Unmanned chemical plant is a long-term strategy, and “machine replacement” for home appliance companies is becoming commonplace.

       In 2014, under the influence of multiple factors such as human capital, difficulty in recruiting workers and improving production efficiency, home appliance manufacturers and upstream spare parts companies have gradually realized the role of "robot replacement". Although compared with the automotive and mobile phone industries, the application of robots in the home appliance industry is still in its infancy, but home appliance companies' exploration of "robot substitution" has never stopped.

"Unmanned chemical plant" is a long-term strategy

"'Unmanned chemical plant' is the long-term strategy of Midea Group." On July 25th, at the Standing Council of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, Midea Group President Assistant Wang Jinliang said that through "automation, intelligence, and less humanization" This method of reducing staff and increasing efficiency is an important part of the transformation of the United States in recent years. "By 2015, Midea's investment in 'robot substitution' will exceed 1 billion yuan."

Coincidentally, when talking about Haier's transformation, Zhou Yunjie, vice chairman of the board of directors and rotating president of Haier Group, also mentioned that Haier's future goal is to become an "unmanned chemical plant." Attempting to reduce staff and increase efficiency through automated equipment is also what Haier has been doing. It is understood that Haier's washing machine production line originally had more than 90 people. After applying automation equipment, it now only needs 30 people, and its efficiency has also doubled.

In 2013, Skyworth Color TV proposed the "311" robot strategy, that is, "investing 30 million yuan, saving 1,000 people, and building an automated production line", marking the Skyworth Manufacturing Headquarters' "robot strategy" officially on the agenda.

Not only complete machine companies, but also upstream spare parts companies represented by Shanghai Hitachi, Meiji, Gasibella, and Qianjiang. In order to adapt to the overall strategy of manufacturing and upgrading of home appliance companies, their actions in "robot substitution" are even more advanced. It is understood that Shanghai Hitachi has applied robots for 10 years. In 2009, it established a department specializing in independent research and development and production of specialized equipment-the Modern Manufacturing Technology Center, which provides robotic automation and advanced production line manufacturing for Shanghai Hitachi factories. In 2014, the department officially became a business unit.

"China ’s labor costs continue to increase at a rate of 10% or even more than 10% each year. China is no longer a low-income, low-cost country. By increasing the level of automation and intelligence in production processes and equipment, we can reduce costs and increase efficiency through automation. In the home appliance industry, it is becoming common practice, "said Xu Dongsheng, secretary general of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association.

Data show that in the 10 years from 2004 to 2013, the average wage of Chinese manufacturing employees tripled, with an average annual increase of 15%. Data from the Information Development Department of the National Information Center show that in 2013, the average increase in wages of employees of washing machine companies was 15% to 18%. The rapidly increasing labor costs have put great pressure on the meager home appliance manufacturing industry. Not only that, the new generation of migrant workers is more critical of the working environment, and some dangerous, hard and boring positions often fail to recruit workers.

"The use of robots in dangerous and difficult production environments can reduce the loss of front-line workers." According to Luo Baihui, vice president of the Dongguan Robotics Technology Association, the robots used in the home appliance industry at this stage are mainly robots and robot arms, most of which are used in production lines Front and end, such as material transfer, welding, packing boxes and other links. These jobs are hard and boring, and the personnel are unstable. The use of robots not only solves this problem but also greatly improves work efficiency.

"In the past, increasing production capacity mainly relied on increasing production lines. Now more and more home appliance companies improve their equipment level through technological transformation and increase production efficiency by increasing the degree of automation." Wu Fengli, chairman of Guangdong Topstar Technology Co., Ltd. said that labor productivity has increased. If the speed exceeds the rate of wage growth, the unit labor cost of the enterprise can be reduced. Appliance companies are working hard to reduce the impact of rising costs by increasing production efficiency. "The" robot replacement "is actually the need for the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing automation. Product upgrades place higher requirements on production and bring about manufacturing automation transformation and upgrading." Automation solutions can solve high labor intensity, special environments, quality requirements, Demands for improved workstations such as proficiency, while improving product quality. In addition, the automation solution will be based on product big data, enabling devices to be interconnected to meet user needs for full-process experience and personalized customization. "

Guangdong Topstar Technology Co., Ltd. factory is located in Xintang Industrial Zone, Dalingshan Town, Dongguan City, covering an area of 32 acres; the second phase is located in Datanglang Industrial Zone, Dalingshan Town, covering an area of about 76 acres. Established branches in Kunshan, Jiangsu and Ningbo, Zhejiang, with branches in all provinces across the country. The company has five systems: R & D center, operation center, marketing center, financial center and human resources center. Since its establishment, the company's assets have grown rapidly at an average rate of 60% per year, far ahead of the industry's development level. The company has modern industrial workshops and a large number of advanced imported production equipment, strict control of product quality, strict inspection of raw materials into the factory, and win high praise from customers with high quality after-sales service. As far as comprehensive strength is concerned, Topstar is in the leading position in the industry in terms of scientific and technological strength, testing methods, production technology and production scale. As of the end of 2013, a sales network has been established in all provinces in the country, and it has also sold to more than 20 countries and regions including Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa.

From the beginning of the company's establishment, it has established a strategic policy of "R & D is king", increasingly built a complete R & D system, formed a good R & D mechanism, and introduced talents on an eclectic basis. Tuosda has established long-term strategic cooperation relationship with well-known universities in China. The company has established talent training cooperation with Tsinghua University and established its own talent training base, Tuasda Business School. The company invests nearly 300,000 yuan in training funds each year and adopts the model of "combining internal and external training, employees go out to learn, and professors come in to teach". The company currently has more than 70 full-time R & D personnel, including professionals from Canada, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan. Through independent research and development and active introduction of domestic and foreign advanced technologies for technological re-innovation, the company's products currently have more than 30 national patents, and have attracted much attention in the electronic component, precision manufacturing, automotive, medical, and computer connector industries. At present, there are more than 3,000 large and medium-sized customers who have established and maintained stable contacts with Topstar. The main users include Fortune 500 companies such as ITT, Foxconn and Jabil Green Point, as well as well-known international and domestic enterprises such as China Aerospace, Zhengzheng, Midea, Haier, TCL, Changhong, Konka, BYD, Jinsheng, Galanz, etc.

Tustar's automation equipment is widely used in the auto parts industry. The main user groups are large and medium-sized auto parts companies at home and abroad. The products are widely used in various assemblies, interior trim parts, exterior trim parts and general parts, such as steering wheels, instrument panels, Pedals, deflectors, spare tire covers, etc. We also provide solutions for dehumidification and drying, mold temperature control, and automatic cooling for domestic automobile manufacturers, including high-gloss mold temperature machines, which are excellent in LCD display modules, plastic mechanism parts, metal parts, hardware and electronic products. which performed.

In addition, Tustar's customers also include industries with a high degree of concentration, such as lamp manufacturing, automotive connectors, and brake pipe fittings. A large auto parts manufacturer generally uses Japan's Toshiba injection molding machines, with a total of more than 100 units and tonnages ranging from 30 to 3000T. Tusda provides full servo manipulators and conveyor belts, replacing manual operations and basically achieving automation. Mold temperature machine, dryer, suction machine and other equipment. Through independent mold temperature control equipment, centralized drying and feeding systems, the unmanned workshop is basically realized, and quality consistency is ensured from the hardware level.

In the fields of advanced manufacturing and precision manufacturing such as IT and microelectronics, Tustar has a large user group. Our automation solutions are in communication equipment, PC, consumer electronics, digital video, Blu-ray chips, etc. This field can be described as a collection of a variety of complex processes, such as special materials, multi-cavity injection, multi-color injection. According to the characteristics of global industry distribution, the majority of users in this field are Taiwanese companies, and generally cooperate with Taiwanese injection molding machines, and Tusda provides automated whole plant planning. In addition, based on the user's low-cost strategy, we also provide users with a variety of solutions, such as centralized fast drying and central feeding systems. A Taiwan-funded company, which first set up a factory in Dongguan, was one of Microsoft's core suppliers. With the sharp decline in the labor force and the sharp increase in labor costs in Guangdong, the company's far-sighted investment in the mainland, Tuosda planned and provided the entire plant automation solution for it, with more than 400 sets of Taichung precision injection molding machines, Realize unmanned management, no-light workshop, including central feeding system, manipulator, mold temperature control system, etc. It is worth mentioning that Tuosida re-customized the color of the equipment to realize the CI management of the workshop.

Three of the world's top five connector manufacturers are direct users of Topstar. The form and structure of connectors are ever-changing. With different application objects, frequency, power, application environment, etc., there are various types of connectors. One of Tustar's users mainly produces all kinds of connectors, optical fibers, printed circuits, cable assemblies and other products, with more than 100,000 varieties. Tuosida mainly provides three-in-one, mold temperature machine and other equipment. For high-precision connector products, the use of advanced dehumidification and drying equipment to control the moisture content of the raw materials makes the product's qualification rate much higher than competitors in the industry; through automatic dehumidification and drying feed system, independent mold temperature control system and Dust-free constant temperature room workshop ensures consistent product quality. An American company has a leading position in the global telecommunications market, mobile phone market and data exchange market. Its early products were all processed externally. In order to facilitate quality control, it was imported into the injection molding machine in March 2012 to process it by itself. Tuosda carried out automation planning for it, providing three-in-one, servo manipulator, mold temperature machine and other automation equipment. Topstar products have been well received by customers, especially in the field of solar connector molding. The quality inspection has been significantly improved from outsourcing to self-processing. The appearance defect rate has been reduced from 3% to 1%, and the mixing rate has been reduced from 5% in the past. Reduction to 1%, size reduction from 8% to 2%, product strength reduction from 3% to 1%, staff reduction of 20%, and management cost reduction of 5% per month.

Today, no matter if your mobile phone is Apple (iPhone), Samsung (SAMSUNG), or HUAWEI, ZTE, you will have the opportunity to experience the technological crystallization of Tusda. Our direct users are no shortage of Fortune 500 companies. They provide professional OEM and professional OEM and ODM for the mobile phone cases of many world-class manufacturers. They have large production bases in China. Tuosida provides equipment such as water-type mold temperature machine and three-in-one machine. The 160 ℃ water temperature machine replaces the original equipment imported from the United States, which greatly reduces the cost for users. At the same time, stable performance and convenient after-sales service are supported by customers. A Sino-foreign joint venture is the core strategic supplier of the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer. The company's injection molding machines are mainly high-end brands such as Sumitomo, Nissei, Fanuc, etc. Tuosida provides equipment such as water-type dual-temperature mold temperature machines, full servo manipulators, and three-in-one machines. The dual-temperature machine replaces the old-fashioned mechanical temperature-controlled mold temperature machine, and the yield rate is increased by 25%. In 2011, the central feeding system and automatic take-out system were introduced, which saved 20 million workers' wages and increased output by 25% each year. The product is favored by users.

The domestic appliance industry also generally uses Tustar's peripheral equipment, including several giants. Tuosida provides mobile mold temperature machines, chillers and other products to break the barriers of single supporting equipment of production lines such as plastic molding, sheet metal wire, foaming line, etc., to achieve the free deployment of each production line, improve the use efficiency of each device, reduce The use and maintenance costs are well received by users. Tuostar also serves domestic manufacturers of domestic first-line brands, and its user base covers dozens of global giants in the home appliance and electronics industries. An enterprise has more than 50 all-electric motors, all of which are mainly imported high-end Japanese brands, including Fanuc, Nissei, and Toshiba. Tuostar provides peripheral equipment such as full-servo manipulator, mold temperature machine, and three-in-one machine. A customer's digital chip has a product size of 2 mm and can be accessed and removed only 1.5 mm in size. One mold has four and two plate molds. At the same time, the nozzle must be clamped. The product is too small and light, but also has static electricity. Attached to the fixture suction cup, making the product difficult to fall off. Previously, the customer used a Japanese brand manipulator and could not achieve the job; Tuosda used the effective cooperation of pre-sale engineers and R & D personnel to customize the solution, modified the three-axis manipulator fixture, added vacuum breaking, and used air to blow off. Effectively solved the problem. Tested by the mold monitor, it is guaranteed that the mold is not pressed, and the accuracy reaches unprecedented ± 0.06, and the customer is completely convinced.

In the field of injection molding, the manufacture of light guide plates is one of the most demanding processes, and it has very high requirements for materials, injection machines, molds and peripheral equipment. The process is to fill the molten molding material into the closed mold under high pressure. This requires the light guide plate and the microstructure to be completed simultaneously in the injection molding. At the same time, the mold must be made quite solid. The single-sided microstructure array light guide plate is generally Adopting injection molding manufacturing process, the mold clamping cycle such as spherical shape, tetrahedral pyramid, prism shape is long. Tustar's peripheral equipment has performed well in the manufacturing fields of LED, CCFL, touch screen, prism and so on. A photovoltaic device manufacturer with more than 30 years of production history in the Pearl River Delta region. It has more than 100 high-speed injection machines from Sumitomo, Toyo and other brands. Tustar mainly provides water-cooled chillers of 140 ℃ and 160 ℃ for precision and thin Wall forming technology. In addition, robots, manipulators, and three-in-one devices are also widely used in this field.

Tuosida was praised as "the most growing national brand" by provincial and municipal leaders, and was rated as a "automated overall solution operator" benchmarking company by a number of authoritative media. It has successively obtained national high-tech enterprises and Dongguan private technology enterprises. , Dongguan Innovation Industrialization Demonstration Base, Dalingshan Town Taxpayer and other honorary titles; Robots with completely independent intellectual property rights have won Guangdong famous brand products, and many other products have passed CE certification, Guangdong Province high-tech products; for a long time, and Tsinghua University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, South China University of Technology and other colleges and universities have launched industry-university-research cooperation.

With the development of robot technology, robot technology has been widely used in various industries. As an executive mechanism, the robot has the characteristics of convenient control and flexible execution. It can realize complex space trajectory control. It is especially suitable for multi-variety and variable batch flexible production.

The “machine substitution” of home appliance enterprises is becoming commonplace

According to reports, in 2014 Midea Group's expected revenue scale is equivalent to that of 2010, but the number of employees is 120,000, a 40% decrease from 2010. Yang Wenyong, general manager of Xingxing Household Appliances Group, said that after the automatic transformation of one Xingxing production line, the output increased from 1,000 to 1,700 in the same time.

After the transformation and upgrading, Midea Group proposed a “boutique strategy”. As robots can more carefully process some processes to ensure product quality, Midea ’s business divisions are using more and more production lines of robots, and their scope of application is gradually expanding. The relevant person in charge of Haier stated that the automation of Haier's production line is not simply for the sake of economy.