Qiaotian Intelligent Observation: The localization of robots and core components is accelerating

On April 1, the four-day 2023 ITES Shenzhen Industrial Exhibition ended in Shenzhen World Exhibition&Convention Center, and more than 1300 enterprises appeared at the exhibition. As a robot terminal application equipment service provider, Qiaotian Intelligent's portable quick change disc series, industrial connector series, and zero point positioning system have appeared at this exhibition, attracting the attention and favor of hundreds of customers.

Qiaotian Intelligent Observation: The localization of robots and core components is accelerating

It is reported that China's traditional industries have a large scale, accounting for over 80% of the manufacturing industry. Traditional industries are the foundation of modern industrial systems, so the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries directly affect the overall construction of modern industrial systems. Currently, the implementation of flexible production in the manufacturing industry is accelerating, and robots, as the core equipment of flexible production, are accelerating the comprehensive layout of "people for machines".

50% of industrial robots are applied in the automotive manufacturing industry, and new energy vehicles have become the main driving force in the industry

The ease of use, intelligence, and automation advantages of industrial robots make them widely used in the industrial manufacturing industry, covering processes such as handling, welding, cutting, assembly, polishing, and spraying. As a relatively complex manufacturing process industry, the automotive manufacturing industry has the widest range of applications, the highest application standards, and the best application maturity. In China, 50% of industrial robots are used in the automotive manufacturing industry, with over 50% being welding robots.

According to the statistics of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China increased year by year from 2015 to 2022, with a very rapid growth rate from 2021 to 2022. Among them, in 2021, the production of new energy vehicles in China was 3.545 million, a year-on-year increase of 159.5%; The sales volume was 3.521 million units, a year-on-year increase of 157.5%. In 2022, the production of new energy vehicles was 7.058 million units, a year-on-year increase of 96.9%; The sales volume was 6.887 million units, a year-on-year increase of 93.4%. Benefiting from the demand driven by the new energy and new energy vehicle industries, the demand for industrial robots in China has significantly increased, and the number of robot installations has steadily increased.

The production process and process of new energy vehicles include 19 hot core processes, including stirring, coating, rolling, slicing, winding/laminating, welding, drying, assembly, liquid injection, formation and volume separation in the front process of batteries, as well as sorting, gluing, welding, tightening, testing, overall line planning, PACK design, high energy density, safety management, and lightweight technology in the rear process. Due to the complexity and variety of processes, the automation and flexibility of industrial robots can be maximized. At the same time, due to the efficiency requirements of the production line, how to maintain continuity and efficiency when switching between different processes makes robot end application equipment a crucial last mile.

As a robot terminal application equipment service provider, Qiaotian Intelligent's customer distribution in the automotive field in 2022 is more than 50% focused on new energy vehicle OEMs. The application conditions include spot welding for handling, high-frequency signals for plastic parts welding, and gas transmission.

China is the world's largest and fastest growing robot market, with core components accelerating localization

China is the world's largest and fastest-growing robot market, with a global robot market size of 51.3 billion US dollars in 2022, including 19.5 billion US dollars for industrial robots, 21.7 billion US dollars for service robots, and 10.1 billion US dollars for special robots. The average growth rate from 2017 to 2022 reached 14%. At the same time, China has the world's richest robot product line, covering three important fields: industrial, civilian, and national defense.
At present, the robot market is in a window period of rapid development, but due to the first mover advantage of international brand robots, domestic brands are fully catching up. Taking the 2023 Shenzhen Industrial Exhibition as an example, many domestic robot manufacturers have made efforts to release new products with technological barriers and innovation. At the same time, benefiting from the wave of Digital transformation in the manufacturing industry, robots are also developing iteratively in the direction of miniaturization, lightweight, flexibility and intelligence. For example, the collaborative application of robots with sensors such as robot vision, force sensing, and tactile sensing.
In addition, the core components of robots are also accelerating their localization. In the past, due to the long-term monopoly of foreign brands and technical barriers, the proportion of localization in this segmented field has always been low. In recent years, with the rapid development of the domestic robot market, the proportion of localization of robots and their core components has been increasing year by year.

Taking the Qiaotian quick change disc product as an example, since its establishment and development in 2016, the company has been focusing on independent research and development in the field of robot end segmentation and domestic substitution opportunities. After 6 years of accumulation and layout, we have served a total of 2500 manufacturing customers and received recognition and sustained orders from multiple industry leaders, including BYD, Ningde Times, Midea, China Aerospace, KUKA, ABB, FANUC, Yaskawa, Baosteel, and other industry leaders.

summary

In the past 20 years, China has always been a key downstream link in the global manufacturing industry chain, that is, to integrate the upstream and downstream supply chains of the manufacturing industry by using labor demographic dividend, land resources and a good business environment. But for the core equipment in the manufacturing industry, including early control equipment for core processes such as PLC and CNC, there is no independent research and development accumulation and control, and most high-end equipment still relies on imported European and American brands.

The realization of a strong manufacturing country cannot be simply achieved through digitization and software, but through comprehensive mastery and control of the underlying hardware equipment and core processes. Therefore, the localization opportunities in the robotics industry are both opportunities and challenges for all domestic brands. We also look forward to more domestic brands continuing to innovate and significantly increase the application proportion of domestically produced equipment and core components in the manufacturing industry.