In 2011, Leibo Technology purchased 75 “IRB120†industrial robots from ABB, one of the four largest robot manufacturers in the world, and began the journey of refactoring the production line.
This is a near-adventurous attempt. Leibo Technology has spent more than 30 million yuan on the automation of the purchase of ABB robots. The domestic mouse and keyboard industry has no successful experience in using robots. But today, Leibai Technology has achieved initial success on this road and has been used by the industry as a model for lightweight robots.
Replacing labor with industrial robots is the general trend of domestic manufacturing. However, it is understood that under the careful consideration of cost-benefit, most enterprises have not broken through the entanglement of the “top-not-bottom†critical point; the critical points of 3C, engineering machinery, logistics and other sub-sectors are gradually approaching, and it is expected to be in the future. The first to achieve explosive growth on the demand side within a few years.
Cost-critical point of manual replacement
Leibai Technology mainly produces wireless peripheral products such as mouse and keyboard, ranking first in the domestic wireless mouse and keyboard industry market share. In the workshop where the keyboard is assembled, Sun Qinggen, senior manager of Leibai Technology, pointed to the robot that is operating flexibly. The workshop originally required 105 workers, but today, the user has seven upgraded production lines built by small robots, only 3-4. A worker can.
“We had 3,200 workers in 2011, and we currently have about 1,000 people.†Deng Qiuwei, deputy general manager of Leibo Technology, said that it was the expected increase in labor costs that the company was determined to use robots. In the past three years, the factory has raised its salary four times, each time exceeding 10%. At present, the average cost for a worker is already five or six thousand yuan. From the perspective of the company's investment income, the transformation is worthwhile.
Deng Qiuwei revealed that the robot is only the foundation, and more importantly, it is based on the robot reconstruction production line, so the company can save so much labor. As far as Regal Technology is concerned, as long as the production line can be recovered within five years, the company believes that there is a replacement value. At present, such replacement has been completed 70%, and 30% of the space can be slowly done. "It’s five years now, maybe five years without two years."
"I will tell you a change in numbers. When the (business income) is more than 80 billion, we are 96,000. Now we are 120 billion, but only 80,000." Gree Electric (000651.SZ Chairman and President Dong Mingzhu told the 21st Century Business Herald.
Also choosing to change is Moso Power (002660.SZ), a leading LED driver power company in Shenzhen, currently planning a new production line.
The company's fundraising project is Huizhou Maoshuo Power Drive Manufacturing Plant. The deputy director of the president's office in charge of the planning and construction of the intelligent production line of the new factory said that the two pilot production lines have been designed and commissioned by the manufacturers. Each line is 6 robots, a total of 12 robots. Originally, a production line required about 60 workers, and now only one-third of the people.
“There has been no such attempt by the company in the power industry.†The deputy director said that the company was very cautious about this. In the early stage, a lot of research and planning work was carried out. After calculation, the upgraded production line can reduce labor by two-thirds. This reduced labor cost can cover the cost of the upgrade within two years, which is equal to the cost of recycling within two years.
It can be seen that the direct factor in considering the application line of robots is the labor cost. “In 2015, our workers’ wages (preparation) will increase by 15% to 20%,†said Fang Hongbo, chairman and president of Midea Group (000333.SZ).
A person in charge of Gree Electric's robot supplier told the 21st Century Business Reporter that Gree Electric has reduced its target to 60,000 from the original 96,000 to 80,000.
In contrast, the cost of using industrial robots is gradually declining.
Zong Guanghua, deputy head of the original National 863 Program Intelligent Robotics Expert Group and a professor at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, told 21st Century Business Herald that the cost of robots is currently decreasing by an average of about 4% per year.
The gradual approach of these two cost curves is a warm boiled frog-like process, and in some types of work or sub-sectors, the two lines have intersected.
Subdividing industry breakthroughs
In general, areas suitable for replacing labor with industrial robots include: labor-intensive, highly demanding areas where people can't go or manually perform work that is detrimental to health.
The most notable industry is the car, which is a mature industry that uses robots for manufacturing. A brokerage analyst familiar with the robotics industry believes that the 3C industry (computers, communications and consumer electronics) is the next big industry to replace artificial space with work robots.
China has concentrated 70% of the global 3C production capacity. The 3C industry is still relatively low in automation. It constitutes a special Chinese robot market that cannot be used by other countries. At present, the automatic production of robots is mainly for the outer casing, glass and cover. Board and final assembly stage, etc.
"It is expected that the demand for robots in logistics, food and beverage, medicine, plastics, sanitary ware, stamping, polishing and other industries will increase rapidly in the future," said the analyst.
Guangzhou CNC Equipment Co., Ltd.'s main business includes industrial robots, its products are used in transportation, arc welding, rubber coating, cutting, painting, scientific research and teaching, machine tool processing and loading and other fields. A person from the company told the 21st Century Business Herald that spraying, handling, and loading and unloading in the machinery industry are currently high-demand jobs.
“The workers in the machinery industry are quite tired. Generally, they are not very willing to do this kind of work after 90 years.†The above-mentioned person introduced, especially the loading and unloading, the cost of this piece of mechanic is too high, and it is difficult for the Pearl River Delta to recruit people. It is also a high-risk type of work. There are many industrial accidents every year. The work is too tight and too boring, and it is repeated.
In 2011, after the frequent jumps of Foxconn employees, Guo Taiming said that in 2012, Foxconn will manufacture 300,000 robots at a speed of 1,000 units per day for monotonous and dangerous work, improving the company's automation level and production efficiency. Assembly of 1 million robotic arms by 2014. In April of this year, Guo Taiming claimed: "Many of our factories have already achieved the production of lights off, no need for personnel, and rely entirely on robots and robots."
Home appliance companies are also one of the replacements.
It has been learned from Midea Group that since 2010, Midea's Home Air Conditioning Division has applied a wide range of three-axis and four-axis robots in various workshops. At present, in the application of production line robots, Midea's household air-conditioning injection molding line has invested nearly 200 units and more than 100 sets of finished products. Nearly 200 other electronic and assembly robots were assembled. According to the company's calculations, in 2013, due to the automation upgrade, the direct labor cost of the US air conditioner was reduced by more than 8 million.
“Cost recovery time is the most important factor for enterprises.†The aforementioned Guangzhou NC person said that when planning for customers, it is necessary to calculate the cost. “In general, companies can be more than one to two to two years to recycle. Because the time is too long, the company is afraid that the products produced will change, and the cost of upgrading the production line will be partially wasted."
Localized pain
Statistics show that foreign robot manufacturers currently occupy about 90% of China's market share, and Fanuc, Yaskawa, KUKA, and ABB have a total market share of about 65%.
Domestic robotics companies are in the early stages of development. Among them, Shenyang Xinsong Robot, Anhui Eft, and Guangzhou CNC are the first echelons of domestic robot manufacturers.
As a local robot manufacturer, Li Jun, head of marketing for Shenzhen Fushi Industrial Technology Co., Ltd., said that the biggest problem facing domestic robots is that the core components cannot be produced. "We are now purchasing foreign gear units such as reducers and servo motors, which are three to five times more expensive than those produced by foreign companies."
The reducer accounts for about 35% of the cost of a robot. Deng Qiuwei said that because the cost of the core components of domestic manufacturers is significantly higher than that of Japanese companies, it is difficult to compete on the cost of the overall robot.
Chen Chaopeng, senior analyst of the High-tech Industrial Research Institute, pointed out that most of the domestic robots are non-standard robots, that is, customized production according to the specific needs of downstream SMEs, while several foreign companies are more standard robots for mass production. Non-standard robots can adapt to the complex and ever-changing environmental needs of domestic SMEs. However, due to the difficulty in mass production, this model is difficult to produce giants in the industry.
In about 10% of the market gap, hundreds of domestic robot companies are vying for competition. An interesting phenomenon is that many domestic robot buyers are gradually making their own robots and even becoming new sellers.
There are precedents in the automotive industry. At the end of 2012, Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. announced that 200 robots independently researched and developed by Chery have been put into use one after another. Chery will build a industrial robotization base that will take shape in the next three years.
The aforementioned robotics industry who understands Foxconn said that Foxconn will take out some of the robot replacement projects for bidding, but the company itself attaches great importance to cultivating its own robotics division.
"Compared with other industries, the home appliance industry is unwilling to pay and smash, a robot application bidding, can allow more than a dozen robot companies to quote and report plans, after the bottom, generally choose the cheapest, after small batch purchase I learned to make my own robots." The above-mentioned industry sources said, "The home appliance manufacturers finally estimate that they are robots, such as Gree and Beauty."
Laibo Technology is a typical example from buyer to seller. Deng Qiuwei, the deputy general manager of the company, printed another title on the business card "General Manager of Leibai Robot".
Deng Qiuwei told the 21st Century Business Herald that the company has established the Leibo Robotics division. There are now more than 50 teams working to shape the company's experience in robotics into another business model, including consulting or sales. robot. At present, there are more than 10 mobile phone, remote control and other industry customers, all of which are lightweight robots used in the assembly field, mainly in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Heyuan, Dongguan and other places. In addition to ABB, Yaskawa and KUKA also cooperated with the company, and the company's external sales robots use these companies.
“The progress is faster than expected.†Deng Qiuwei said, but he is also very distressed to be a robot. Because this piece can’t make quick money, every project (a link in a production line) is different, it’s not easy, it needs to be very Thinking deeply, a project takes five or six months.
"The industrial robot industry is an industry encouraged by the state. Now everyone is rushing, and it is afraid that the result will become a problem like imaging." The aforementioned robot industry people said with concern.
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