Drones and 3D Printing Towards Made in China 2025

Drones and 3D printing are the highlights of Made in China 2025.

Comparing the development path and future challenges of the two is quite different. We can appreciate the future of the new generation of Chinese manufacturing, and we can also better understand that these areas of industrial upgrading need to rely on exports to drive R&D integration and The price advantage brought by economies of scale.

The development of drones in recent years has been like a blowout. Domestic commercial drones have jumped from obscurity to giants with a 70% share of the global market. The cost of various components in the manufacturing process has dropped. Contributed to the popularization of the overall price. In addition to industrial applications, drones with cameras have broken new ground in the field of entertainment and consumption. On the American Independence Day, drones are used to shoot fireworks from the air, accompanied by melodious music, upload to social media, and share the beautiful scenery of the good time. Fashion.

A few incidents—perhaps sooner or later—have brought drones into the world’s sights. Last year, Amazon’s debut of future delivery drones aroused heated discussions and did a lot for Amazon At the same time, the cyberspace began to spread the drones of Jifei Technology between Huizhou and Dongguan. Later, several international incidents focused the world's attention on Chinese manufacturers, the drone circling over the White House, the "UFO" that appeared over the official residence of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the drone shot down by Pakistan over Kashmir, which has a dispute with India. , are all made in China, and are from DJI, which greatly enhances the brand awareness of this Shenzhen company.

3D printing is booming mainly in China.

In early August, the 705th Research Institute of CSIC announced a major breakthrough in the field of 3D printing technology, realizing 3D printing with the help of metal direct sintering rapid prototyping technology, becoming the fourth company in the world to master this technology . This news immediately became a bright spot in the stock market. The four 3D printing concept stocks led by Guangyunda rose to the daily limit, and China Shipbuilding and others also rose sharply, forming a rare bright spot supported by fundamentals in the volatile stock market.

UAVs are closely related to the development of smartphone manufacturing. The efficient and flexible use of related technologies and supply chains driven by smartphones is the key, such as high-altitude camera equipment, which is logically applied to UAVs. And the mobile phone itself becomes the device to operate and control the drone. During the drone production process, the production price of the GPS part fell from $400 to $4, contributing to the overall price drop.

The United States is currently the world's largest consumer market for drones, accounting for 35%, followed by Europe and China with 15%. The drones produced in China are mainly for the global market. Customs data shows that Shenzhen manufacturers have taken over 99.9% of the country's UAV exports, and the scale effect of production has brought prices down. From January to May this year, Shenzhen's UAV exports reached 160,000 units, 69 times that of the same period last year. The value of 750 million yuan is 55 times that of the same period last year.

The most advanced technology in the world is none other than the United States. Germany and Israel started early in research and development and ranked at the forefront.

China has been using drones for surveying and mapping since the 1980s. However, in the manufacture of the whole machine platform, the development of flight control and power systems has been concentrated in recent years, and by virtue of the price advantage, it has quickly swept the civilian market , covering entertainment consumption, environmental protection testing, power grid inspection and other low-altitude operation fields. It is another big step taken by Shenzhen to the high-end industry after Android phones, and an important milestone in the upgrading of Chinese manufacturing.

At this time, the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs announced that from August 15, 2015, the export of some drones and supercomputers will be restricted. The export control is mainly aimed at UAVs with long battery life, strong stable and controllable flight capabilities, and high-altitude flight capabilities. Model airplanes and model airships are not restricted.

Drones are not just in China, but even in developed countries like the United States, the regulation is quite lagging behind. The U.S. government in February released a new policy aimed at tightening export controls for military and commercial drones, and said it would work with other countries to develop international standards for the sale, transfer and use of military drones . In view of the increasingly severe anti-terrorism situation, the international community has jointly restricted the export of specific high-performance drones to prevent large and high-performance drones from falling into the hands of criminals.

Export controls that took effect in mid-August have virtually no impact on makers of low-altitude drones like DJI.

Currently the most popular is the quadcopter drone, and the new generation of drones based on it will have better performance: smaller and lighter, longer battery life, and more efficient than the current one. Ultrasound and infrared detection are more sensitive sensors, new advances in high-speed flight, navigation to avoid obstacles and improved communication technology. But it also requires government regulation to keep pace.

However, the consequences of the government setting up the drone control order in the future will always make enterprises nervous. I am afraid that the authorities do not understand the pain points of enterprises, adding multiple obstacles.

In the civilian field, such as speed limit and privacy protection, the current regulation is still very vague. These concerns are not limited to China but other countries as well. The next few years will be a critical period for low-altitude legislation. When Amazon released the delivery drone, it expressed its hope to cooperate with relevant government departments and called on the authorities to take into account the reasonable interests of the industry in the process of formulating regulations.

3D printing, another highlight of Made in China 2025, benefits from the government's overall overall planning and content, the frequency of industrial policy introductions is accelerated, and the support is strengthened. As the technology matures and the application cost of the industry declines, as a growth point, all parties have high hopes.

The 3D printing manufacturing industry in the United States has been very prosperous for a period of time and has been sought after by all parties. However, due to the lack of performance support, the market enthusiasm has plummeted.

MakerBot, which is familiar to the general public, was acquired in 2013 by the digital printing company Stratsysem, which was established earlier. MakerBot's performance was not good. In April this year, 20% of its employees were laid off. The stock price of the parent company last year was as high as $130 a share, now down to $30. Industry analysts explained that this parabolic phenomenon is due to the market space brought by the decline in prices after the expiration of the Fused Deposition Modeling material patent in previous years. However, the price of raw materials is still expensive, coupled with restrictions on intellectual property rights in printing technology and design, which continue to plague American 3D manufacturers. This situation may provide room for Chinese manufacturing.

The investment community at home and abroad clearly favors UAV manufacturers. In terms of current operations and forecast prospects, UAVs have already stepped out of the initial stage. From the perspective of global market share , it has great appeal. Last year, DJI received $75 million in financing from Accel Partners, a venture capital firm that has made an early bet on Facebook and is well-known in the venture capital world. It is estimated that if DJI goes public, it will be worth about $10 billion.

The success of drones is due to the role of Shenzhen's efficient industrial chain, and 3D printing is supported by policies. Both are emerging industries facing the global market. This is the sample of Made in China 2025, which will lead the export in the future. winner.

Zhou Naiping, Editor-in-Chief of CEConline, Visiting Professor of School of Media Design, Sun Yat-Sen University. Ms. Zhou taught East Asian history at American University and financial news at Hong Kong University. She was a senior reporter for Reuters, the founder and director of the Global Finance Project at the School of Journalism and Communication of Tsinghua University, and the author of International Financial News Knowledge and Reports. Op-eds represent personal views only.