Construction Machinery: Having Core Competencies to Have a Future

It is reported that XCMG is currently acquiring two component manufacturers in Europe through its listed company XCMG. The acquisition plan is expected to be completed in July. According to industry sources, the two European companies acquired by Xugong Group have core technologies in the manufacturing of high-end hydraulic parts, which is precisely what domestic companies lack. In the core technology of key components, the speed of industrialization through independent research and development is too slow, and mergers and acquisitions in the case of foreign companies in a sluggish situation will be a faster way.

For a long time, in the aspect of high-pressure and large-flow hydraulic devices, the products of domestic parts and components companies are still difficult to meet the matching requirements of the host companies, which makes imports the only choice, especially on excavator products. However, the price is so expensive that the reality of “eaten 70% of the profits of the construction machinery industry” and the long-term passive control of people are clearly not acceptable to leading Chinese engineering machinery companies that have shown strong growth momentum. In this sense, Xu Gong’s current attempt should be only a phased achievement of China’s construction machinery companies’ implementation of overseas acquisitions.

Once, the supply period of German Rexroth to Chinese companies was 88 weeks. This means that Chinese companies need to decide their own hydraulic product purchases a year and a half in advance. It can be imagined that due to market uncertainty, such a contract involves a great deal of risk. However, when the global economy was severely affected by the financial crisis and market demand seriously shrunk, Rexroth asked Chinese companies to take delivery within four months, but did not mention it overdue, and the deposit was not refundable; when there was a gap in the supply of products, for delivery For the postponement, the amount of compensation is also determined by itself. These terms are unfavorable to the buyer. But this is the power of "monopoly products." It should be noted that the annual sales volume of Rexroth hydraulic products in the world exceeds the total output value of China's entire hydraulic industry. The domestic companies forced to help can only turn for the second best, so Kawasaki Corporation of Japan has a great market opportunity. However, due to the pulse-like fluctuations in the market, Kawasaki will always give priority to meet the matching needs of local host manufacturers every time demand peaks. Domestic companies are still feeling pressure. The same is true for Korean hydraulics companies, and their installations are also in short supply. I really don't know who the next lucky one is. So, can China's excavator's production be able to operate freely, isn't it entirely controlled by foreign hydraulic suppliers?

In fact, not only is China's construction machinery industry, but in many areas of equipment manufacturing, the lack of manufacturing capabilities of core components is widespread, but only to varying degrees. For example, high-end CNC systems and key functional components in the machine tool industry; spindles, high-specification bearings and gearboxes in the wind power industry; pumps and valves at the core of the nuclear power sector; and high-end automation systems and critical precision testing instruments at major projects In the field, there are few places for domestic products. This is the reason why China's manufacturing industry is often seen as a rising competitor, but its global competitiveness mainly comes from factors other than innovation.

It can be seen that in the equipment manufacturing industry, especially in the high-end equipment manufacturing industry, only with core manufacturing capabilities can the corresponding technological added value be obtained in order to reflect the high-end high-yield, in order to gradually gather real competitive advantages, and thus become respected. Global market competitors.

Are all the "Dutch disease" troubles?

The Chinese economy suffers from “Dutch disease” is a view held by some European and American economists. The Dutch disease (the Dutch disease) refers to a phenomenon in which a certain primary product sector in a country, especially a small and medium-sized economy, has boomed and led to the decline of other sectors. If objective and in-depth observation of the current industrial economic structure of China, especially the status quo of the manufacturing industry, it is not difficult to find that the Chinese industrial economy does indeed show the symptoms of "Dutch disease" to some extent. Indeed, long-term reliance on labor and foreign investment contributed to the miracle of China's economic growth, sharp increase in exports, and a large surplus in the balance of payments, and the economy has shown a prosperous picture. At present, China’s foreign exchange reserves have reached as much as US$3 trillion, making it the highest in the world.

At the same time, however, the deep processing and finishing industries with high technological content are not easy to develop; the prosperity of the resource industry (in China, which represents a sharp increase in the export of primary products and labor-intensive products) has come at the expense of other industries. Dragging down the entire national economic development; The sharp increase in exports has led to the appreciation of the national currency, weakening the competitiveness of the country’s economy in the international arena; The income gap of domestic residents has widened, and regional disparities will also widen due to the pros and cons of resource conditions. “Dutch disease” Several of the major symptoms have been shown in the Chinese economy. In other words, the growth of China’s economy has not brought about an increase in international competitiveness. At present, the reality of the "hollow" core technology of equipment manufacturing is a typical example.