In recent years, due to various reasons of the mold industry, the development of the mold industry is facing many difficulties. It is not as easy to do as before, especially for the majority of workers. Wages can not rise, prices rise, purchasing power decreases, enterprises also have fierce competition, order prices go down, but employees' wages and prices go up. It is really difficult and unsatisfactory.
In the last decade, there are more and more graduates in the die & mould industry, with an annual growth rate of tens of thousands, leading to talent saturation and increased competitiveness. Especially for fresh graduates, it is difficult to find jobs. Tired, low wages, the key is that the future development prospects are not very clear, to the end, many people had to leave the industry.
As a mould man who has been struggling in the mould industry for more than ten years, I have deep feelings for the evolution of these years. Based on the location problem, it is impossible to thoroughly study these problems. After all, I am also in Shenzhen, so it is inevitable that I can't see the whole picture. Here I do some simple analysis from my personal perspective, hoping to help you, especially the new people who have just engaged in or will be engaged in the mold industry.
The above mentioned situation, most of the new people have doubts, mold industry is not down? Does die have a future? In the discussion of this problem, first analyze the mold in the entire manufacturing industry positioning, this problem naturally clear its prospects.
The role of mould in manufacturing industry
Mold is the mother of industry, now most of the products are produced with mold, only with mold can make the product achieve mass production, improve efficiency and reduce cost. There are also very few hand version or touted manual products that do not use or use less mold. Modern is a world of high-speed industrialization, there is no way to leave the mold. In other words, mold is one of the most important cornerstones in the industrial world, and it is an industry that can not be eliminated. Especially in the current era of rapid development of China's industrialization process, the mold industry is still a sunrise industry, is still an industry full of opportunities!
So, what happened to the mold industry in recent years? Why do many bosses complain that they can't earn money, and mold practitioners also complain that wages are not rising and jobs are hard to find? Why is that?
Development status of mould industry
There are several factors leading to the current predicament of the mold industry. First of all, the market environment. Since the financial crisis in 2008, the crisis has never left. In the first two years, because of the government's 4 trillion yuan, it still improved a little. In 2012, it was depressed again. These factors cause the manufacturing industry to encounter difficulties. As one of the core industries of the manufacturing industry, the mold industry will naturally be directly impacted, with reduced orders and profits. For people engaged in the mold industry, the income will be directly affected. Especially the Diaoyu Island incident in 2012, all the Japanese mold factories in the mold industry were affected more or less. In addition, in the overall world structure, the continuous economic downturn in Europe and the United States and other countries has directly affected our mold industry, because the mold industry with relatively high profits is basically export mold. If the export mold is less, the profits will be less. If the boss can't make money, his salary will not rise naturally. This is an external objective factor.
It is very difficult to change this factor in the short term. It is basically impossible. According to my recent newspaper and website speculation on the future economy, for a long time in the future, it will be difficult for the European and American economies to return to the previous vigorous growth. The gradual improvement can be expected, and it's very difficult to get to the top. Fortunately, the domestic environment is much better. In the long run, stable improvement is certain. The relative profit of domestic molds may not be as good as that of export molds. However, there is no way for the mold industry to take off the exorbitant profits. After all, except for monopoly industries, no industry can make huge profits for a long time.
The development of everything is cyclical. The current trough is only temporary. The overall trend of China's economy will not change. The difficulties caused by this will surely be eliminated in a short period of time in the future. Therefore, there is nothing to worry about this factor. In addition, the economic downturn will affect not only the mold industry but also the manufacturing industry. Most industries will be affected.
It is arbitrary to conclude that a certain industry will fail because of the overall environment. Unless the industry is completely dead or weak, it cannot be said so. After all, the mold industry is the basic industry. Mold to industry, just as catering to people's livelihood, are indispensable.
Subjective factors in the mold industry:
The first is the mould factory. In recent years, attracted by the explosive profits of the mould industry earlier, many practitioners in the mould industry have started their own businesses after they have accumulated certain technology, capital and contacts. They have changed from wage earners to bosses. As a result, large and small processing shops, mold factories and consumables shops have sprung up, and the number of mold companies has increased at a geometric multiple growth rate. From the perspective of personal development, it is naturally a good thing, but from the perspective of the industry as a whole, the original work done by one company has a higher profit. Now three companies are competing. In order to get orders, the price war is inevitable. You 10, I 8, you 8, I 5. That is to say, in this kind of shopping, the mold industry has finally changed from a profiteering industry to a medium profit or even low profit industry. In this fierce battle, different companies have embarked on different paths.
Some companies insist on quality and do not engage in price war. With the support of fixed customers and sufficient capital turnover, they gradually grow from small to large and finally become large companies. Some companies are short of these, so they choose price war on quality and price. In order to save cost, they have to compress equipment and labor. As a result, a vicious circle is formed. The quality is getting worse and worse, and the unit price is getting lower and lower. Finally, they close down. When a company closes down, there will often be a chain reaction, which will lead to several companies not receiving payment for goods, especially the larger companies. Because now the business between companies is usually monthly settlement, the normal procedure is good, and they can recover part of the debt. Some of the problems are as soon as the machine is sold and the payment for goods is received. We have seen a lot of such things.
In the relatively difficult period of these years, a large number of small enterprises with weak viability either expand and get on the right track or close down. Basically, those who can survive to the present have their own way. This is the tide of the business world, the survival of the fittest. Entrepreneurship is a good thing, the mold industry is easy to start a business is also to attract many people to join one of the characteristics. However, there are risks in starting a business. The success of a company is often based on the collapse of more companies. It's better to start a business after having a certain foundation in capital, contacts and technology, especially after having stable customers. It's often very difficult to spread the stall first and then find customers. If one is not careful, it will be difficult to continue if the capital chain is broken.
These are the subjective factors in the mold industry. The industry expands too fast, and even if the economy is prosperous, the competition will be fierce. Moreover, unfortunately, when the economy is depressed, the difficulties arise.
The above is the recent mold industry some of the status quo. Then let's talk about the future development expectations. I believe the majority of new people are more concerned about this.
Development expectation of mould industry
The first is the external environment, which we have to consider. It's only a matter of time before the economy recovers. There is nothing to worry about. After that, there will be a series of measures to stimulate the economy. As long as China's economy remains at about 8% a year, there will be nothing to worry about in the manufacturing industry and mold industry. Although profiteering is no longer, the door to entrepreneurship is also open to the vast number of ambitious people. It's just that the threshold will be higher than before. Time should not be more than two years, because this time is a half Bureau term, can not see the effect, the most urgent or national leaders Oh!
Then there is the internal environment. After several years of fierce competition, many poorly managed enterprises closed down, and the survivors naturally have their own way of survival. Only when there are stable customers, strong business, or excellent quality, and the company's management and technical force tend to be stable, can the company go through the running in period and enter the stable period. But also has a certain visibility.
Such a company, once the external environment improves, business volume increases, profit increase can be expected. Then according to their own business volume appropriate expansion. In terms of price, it will be much better than the current bloody war. After all, blindly fighting price war is not the king, and such a company will not survive for a long time. After the elimination of some enterprises, the situation has changed, so there is no need to engage in a price war.
The company's profits have increased, followed by an increase in workers' wages. In particular, senior technical personnel, such as: senior mold design engineer, senior programming, senior mold master, senior technicians of various posts, will have a lot of demand, because a company wants to stable development, such technical force is essential, in order to stabilize the staff, wages will also have a certain rise. There is no problem in increasing 20% to 30% from the current level.
Mold type problem
In the past, China's mold industry is mainly processing low-grade to medium-grade mold. There are not many high-end products, and they are basically exported. However, with the upgrading of equipment in China's mold industry and the mature cultivation of technical personnel, a large number of mold factories have the qualification and strength to manufacture high-end molds. Moreover, with a large number of companies putting the assembly of high-end products in China, there is more and more demand for high-end molds, so as to get rid of the demand for foreign molds to a certain extent Economic environment. I believe that in the near future, before China's total economy reaches the world's first, the technical strength of our mold industry will reach the world-class level ahead of time. After all, there is no first-class mold, is to do first-class products. Our mold industry will be one of the two core cornerstones for China's manufacturing industry to reach the world-class level. (another cornerstone is R & D, which will be discussed in the following article) and we mold people will be the executors of all this.
And then there is low-grade mold. Due to the continuous rise of wages, energy, rent and other factors (as long as there is no economic crisis, these improvements will not stop), the future survival of the company that has been making low-grade mold will be more and more difficult, and the meager profit is not enough to cope with the rise of various expenses. Later, along with the production of low-grade products, it will begin to move to economically underdeveloped areas, Southeast Asia and other areas with low energy and labor costs. Because the low-grade mold is originally made to match the production of low-grade products. The transfer of low-grade products, as the core part of the product manufacturing chain, will naturally follow the transfer, which is for sure.
At that time, made in China, which eliminated or reduced the products with high energy consumption, high pollution and low technology content, will no longer be the pronoun of low-grade, cheap and civilian products. It should be high-end, medium quality (high quality in some areas), cutting-edge fashion, real price, and so on. This is certain, because it is impossible for a country that always produces low-grade products to climb the top of the world. The rise of China is irresistible, the transformation of manufacturing industry is irresistible, so is our mold industry.
Specific analysis of the development trend of future mold
There are several development directions for the future mold development
1. High precision
The accuracy of the size is the most important factor in manufacturing high-precision, high-quality and high-tech products. The best ones used to be Japan, Germany. With decades of continuous learning and innovation, a large number of companies specializing in high-precision mold manufacturing have emerged in China's mold industry.
To do high-precision mold, there are two main elements, one is equipment, one is talent. With the rapid increase in the number of high-end equipment in China, this is no longer a problem. There are also talents. Many of them start businesses from foreign capital or joint ventures, or they are bosses or supervisors. They compete with their old owners by virtue of the technology they have learned. At present, there is still a certain distance between China and foreign countries in the most sophisticated field. However, we can imagine that with our catching up, this distance will be even in the near future, which is beyond! It's just a matter of time. After all, the manufacturing industry is also the embodiment of a country's comprehensive national strength, especially a big country. A big country with backward manufacturing industry is deformed and unstable. Especially in a country with a large population like ours. What's more, such high-end manufacturing industry can be converted into the production of military supplies at any time in wartime. It is also an important part of a country's war potential, and the country can't ignore it.
2. High efficiency
High automation. With the popularization of all kinds of automatic equipment (mainly manipulator) for mold production, and the improvement of intelligent degree of standard parts inside the mold (mainly hot runner), the efficiency of mold production is higher and higher, and will develop towards a higher and better realm. In this process, the requirements for mold designers will be higher and higher. At that time, mold designers can not only understand the automation equipment, but also participate in the design.
Not only that, in the process of design, the requirement of cycle will be higher and higher, which requires the quality of mold designers also need to be constantly improved.
At the same time, in this process, it is a big blow to the general workers' Union of the injection molding plant. Because of the mechanization, so many workers are no longer needed. There will be fewer and fewer employees in the injection molding plant. Even like enterprises in developed countries, there are only a few people in a factory, and then there are all machines and computers. In other words, in the future of highly mechanized development, the term "general worker" may also disappear. After the factory, there are only three kinds of people: managers, technicians and robots.
3. New mould
With the continuous progress of technological innovation, many of the original need to be very complex, very tortuous way to achieve the mold can become very simple. There are also many structures that were originally considered impossible. These are new opportunities and challenges for the mold industry. Specifically, they are opportunities and challenges for mold designers. Mold factories that master these new mold design and manufacturing technologies will have more initiative. Mastering the high and new technology of mould needs profound design and manufacturing background. The rich profits of these new moulds will be well rewarded. For this reason, we have invested a lot of money in the company, and these high and new technologies also become the famous resources of the company, and strive for the chips of higher quality customers!
Give a few simple examples of mold types that have appeared in recent years: four sides rotating ejection mold, plastic products sliding mold after secondary injection molding, injection and stamping integrated mold, high-speed continuous stamping mold (I have plastic mold background, I don't know much about stamping mold, I hope to have some friends' advice in this field) and so on. All can have the breakthrough and the innovation in these domains the mold factory will therefore obtain more repayment!
Price war is always a low-level behavior, which compresses everyone's living space, and the final result is nothing more than the same death. The price war of shopping is not as good as the technical war and the quality war. As long as you are superior in technology and quality, even if your price is higher, there are a lot of customers flocking to it. This is called brand! Moreover, if enterprises are going to give priority to technology and quality, the salary increase of high-tech talents can be expected!
Mold, always rely on technology and quality to speak of the industry ah!
4. Product development and mold integration
This trend is also inevitable, this change is more than the assembly line instead of all-round mold master can affect the manufacturing mode of a change. In short, it's the mold