Global mold industry overview and market competitiveness

The major mold-producing countries in the world include Japan, South Korea and the mainland in Asia, as well as the United States and Germany in Europe. Luo Baihui, the secretary general of the International Mold Association, pointed out that because mold companies in various countries operate in the form of SMEs, Difficulties in working capital raising are often encountered. Without government policy support and preferential taxation measures, the mold industry will form a situation of fighting alone and let alone fighting, not to mention competition with the international market. With the exception of the mainland and South Korea, all countries are under pressure from high labor costs. Therefore, only by increasing the added value of products can we get rid of low-cost competitive pressure.

Overview of the global mold industry

Among the major mold production and marketing countries in the world, mainland China has the largest number of mold houses and employees, and nearly 70% are state-owned enterprises, and foreign companies also account for the majority. Large-scale mold factories have about 600-700 employees, and companies with thousands of scales. The Foxconn Group invested by Hon Hai has nearly 6,000 employees, the most representative, the medium-sized mold factory is between 150 and 300, the small mold factory has at least 50 people, and the mold industry in other countries is more Operate as a small and medium-sized enterprise.

In terms of product categories, in 2002, Japan and the mainland focused on the production of stamping dies and plastic dies. The total output value of the two is as high as 80%, while South Korea has the largest output value of other molds, accounting for 47% of the total output value. In terms of application market, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Germany use automotive molds as their largest products, while China mainly uses molds for electronic communication products.

According to the entry and exit status of various countries in 2002, the molds of Japan, South Korea and Germany are strong / quasi-superior products. Due to the large domestic demand market in the mainland and the United States, domestic manufacturers cannot provide complete supplies. Market products are manufactured, so it is a strong / admitted super product. According to the analysis of the main import and export countries of various countries in 2002, it has a great correlation with the geographical distribution. Most of the import and export areas belong to neighboring countries, while Japan ’s more extraordinary export areas are mainly the United States, but with the recent downstream industries in mainland China. The rapid development has gradually turned to expand the mainland market.

In terms of wages in various countries, according to the survey results of the white paper on the mold industry made by the US International Trade Administration in 2002, Germany has the highest hourly wage, the hourly wage for technical personnel is $ 12.13 ~ $ 19.28, the designer is $ 16.91 ~ $ 25.26, and Japan and the United States are in between. The lowest salary in mainland China, the annual salary of technicians is only $ 732 ~ $ 5,853, and the designer ’s annual salary is only $ 2,927 ~ $ 5,853. If you compare with Germany based on the highest annual salary, you can only hire German technicians for about 38 days. The gap with the low wage costs in mainland China is so great.

Analysis of global mold power competitiveness

Technologically advanced countries such as Japan, the United States, Germany, etc., have a leading position in the development of high-precision and composite molds, regardless of design ability or manufacturing technology, and also have well-trained technical R & D personnel. Among them, Japanese mold makers pay more attention to the polishing and grinding process, and German mold makers start by improving the accuracy and efficiency of machining and electrical discharge machining to reduce the time of manual processing. In terms of market size, Japan ’s recession is the most obvious regardless of output value or domestic demand. In terms of operating costs, they often face the problem of high wages and high welfare, so downstream industries or mold manufacturers gradually move their production bases to neighboring emerging industrial countries or technologically advanced countries to reduce labor costs and enhance price competitiveness, but this trend It often causes doubts about the invisible outflow of technology, which makes it necessary to invest a large amount of research and development costs in order to accelerate the improvement of processing technology and high-speed mechanical performance, and widen the difference between each other.

From the perspective of Taiwan, South Korea, and mainland China, China is technically behind Japan, the United States, and Germany, but it is still superior to South Korea and mainland China. It is also far ahead in terms of production speed, but South Korea and mainland China have produced and demanded in recent years. The scale is showing a growth trend, especially the rapid development of the mold industry in mainland China. Well-known large factories in various countries are stationed in production equipment, which virtually enhances the mold development strength and design capabilities. In terms of cost, mainland China and South Korea have relatively low labor cost advantages, so they often use low-cost marketing to enter the market for mold prices. Therefore, in the global economic situation, the market has successfully grabbed the favor of buyers The most obvious example is the rise in export value.

Reprinted from: China Light Industry Mould Network