We still need to be cautious when dealing with imported machine tools

In recent years, with the significant improvement of the technical level of China's machine tool industry, the industry as a whole has achieved rapid and rapid development. However, the only drawback is that in terms of high-end CNC products, there is a heavy reliance on imports. Therefore, for the domestic machine tool industry, it is extremely urgent to accelerate the adjustment of the industrial structure and achieve autonomy. On the other hand, when it comes to imported machine tools, we should also treat them rationally.

A batch of Italian imported machine tools was returned due to quality problems

Recently, the Zhuji Office of Shaoxing Inspection and Quarantine Bureau issued inspection certificates for a batch of three imported laser cutting machines from Italy, successfully helping the enterprise return the goods, involving a value of 1.05 million yuan. This batch of imported laser cutting machines had quality issues with key components during the warranty period, mainly manifested as the laser tube power being lower than the normal value and the galvanometer lens not working. After inspection, it was confirmed to be a quality problem. As free warranty cannot be provided in China, it can only be coordinated with the manufacturer to directly return the goods. They will be sent back to China after being repaired.

It is reported that although Italian manufacturers offer a two-year warranty period, after the machine has quality problems, it often takes 4 to 5 months from technical confirmation to transportation and then to maintenance abroad. Moreover, the price of the embroidery machine equipped with a laser cutting machine is 3 to 4 times that of an ordinary embroidery machine. Once the laser machine is damaged, it can only be shut down, causing huge losses to the user.

The occurrence of this incident has also served as a wake-up call for the relevant personnel in China's machine tool industry. We should still be rational when dealing with imported machine tools.

The decline in imports of major machine tool varieties narrowed

At the "9th China International Machine Tool Exhibition" held in Shanghai, according to statistics from the China Machine Tool Builders' Association, compared with the whole of last year, the import decline of metal-cutting machine tools and metalworking machine tools in China narrowed by 10.9 and 7.7 points respectively from January to February. These two types of machine tools are the largest economic scale sub-sectors in China's machine tool industry.

The total sales volume of the machine tool market in 2015 was 275, a decrease of 13.5% compared with the previous year. Imported machine tools accounted for 31.3%, and the total import volume decreased by 20.4% compared with the previous year.

Chen Hui-ren, executive vice chairman and secretary-general of the China Machine Tool Builders' Association, said that the structural changes in China's machine tool imports deserve special attention. On the one hand, it shows that some Chinese machine tool enterprises are reconfiguring their competitiveness and transforming and upgrading their industries by importing advanced technologies and equipment. On the other hand, the decline in imports has narrowed significantly. Perhaps it implies that the markets of related sub-sectors will bottom out and stabilize first, which in turn will drive an improvement in the overall industry trend.

In the past, China's machine tool industry was accustomed to manufacturing mid-to-low-end standard general-purpose single machine products in large quantities, resulting in a serious oversupply of homogeneous products. With the changes in the market, the demand structure is accelerating its upgrading, presenting three major characteristics: automated complete sets, customized customization, and general gear shifting and upgrading. Chen Huirun said.

Five Misunderstandings about the concept of "internationalization" development

Misconception 1: Internationalization must start with marketing. Enterprises not only need to start from product marketing and service output, but also need to absorb advanced foreign technologies, international management experience, etc.

Misconception 2: Internationalization is more important than domestic. Machine tool enterprises should not neglect the domestic market in order to thrive in the international market. Chinese machine tool enterprises have yet to truly win in the domestic market, which is the biggest obstacle to their international operations.

Misconception 3: Mergers and acquisitions are the path to internationalization. Appropriate international mergers and acquisitions, if operated properly, may be a feasible way to give full play to complementary advantages, learn from each other's strengths to offset weaknesses and achieve a win-win situation. However, cross-border mergers and acquisitions also hide huge risks, especially the integration risks after the mergers and acquisitions.

Misconception Four: Pursuing full internationalization in business operations. In the initial stage, machine tool enterprises carry out international business based on their core resources and comparative advantages, and then continuously expand and extend the industrial chain, enhance their comprehensive competitiveness, develop from specialized operation to comprehensive operation, and transform from single product and service providers to comprehensive product and service providers.

Misconception Five: The localization of international brands in China or the internationalization of Chinese brands. There are three situations to pay attention to: First, being eager for brand replacement, that is, being eager to attach a Chinese "brand" after the merger and acquisition; Second, there is a rush to transform foreign brands into Chinese ones, lacking a reasonable transitional space. Thirdly, it is believed that Chinese brands or well-known Chinese trademarks are global brands.