party is about Regarding the issue of technology patents, let’s discuss together to see how we can maintain the competitive advantage of our products when European manufacturers raise patent licensing fees in an all-round way..."

(End of this chapter)