What should foreign trade enterprises learn from "Industry 4.0"?

Recently, the intelligent manufacturing boom represented by Germany's "Industry 4.0" and "Made in China 2025" has swept across the country and has attracted widespread attention from Chinese enterprises. A recent survey conducted by "CEConline" shows that 85% of enterprises intend to introduce intelligent manufacturing equipment such as industrial robots, digital intelligent machine tools, numerical control systems, and 3D printers in the next year, and 22% of enterprises intend to introduce intelligent manufacturing equipment in the next year. The investment accounts for more than 20% of the total budget.

Learning "Industry 4.0" should be done step by step

As an unshakable leading region of China's 3C industry (computer, communication, consumer electronics industry), the Pearl River Delta has obvious needs in this regard . "Just taking the mobile phone industry as an example, since Apple led the trend of metallization of smartphone casings, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, HTC, Lenovo, OPPO, and Meizu have followed suit. At present, metal casing mobile phones account for nearly 20%. The explosive growth in the demand for high-speed milling and high-speed drilling and tapping center machine tool equipment”, Tian Maosheng, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Huashu Robot Co., Ltd., introduced to “CEConline”, “The number of high-speed drilling and tapping center machine tools in active service in the Pearl River Delta region has grown. More than 100,000 units, with an annual growth rate of nearly 20% in the past three years.”

In the Yangtze River Delta, enterprises' demand for intelligent manufacturing equipment is also extremely hot, even for small and medium-sized enterprises. Suzhou Siante Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd. is an enterprise specializing in the electronic system for monitoring the tire pressure of automobile tires. Its general manager, Zhang Wei, told "CEConline": "Our industry belongs to the field of automobile safety, and foreign predators are using huge The scale of production is used to drive down prices and drive out Chinese manufacturers, so we also want to seek economies of scale through automation, and at the same time prepare for future policy dividends. We introduced robots mainly to improve operational accuracy and yield. It will be mainly used for mass-produced products for OEMs, and now it is only a partial transformation of the production line, and will be extended to other functions in the future.”

Faced with the upsurge of Industry 4.0, enterprises can actively try both , and doing what you can, is a wise and pragmatic move. Lu Shiying, founder of Limp Lean Management Co., Ltd. and general manager of China, said: "For Industry 4.0, automation and informatization, our enterprises must not blindly follow the trend. When doing consulting projects, we found that many enterprises blindly pursue 'tall and tall' For example, after a company went public, a lot of money came in all of a sudden, and they were eager to use the intelligent system, but they found that it was not organically integrated with their own sales, and the sales order situation was completely different from what was expected, so such a system is actually in the Waste of money."

"Some companies have quality problems in raw materials, unsmooth upstream and downstream processes, unreliable equipment maintenance systems, and high staff turnover. Even with automation and information systems, the original The data contains a lot of noise information, and the expected effect cannot be achieved at all. Therefore, before the transformation and upgrading, the enterprise must first cultivate the internal skills, and then gradually improve the basic management to the lean production management, and then introduce the information management, and finally explore the order evaluation, Sales forecasting and other intelligent management."

The inspiration of "Industry 4.0" to foreign trade enterprises

"Our foreign trade enterprises are the most difficult, we are living in the cracks, and we have to fight hard. For orders from foreign buyers, we must try our best to arrange suppliers to ensure smooth delivery." Liu Wenjuan, general manager of Shanghai Xuerui Import and Export Co., Ltd., expressed the voice of small and medium foreign trade enterprises. As an entrepreneur who has been working hard in the foreign trade field for more than 20 years, Liu Wenjuan has been facing endless new challenges in recent years. The research of "CEConline" shows that in recent years, foreign buyers have not only demanded in terms of quality and price There is no relaxation, and the delivery time is tight, the degree of customization is improved, and the MOQ (minimum order quantity) is also gradually decreasing.

"There have been several delivery delays, especially around the Spring Festival, when it is difficult for workers to arrive on time. We are all chartered vehicles to be responsible for the Spring Festival transportation of workers, but the result is still not 100% guaranteed delivery time, we must Find a way to communicate with factories to solve these problems." The complaints of foreign trade companies represented by Liu Wenjuan reflect that market pressure has been passed to suppliers, pushing them to find new ways to solve the problems of difficulty in recruitment and labor shortage, and introduce automation and Smart devices are one way out.

The downward trend of MOQ is another problem that plagues foreign trade companies. "The order volume is getting smaller and smaller, and it's getting harder and harder to make. Even foreign buyers admit this. But suppliers don't want to take orders. For example, if they take small orders, it will take a long time to change the mold. It’s not cost-effective,” Liu Wenjuan said, “I went to the supplier’s site to see, and some use a crane to hang the mold, and it takes two or three days to install, although I don’t want to give up the order. , but can't think of a good way to convince suppliers."

"Similar problems can be solved by using lean manufacturing methods, such as pre-designing a mold installation track, the new mold is pushed up along the track from this side, the old mold is pushed down from there, and the entire switch is only It takes about five minutes and can be reused. For example, the molds for large plastic products need to be preheated for about 1 hour before being put into production. A preheating device can be installed next to the production line to realize production immediately after the mold is changed. To save time", Lu Shiying said, "Such a production line transformation is much less investment than the introduction of intelligent manufacturing equipment, but the key is that traders themselves have relevant knowledge and actively guide suppliers to adopt advanced manufacturing practices. Way".

End-to-end integration is an important concept in Industry 4.0. It emphasizes opening up all links of product design, manufacturing, logistics and distribution, and after-sales service, and connecting different enterprises in the value chain from manufacturers to distributors. , optimize the connection of information flow, logistics and capital flow between enterprises through intelligent systems. As a foreign trade company as an intermediary, how to complete the challenge of supporting two companies with one hand under the new wave of technology?

Shanghai Qiling Industrial Co., Ltd. is a foreign trade enterprise specializing in women's trolley bags. Relying on precise product positioning and dedicated continuous efforts, it has opened up a world. Its deputy general manager Jiang Weijun spoke highly of Hong Kong traders: "We have many Hong Kong customers, and in the process of communicating with them, we feel that we must learn from others in terms of professionalism and professional ability, especially in handling upstream and downstream relationships. So We propose not only the professionalism of suppliers, but also the service spirit of foreign trade companies." This is also recognized by Liu Wenjuan: "Many suppliers and foundries do not go out at all, and cannot get in touch with the latest in the market. We rely on foreign trade companies to pass on the latest needs of buyers to them, which requires us to become more professional, tell them the corresponding manufacturing and management methods, and help them improve and progress. When the factory is good, our foreign trade company It will be better."

At the "Intelligence · Win Future Export Series Forum" held in Shanghai recently, Pei Kewei, President of Corporate Affairs of Global Sources and publisher of "CEConline", and many export-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises Managers exchanged views on related topics. He emphasized that "Industry 4.0" should be viewed rationally. Its practical significance to export manufacturing enterprises is not only to carry out automation and intelligent transformation according to their own conditions, but also to establish a new partnership between foreign trade enterprises and foundries, which can be loose cooperation, or a close alliance. The trading company can provide the foundry with timely market information and manufacturing improvement suggestions, and the effective docking of the information management systems of the two parties and the partial transformation of the foundry production line can discuss solutions similar to investment sharing based on the principle of mutual benefit and consensus. way to establish a healthy partnership.