The concept of "intelligent manufacturing equipment" has received extensive attention both within and outside the manufacturing industry since it was first explicitly proposed as a development priority in the "Decision of The State Council on Accelerating the Cultivation and Development of Strategic Emerging Industries" in 2010. The "Twelfth Five-Year Development Plan for the Intelligent Manufacturing Equipment Industry" promulgated in 2012 clearly defined intelligent manufacturing equipment as "a general term for all types of manufacturing equipment with perception, decision-making and execution functions". Intelligent manufacturing equipment, as a key development direction of the high-end equipment manufacturing industry and an important manifestation of the deep integration of informatization and industrialization, is the necessary material condition for achieving intelligent manufacturing processes and also the core carrier of intelligent manufacturing. As industrialized countries around the world increasingly emphasize technological innovation, the development of intelligent manufacturing equipment has become the focus of global competition.

With the intelligent upgrading and transformation of the manufacturing industry, China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has shown rapid growth. In 2022, 83,900 new related enterprises were added to China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the current scale of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has exceeded 3.2 trillion yuan, with a market satisfaction rate of over 50%. More than 2,500 digital workshops and smart factories have been built. The revenue of industrial software products has exceeded 240 billion yuan, and there are over 140 system solution providers with a main business income of 1 billion yuan.

Policy support for the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry

The state attaches great importance to the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry and has introduced a series of policies to actively promote the development of the advanced equipment manufacturing industry.

Intelligent manufacturing is the main direction of "Made in China 2025", an important measure to implement the strategy of building a manufacturing power, and the key for China's manufacturing industry to keep up with the world's development trends and achieve transformation and upgrading. Among them, ten major fields were proposed, including new-generation information technology, high-end CNC machine tools and robots, aerospace equipment, Marine engineering equipment and high-tech ships, advanced rail transportation equipment, energy-saving and new energy vehicles, power equipment, new materials, biomedicine and high-performance medical devices, and intelligent manufacturing of agricultural machinery equipment. It provides strong support and a favorable environment for the research, design and production of intelligent manufacturing equipment.

With the rapid development of information technology and advanced manufacturing technology, the depth and breadth of the development of intelligent manufacturing equipment in China have been continuously enhanced. An industry system of intelligent manufacturing equipment represented by new sensors, intelligent control systems, industrial robots, and complete sets of automated production lines has initially taken shape. A number of major intelligent manufacturing equipment with independent intellectual property rights have achieved breakthroughs However, key issues that restrict the development of intelligent manufacturing, such as interconnection and interoperability in the manufacturing process, remain unresolved, and the demand for cross-industry and cross-field standardization of intelligent manufacturing is becoming increasingly urgent.

To guide the standardization work of intelligent manufacturing in the current and future periods, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China, in accordance with the strategic deployment of "Made in China 2025", jointly issued the "Guidelines for the Construction of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Standard System", which clearly defines the overall requirements, construction ideas, construction contents and implementation methods for building the intelligent manufacturing standard system. A reference model for the intelligent manufacturing standard system was established from three dimensions: life cycle, system level, and intelligent function. Based on this, the framework of the intelligent manufacturing standard system was proposed. The framework includes five types of basic and common standards: "Foundation", "Security", "Management", "Testing and Evaluation", and "Reliability", as well as five types of key technical standards: "Intelligent Equipment", "Intelligent Factory", "Intelligent Service", "Industrial Software and Big Data", and "Industrial Internet", and application standards for different industries, including the ten major application fields in "Made in China 2025" Accurate.

On December 28, 2021, eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Intelligent Manufacturing", which proposed: By 2025, the supply capacity should be significantly enhanced, the technological level and market competitiveness of intelligent manufacturing equipment and industrial software should be notably improved, with market satisfaction rates exceeding 70% and 50% respectively. More than 150 intelligent manufacturing system solution providers with high professional standards and strong service capabilities should be cultivated. On January 13, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment jointly issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the High-Quality Development Action Plan for the Environmental Protection Equipment Manufacturing Industry (2022-2025)", proposing: By 2025, the technological level of the environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry will be significantly enhanced. A number of key and shortcoming technologies and equipment that restrict the development of the industry will be broken through. The supply capacity of efficient, low-carbon and environmental protection technology and equipment products will be significantly improved, fully meeting the demands of major environmental governance. The comprehensive strength of the industry has continued to increase, and the core competitiveness has steadily improved. A number of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative "little giant" enterprises have been created, and a batch of manufacturing single-champion enterprises with international competitive advantages in niche fields have been cultivated. The output value of the environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry is expected to reach 1.3 trillion yuan. On February 21, 2023, seven ministries and commissions including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Action Plan for the Development of Intelligent Detection Equipment Industry (2023-2025)", which proposed: By 2025, intelligent detection technology will basically meet the manufacturing process requirements of user fields. The supply capacity of core components, dedicated software and complete equipment will be significantly enhanced. The demonstration and large-scale application effects of intelligent detection equipment in key fields will be obvious. The industry ecosystem will be initially formed and basically meet the development needs of intelligent manufacturing.

Industry layout of intelligent manufacturing equipment

From the perspective of the regional competitive landscape of the intelligent equipment industry, at present, China's intelligent manufacturing equipment is mainly distributed in regions with relatively developed industrial foundations. China is currently forming four major industry clusters in the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Rim and the central and western regions. These industry clusters will further enhance the development level of intelligent manufacturing in various regions.

Among them, the Bohai Rim region and the Yangtze River Delta region are the core areas for equipment manufacturing. The R&D and production enterprises of intelligent manufacturing equipment industry with CNC machine tools as the core are mainly distributed in the Bohai Rim region, the Yangtze River Delta region and the northwest region, among which Liaoning, Shandong, Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shaanxi are the most concentrated. In addition, the key basic components and general parts, as well as the intelligent special equipment industry, have also shown a relatively fast development trend in regions such as Henan, Hubei and Guangdong, among which Luoyang, Xiangfan and Shenzhen are the most prominent. Meanwhile, industrial robots will be a new hot spot in the future development of intelligent equipment. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu will be the main markets for the application of industrial robots in China.

The Bohai Rim region: Relying on the regional resource and human resource advantages, an industry pattern of differentiated development between the "core area" and the "two wings" has been formed. Among them, Beijing has prominent advantages in software fields such as industrial Internet and intelligent manufacturing services.

In the Yangtze River Delta region, a number of industry clusters of intelligent manufacturing equipment with prominent advantages and distinct characteristics will be cultivated, and the development level of intelligent manufacturing will be relatively balanced.

The Pearl River Delta region: Accelerate the replacement of human labor with machines and gradually develop into the main battlefield of "Made in China". Among them, Guangzhou is focusing on building a core area for the robot and intelligent equipment industry, while Shenzhen is concentrating on creating a manufacturing base, an international cooperation base and an innovation service base for the robot and wearable device industries.

The central and western regions: Lagging behind the eastern regions, they are still in the stage of automation. Relying on the advantages of universities and research institutes, they take the advanced laser industry as a "new highlight" in the development of intelligent manufacturing and have developed advanced laser industries that are technologically leading and distinctive.

The main problems existing in the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry

(1) There is a gap compared with developed countries

The intelligent manufacturing equipment industry is currently a key area in the development of global manufacturing, and its development plays a significant role in enhancing the competitiveness and production efficiency of the manufacturing industry. Internationally, the development of the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry is very rapid, mainly concentrated in Europe, America and Asia. Among them, the intelligent processing equipment industries in countries such as Germany, the United States and Japan are in a relatively leading position.

The German intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has a long history of development and leads in technological level. With the proposal and promotion of Germany's Industry 4.0, the development of the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has been further promoted. Whether it is advanced technology or high-quality products and services, they have a strong competitive edge in the market competition.

The intelligent manufacturing equipment industry in the United States is also a rapidly developing field. In recent years, with the support of the government and the increase in capital investment, the intelligent processing equipment industry in the United States has gradually grown and has been actively exploring and innovating in fields such as intelligent manufacturing and the Internet of Things. Particularly, significant progress has been made in research on technologies such as 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

In the Asian region, Japan's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry is also one of the leading industries. It has advantages in robot application, automatic control, high-speed operation and other aspects.

In recent years, China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has also begun to develop rapidly, achieving significant results in fields such as robots, intelligent manufacturing, and automated products. Chinese manufacturers of intelligent manufacturing equipment are also constantly strengthening their product innovation capabilities, technological levels and service levels, and their pace of going international is accelerating.

(2) The foundation of the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry is weak and it lacks support within the industry

The foundation of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry is weak, and the overall strength of the supporting enterprises within the industry is relatively weak. Some leading enterprises have made breakthroughs in the overall technology and integration capabilities of the system, but the manufacturing of some core components still lacks supporting facilities, and their development is restricted. There is a significant gap between the core components and core technologies of the upstream and downstream of intelligent equipment and the international advanced level. The rate of independent supporting supply is relatively low, and the dependence on products is relatively high.

The core components of intelligent equipment, such as industrial chips, sensors, high-performance servo motors and drivers, programmable logic controllers (PLCS), and precision reducers for robots, still mostly rely on imports. Meanwhile, machine tools, known as the mother of industry, are one of the indispensable devices in the intelligent equipment manufacturing industry. However, the vast majority of high-end precision machine tools and cutting tools are monopolized by foreign enterprises, with high introduction costs and relatively high subsequent usage and maintenance expenses. There is relatively little technological innovation and exchange among industries within the region, and no positive interaction and coordination have been formed among industries. As a result, the risk resistance capacity of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry is relatively weak. Once the international situation changes, it will be greatly affected.

(3) The competitiveness of China's intelligent manufacturing equipment enterprises is relatively low

The intelligent manufacturing equipment industry in China started late. The technological level of its products has long lagged behind that of industrialized countries. The market is mainly dominated by well-known international manufacturers, and the majority of the market share is also held by international brands. The industry's development still has a high degree of dependence on foreign countries.

In recent years, with the strong support of the national strategy for the development of this industry, a number of outstanding intelligent equipment manufacturers have emerged in China. Relying on their strong learning ability and technological research and development capabilities, they have achieved technological breakthroughs through integrated innovation, introduction, digestion, absorption and re-innovation, and even original innovation, and have seized a portion of the market share.

However, the accumulation of a company's technological research and development capabilities, the introduction or cultivation of design and R&D personnel, and the promotion of R&D projects with strategic benefits all require a considerable amount of time and financial support. Therefore, at present, the number of leading enterprises in China is still relatively small, the industry organizational structure is small, brand awareness is low, competitiveness is weak, and the ability to resist risks is relatively weak. The technological accumulation and market expansion of domestic products still need to go through necessary processes, and the establishment of domestic brands also needs to go through a process of gradually being recognized by customers. In the short term, it is still difficult to change the current situation where the intelligent manufacturing equipment market is dominated by well-known foreign manufacturers.

To sum up, the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry is a focus of international competition. Although there is still a certain gap between China's intelligent equipment manufacturing industry and that of developed countries, under the favorable business and development environment created by national and local government policies, China's intelligent equipment manufacturing industry has initially formed four major industry clusters with different focuses, and the industry ecosystem has initially taken shape. Create a favorable atmosphere for further enhancing the development level of intelligent manufacturing in various regions.