Casting

Application of precision casting in auto parts manufacturing

1.The application of precision casting in the manufacture of auto parts

Among the many products of auto parts, precision casting products occupy a pivotal proportion, such as: automobile engine block, cylinder head, gearbox housing, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, crankshaft, camshaft, piston, Wheel hubs, etc., are all casting products. However, compared with developed industries, the proportion of my country's automobile casting products in the total output of castings is still insufficient. According to statistics, American automobile castings account for 33% of the total casting output, while my country's automobile castings only account for less than 20% of the total casting output.

(1) The development of the automobile industry drives the development of the automobile foundry industry

Automobile castings are one of the main downstream industries of my country's automobile manufacturing industry. About 10.5% of the parts of a complete vehicle are iron castings and 6.4% aluminum castings. These precision castings are not only large in quantity, but also high in quality. With the continuous development of my country's automobile manufacturing industry, the output of automobile castings has also increased. According to statistics, in 2009, my country's automobile production and sales exceeded 13.5 million, and the output of automobile castings reached 10.33 million tons. As my country's automobile production reached 15 million in 2010, it is expected that the output of automobile castings will reach 11.48 million tons. The growth of automobile output is an important factor to stimulate the development of the manufacturing industry, and it will also provide a huge market space for my country's automobile casting products. And with the development of light-weight and energy-saving automobiles, the market demand for automobile non-ferrous castings will also further expand. Since 2000, my country's precision casting production has been ranking the world's, and has become a veritable casting manufacturing country.

(2) My country's auto casting exports are in a downward trend

Although my country is a famous precision casting production country, my country is far from being a powerhouse of precision casting. The rapid growth of my country's precision casting production is largely at the expense of higher energy consumption, higher resource consumption, environmental pollution and cheap labor. In addition, from 2006 to 2009, it can also be seen from the export situation of China's automobile casting products that my country's automobile casting products are still in the low-end supply market compared with rubber parts, stamping parts, fasteners and other products. Affected by market fluctuations. The financial crisis in 2008 had an impact on the export of my country's auto casting products, and there was a downward trend. Therefore, compared with the developed automobile manufacturing industry, the gap between the manufacturing level and popularization and application of light metal castings in my country is still obvious.

2. Application of precision casting in mold market

According to relevant media reports, in recent years, with the development of the domestic precision casting industry and the mold market, the machine tool industry that is closely related to it has increased the production of related vertical and gantry machining centers and CNC lathes according to this market. The precision and precision of this industry perfectly completes the coherence and cooperation between the industries. With the continuous growth of China's economy, the machine tool industry will maintain rapid growth and drive the development of the foundry mold manufacturing industry. The foundry mold market is extremely active. Due to the low cost of mold production in my country, with the improvement of mold manufacturing technology and quality improvement. Not only can it reduce the number of molds, but also it is possible to gradually open the market, and the export of molds will have a great development.

In recent years, my country's mold industry has grown at an average rate of more than 15%, which is much higher than the average value-added of GDP. Among them, casting molds account for about 5% of the total output value of various molds, and the annual growth rate is as high as 25%. Luo Baihui, secretary general of the Model Association, pointed out that the current period coincides with the growth of my country's automobile and motorcycle industries, and the output has continued to increase substantially. In particular, the rapid growth of cars closely related to the precision casting industry has increased the demand for complex and casting molds. As an important support for the precision casting industry, the casting mold industry has broad prospects. It is expected that in the next few years, the domestic automobile industry will still be the main driving force for the casting mold industry.

Automobile is one of the pillar industries of the national economy. It has a long industrial chain, has a wide range of influence, and has a great role in driving consumption, and plays a pivotal role in the development of the national economy and society. In 2021, the auto market will recover, the overall operation of the auto manufacturing industry will be stable, the output will stop falling, the loss will increase, the industrial efficiency will improve, and the number of listed companies will increase.

1. Review of the operation of the automobile manufacturing industry in 2021

(1) Automobile production stopped falling and rose

In the face of the epidemic and chip shortages in 2021, China's auto industry will grow resiliently amid the wind and waves. China's auto production was 26.082 million units, a year-on-year increase of 3.4%, ending a three-year consecutive downward trend since 2018.

(Data source: Compiled by China Automobile Association and China Business Industry Research Institute)

(2) The added value of the automobile manufacturing industry above the designated size increased by 5.5% year-on-year

In 2021, the growth rate of the added value of China's automobile manufacturing industry above designated size will show a smile curve. Quick recovery. In December 2021, the added value of China's automobile manufacturing industry above designated size increased by 2.8% year-on-year, and from January to December 2021, the added value of the automobile manufacturing industry increased by 5.5% year-on-year.

Data source: Compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics and China Business Industry Research Institute

2. 2022 forecast for the development of the automobile manufacturing industry

(1) Global optimization of the automotive manufacturing supply chain

Affected by the epidemic and the international situation, different from the division of labor in the global industrial chain, the supply chains of Japanese, South Korean and German parts manufacturing companies have been blocked, and the global vehicle manufacturing industry is undergoing a huge industry change. New energy vehicles are blooming in China, traditional car companies have become the foundries of new power car brands, the formation of new supply chains and car manufacturing ecology is accelerating, and the diverse needs of main car manufacturers’ production models are complicated.

From the perspective of production type, vehicle manufacturing is a typical discrete manufacturing industry, with tens of thousands of components upstream, corresponding to a multi-level supply chain system. The high complexity of the supply chain determines the difficulty of overall planning for orders, production, and materials. The manufacturing industry will use new technologies to achieve lean management upgrades.

(2) The supply of automotive chips will remain tight

Since the automotive chip industry is basically monopolized by major global suppliers such as Renesas, NXP, Infineon, etc., the international giants of first-tier suppliers represented by Bosch almost all build automotive chip factories in Southeast Asia. The outbreak of the new crown epidemic , resulting in a direct reduction of 40% in the chip industry.

In order to alleviate the shortage of chips, upstream foundries have begun to build factories and expand production capacity, but it will take many years for new production capacity from the construction of the factory to the release of production capacity before it can truly enter the OEM supply chain. As a result, the automotive chip shortage will continue into 2022.