The development of tool enterprises, Chinese tool companies have occupied half of the market. But there are still some issues to be aware of:

　　Grasp the "low" and put the "high"

　　The content of science and technology is low. At this stage, cemented carbide tools have dominated the tool type in developed countries, accounting for as much as 70%. However, high-speed steel tools are shrinking at a rate of 1%~2% per year, and the proportion has dropped to less than 30%. At the same time, cemented carbide cutting tools have also become the main tools required by processing enterprises in our country, and are widely used in heavy industry fields such as automobile and parts production, mold manufacturing, aerospace, etc., but our country's tool enterprises blindly and massively produce high-speed steel knives and some low-end standard tools, completely without considering the market saturation and the needs of enterprises, and finally "give up" the high-end tool market with high added value and high-tech content to foreign enterprises. According to data, the current annual sales of our country's tools are about 14.5 billion yuan, of which cemented carbide tools account for less than 25%, but the cemented carbide tools required by the domestic manufacturing industry have accounted for more than 50% of the tools.

　　The added value of the product is low. In 2007, 4,500 tons of cemented carbide produced in our country were used in the production of cutting tools, which is comparable to Japan. However, the value of the tool is only 800 million US dollars, far less than Japan's 2.5 billion US dollars, which fully shows that there is still a considerable gap between the overall production level of domestic cemented carbide high-efficiency tools and foreign countries. Therefore, under the premise that domestic enterprises cannot meet market demand, the demand of the manufacturing industry has to rely on a large number of imports to solve. According to data, the annual growth rate of sales of major foreign companies in China's mid-to-high-end knife market has reached 30%, which has exceeded the average annual growth level of domestic knives.

　　The service is not in line with international standards

　　Multinational enterprises, such as German Schonke, Japan Daijie, Denmark Unimok and other knife manufacturers, have accumulated rich production experience in the long historical development, which also determines that their service form is no longer "one hammer sale", but beyond the primary sales stage of only providing customers with knives, according to the problems encountered by customers in the production process, timely solutions are proposed, this advanced form of integrating sales into the production process of enterprises has become the usual sales method of foreign enterprises. This is also one of the reasons why the products produced by well-known knife companies are expensive and marketable, and some Chinese companies cannot win the favor of customers despite their "large volume and wide coverage".

　　The road to enterprise informatization is blocked

　　The 21st century is the era of networking and informatization, and the degree of enterprise informatization will become an important indicator to measure the level of enterprise modernization and development. Networking and informatization can not only improve the efficiency of enterprise office, save office expenses, and speed up the response speed, but also provide market information, assist enterprise judgment, and build enterprise brand.

　　At the same time, whether to value and know how to use the media to promote oneself is also one of the phenomena of differentiation between Chinese and foreign tool companies. Before or during major exhibitions, some internationally renowned enterprises will use industry media to promote their corporate brands or new products, and the person in charge of the enterprise gladly accepts and attaches great importance to the interview of media reporters, but some Chinese enterprises may be reluctant to accept media interviews and reports because of "shyness" or scruples, and finally miss the "free" opportunity to promote products and enterprises.

　　Serious waste of resources

　　According to data, in 2007, our country produced about 80,000 tons of high-speed steel, accounting for about 40% of the world's total output, but due to the lack of accurate market supply and demand information, a large number of high-speed steel tools produced in surplus and had to be sold at low prices, resulting in a large number of tool manufacturers with low efficiency, and a large number of valuable tungsten, molybdenum and other rare resources were seriously wasted.

　　Similarly, China produces 16,500 tons of cemented carbide annually, accounting for about 40% of the world's total production. However, the output of cutting inserts with the highest added value in cemented carbide products is only more than 3,000 tons, accounting for only 20%. Therefore, on the one hand, the supply of cemented carbide tools urgently needed in China is insufficient, and on the other hand, it also makes valuable cemented carbide resources underutilized.

　　80,000 tons of high-speed steel and 16,500 tons of cemented carbide, but the total sales of cutting tools produced in the end only accounted for 15% of the global total, which also fully reflected the extensive development of the industry and the seriousness of resource waste.

　　Industry insiders agree that with the rapid development of China's economy in the past 30 years, the manufacturing industry will become stronger, and the market space will be as vast as the European and American markets.

　　Since 2004, the Department of Industry of the National Development and Reform Commission, together with the China Machine Tool Industry Association, has begun to formulate the "Special Plan for the Development of CNC Machine Tools". On September 28, 2005, the State Council passed the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Revitalization of the Equipment Manufacturing Industry", and the development of CNC machine tools was listed as a key focus. On February 9, 2006, the State Council issued the "Outline of the National Medium and Long-term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020)", and advanced manufacturing was listed as a key priority area, and high-end CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing technology were included in one of the 16 major projects. Recently, Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan emphasized that the revitalization of the equipment manufacturing industry "should reflect the national will" when talking about the "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Revitalization of the Equipment Manufacturing Industry". As mentioned above, we have indeed seen the "national will" of the country in accelerating the development of CNC machine tools, and various policies and measures really make people full of hope for the development of the CNC machine tool industry. However, building a manufacturing power requires not only CNC machine tools, but also advanced tools, both of which are of equal importance. The state's policy support and investment in the development of CNC machine tools are gratifying. But if we do not seize this opportunity to rapidly develop tools and cutting technology, then I am afraid that the progress of CNC machine tools will still be constrained by tools in the future. After all, in the process of machining, it is the tool that really has a direct effect on the object to be processed, and the tool and cutting technology affect the function and realization of the machine tool.

　　In the context of the outbreak of the international financial crisis, on April 6, when the 11th China International Machine Tool Exhibition was held, many industry insiders were thinking about the question: What is the strategic choice of China's machine tool industry?

　　There is no doubt that China's machine tool industry has made remarkable achievements. From the perspective of system and mechanism, the original market pattern with state-owned enterprises as the main body has been broken, and almost all state-owned machine tool enterprises have carried out shareholding reform. A new competitive pattern with state-owned, private and foreign capital has taken shape; From the perspective of product structure, the output of CNC machine tools has been greatly improved. For example, in 2000, the output of CNC machine tools in the whole industry was less than 10,000 units, and now the annual output of a relatively large enterprise has approached or even exceeded this number; From the perspective of industry scale, more than 2,000 enterprises above designated size have become scattered, and the Northeast plate represented by Shenyang Machine Tool, the Shandong plate represented by Jinan No. 2 Machine Tool and the Shaanxi plate represented by Qinchuan Machine Tool have also formed a three-legged layout. It should be said that as a machine tool in the equipment manufacturing industry, the achievements of China's machine tool industry are obvious to all and proud.

　　However, the problem remains. The outbreak of the international financial crisis has further highlighted the existing problems in our country's machine tool industry. In the first half of 2008, the machine tool industry has already appeared "three obvious": the growth rate has declined significantly, the market for low-end products has shrunk significantly, and the import of high-end CNC machine tools has increased significantly. These "three obvious" boil down to 8 words, which are called "high-end loss, low-end melee", or "only princes, no kings". On the one hand, the trend of economical CNC machine tools and high-end CNC machine tools has been significantly differentiated, with an increase in ordinary machine tool inventory and overcapacity; On the other hand, orders for high-end large machine tools are still full, and there is a trend of short supply. Such a strong contrast has made many people of insight clear about the shortcomings of our country's machine tool industry at a glance.

　　There is also a set of data that is very telling. A data is the main goal of the machine tool industry in the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan": by the end of the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", the domestic market share of domestic CNC machine tools has increased from 26.9% at the end of the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" to more than 50%; Another data is the three-year revitalization goal of the machine tool industry in 2009~2011: the market share of domestic CNC machine tools has increased to more than 40%. Comparing this set of data, a conclusion will be drawn: the goal of more than 50% of the domestic market share of domestic CNC machine tools in the 11th Five-Year Plan seems to be difficult to complete now.

　　The question has been clear at a glance, and the conclusion has been drawn, what is the strategic choice of China's machine tool industry? In short, it is necessary to improve the ability of independent innovation, optimize the industrial structure, accelerate industrial upgrading, and adhere to the high-end route. The so-called high-end route includes high-end management, high-end technology, high-end products and high-end market share. An important path to adhere to the high-end route is the application of the first (set) CNC product. It is necessary to implement the national "first (set) of major technical equipment test and demonstration project management measures" as a breakthrough to promote domestic high-end CNC machine tools into aviation, aerospace, ships, weapons, electronic information, power generation equipment, construction machinery, transportation equipment and other national key projects, and the state supports and promotes the application of the first (set) of domestic high-end CNC machine tools through demonstration projects. It is reported that the China Machine Tool Industry Association has put forward good policy suggestions and specific measures in this regard.

　　As for the road between ordinary machine tools and economical CNC machine tools, where is the road? Of course, it is impossible to engage in "high-end" all at once. The high imbalance of China's economic development determines that ordinary machine tools and economical CNC machine tools still have their own living space. The key to survival is to improve the ability of independent innovation. The main battlefield of independent innovation is the market, not the laboratory. Independent innovation is a way of thinking to discover the real consumer demand of the market, and enterprises should discover and meet the real consumer demand of the domestic market through independent innovation.

　　As an old-timer in China's machine tool industry said, since the first CNC machine tool appeared in 1952, the emergence of CNC machine tools has marked the beginning of the development of machine tools to intelligence, and human beings are ushering in the arrival of an era of intelligent production tools. This is undoubtedly a rare strategic development opportunity for China's machine tool industry. Seizing this opportunity, China's machine tool industry will achieve breakthrough development and become a machine tool power from a machine tool power.

　　In recent years, advanced manufacturing has been listed as a key priority area in our country, and high-end CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing technology have been included in one of the 16 major projects. However, to build a manufacturing power, not only CNC machine tools, but also advanced tools, in the machining process, it is the tools that really have a direct effect with the object being processed, our country is a big country with knives, and the growth potential of tools is very optimistic. If all advanced machine tools in our country use high-performance ceramic tools, the annual consumption will reach more than 5 million pieces, calculated at 30 yuan per piece, with a total value of 150 million yuan. This is just a machine tool tool, our country's automobile industry, aerospace industry production and other demand for tool products is also increasing.

　　Some people think that knives are small things, and their development can be promoted more by enterprises and markets. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the tool industry adopted the Soviet model, and enterprises were only responsible for the production of standard tools, and non-standard tools and special tools were handed over to the user industry for research. However, with the rapid development of the manufacturing industry, the general trend now is that tool companies need to provide a large number of personalized solutions, and this model of the domestic tool industry is becoming more and more unable to adapt to market demand. Therefore, a large part of our country's tool market, especially the high-end market, has been occupied by foreign manufacturers for a long time. Obviously not, the great development of the tool industry is only a matter of time. "Tenth Five-Year Plan" is regarded as the period of rapid development of CNC machine tools in our country, and the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" will be a strategic opportunity period for the development of CNC machine tools.

　　The other 9 products and their proportions are also the embodiment of adapting to the law of our country's economic development and the stable development of the hardware market.

　　Distribution of domestic hardware tools market our country's hardware tools market is mainly distributed in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangdong and Shandong, among which Zhejiang and Guangdong are the most prominent. Zhejiang's Yongkang has always been known as the "hometown of hardware", and Zhejiang people have a strong sense of market operation, from the original hot pot products, stainless steel thermos cups to the scooters that were all the rage last year, bringing them rolling financial resources. Guangdong is about to become the world's mold production center. At present, more than 6,000 mold companies have gathered around Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta region, with more than 100,000 employees. The South China International Mould Exhibition has been held in Shenzhen for five consecutive sessions, attracting more than 1,000 enterprises from 25 countries and regions to participate, and is the most professional and international mold industry exhibition in China today.

　　In modern machining, cemented carbide and high-speed steel are the most used tool materials, accounting for almost half of each. The invention and application of high-speed steel has a history of a whole century, and cemented carbide has been around for half a century. However, both have developed many new varieties, and their performance is constantly improving, which plays an important role in machining. cemented carbide with rare earth elements is one of the new varieties of tool materials. Rare earth elements refer to atomic numbers 57~71 (from La to Lu) in the periodic table of chemistry, plus 21 and 39 (Sc and Y), a total of 17 elements. Adding certain rare earth elements to traditional cemented carbide grades in a certain way can effectively improve their mechanical properties and cutting properties. our country is rich in rare earth element resources, and the research and development of rare earth cemented carbide is ahead of other countries. The following grades of rare earth cemented carbide for tools have been developed: YG8R (equivalent to ISOK30 grade), YG6R (K20), YW1R (M10), YW2R (M20), YT5R, YT14R (P20), YT15R (P10), YS25R (P25). There are also mines and geological tools grades YG11CR. The authors systematically study the cutting properties of P, M and K rare earth cemented carbides, and discuss their cutting mechanisms.

　　Mechanical and physical properties of rare earth cemented carbide

　　After adding rare earth elements such as Ce and Y to YG8, YT14 and YW1 cemented carbide, rare earth cemented carbide YG8R, YT14R and YW1R are formed. YG8R is mainly used for roughing cast iron and non-ferrous metals; YT14R is mainly used for semi-finishing steel processing; YW1R is a general grade that can be used for semi-finishing of various workpiece materials.

　　After testing, the structure of cemented carbide is relatively dense after the addition of rare earth elements. Room temperature hardness and high temperature hardness have improved; The fracture toughness and flexural strength are significantly improved, increasing by more than 20% and 10%, respectively.

　　Wear resistance and service life test of rare earth cemented carbide

　　Through experiments, we know that compared with the original blades without rare earth elements, the wear resistance and service life of YG8R, YT14R and YW1R blades have been improved to varying degrees.

　　We also carried out impact resistance tests of rare earth cemented carbide, using YG8R, YT14R, YW1R and other cemented carbide inserts with rare earth elements, and YG8, YT14, YW1 inserts without rare earth elements, turning spline shaft steel parts, and the tip of the knife was impacted until the tip was broken. After many repeated tests, the number of impacts that YG8R, YT14R and YW1R blades can withstand before the tip is damaged is more than 1~2 times higher than that of YG8, YT14 and YW1 blades, respectively.

　　Cutting force test of rare earth cemented carbide

　　Turning 45# steel (HB200) with cemented carbide inserts YT14R and YW1R with rare earth elements is compared with YT14 and YW1 inserts. Use a three-way resistive force gauge to measure and record the three-way cutting force: main cutting force Fc, cutting force Fp in the depth of cutting direction, and cutting force Ff in the feed direction. In the case of changing the cutting parameters many times, the statistical results are as follows: the Fc of YT14R and YW1R inserts is about 5% lower than that of YT14 and YW1 inserts, respectively, while their Fp and Ff are reduced by more than 10%~15% compared with YT14 and YW1 inserts.

　　The test formula for the main cutting force is:

　　YT14R车削45#钢Fc=2059ap0.89f0.84N

　　YT14车削45#钢Fc=2104ap0.86f0.80N

　　YW1R车削45#钢Fc=1771ap0.98f0.79N

　　YW1车削45#钢Fc=2196ap1f0.87N

　　Cutting mechanism

　　Rare earth elements exist in (W,Ti)C or (W,Ti,Ta,Nb)C solid solutions, which can strengthen the hard phase; It can also inhibit the uneven growth of WC grains, make them tend to be uniform, and the average grain size is reduced. A small amount of rare earth elements are also solid dissolved in the bonded phase Co, which strengthens the bonding phase. Rare earth elements are enriched at the phase interface of WC/Co and between the (W,Ti)C/(W,Ti)C phase interfaces, and are often combined with impurities S and O to form RE2O2S and other compounds, which improves the cleanliness of the interface and improves the wettability of the hard phase and the bonded phase. As a result, the impact toughness, flexural strength and impact resistance of rare earth cemented carbide during operation are significantly improved. Its hardness, wear resistance, and resistance to diffusion and oxidation on the surface of the tool are also improved.

　　After electron microscopy testing, it was also found that the surface of rare earth cemented carbide inserts is rich in cobalt during cutting, so it can reduce the friction coefficient between chips, workpieces and tools, so as to reduce the cutting force.

　　Rare earth elements are rich in nature and not expensive, and their addition to cemented carbide can significantly improve the mechanical, physical properties and use performance, so they have broad application prospects.

　　Application examples

　　1. Beijing Construction Machinery Factory uses YT14R and YT14 cemented carbide turning 45# steel shaft (quenched and tempered, hardness HB250), cutting speed v=60m/min, cutting depth ap=0.5mm, feed f=0.51mm/r. The service life of YT14R is 2 times higher than that of YT14, and the quality of the processed surface is slightly improved

　　2. Beijing Internal Combustion Engine General Factory uses YT14R and YT14 cemented carbide tools to turn 45# camshafts (quenched and tempered, HRC28~32), v=92m/min, ap=3mm, f=0.6mm/r. YT14R can process an average of 80~100 pieces, while YT14 can only process 40~50 pieces. And the YT14R has less knife phenomenon than YT14.

　　3. YW1R and YW1 carbide turned 45# camshaft (quenched and tempered, HRC28~32) for Beijing Internal Combustion Engine General Plant, v=92m/min, ap=3mm, f=0.6mm/r. YW1R can process an average of 60~70 pieces without knife punching, while YW1 can only process 30~32 pieces, and sometimes punch.

　　4. The 502nd Research Institute of the Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Industry Corporation uses YW1R and YW1 tools to turn stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti (tensile strength sb=0.55GPa) and superalloy GH3128 (sb=0.84GPa), v=30~60m/min, ap=0.7~1.5mm, f=0.08mm/r. The service life of YW1R is more than twice that of YW1, and the machining surface roughness of YW1 is Ra=3.2mm, and YW1R is Ra=1.6mm.

　　5. YG8R and YG8 carbide turned gray cast iron HT200 (hardness HB170~180) for Beijing No. 1 Machine Tool Factory, v=80m/min, ap=2mm, f=0.3mm/r. The service life of YG8R is 1.5~2 times that of YG8, and the impact resistance is improved.

　　Industry experts believe that because our country has imported molds with nearly 1 billion US dollars every year in recent years, of which precision, large, complex and long-life molds account for the majority, so from the perspective of reducing imports, the share of such high-end molds and hardware tools in the market will gradually increase. In the future, our country's mold and CNC tool industry will also rank among the best in the world.

　　In the past year, the slow growth of demand in China's tool market is mainly due to the increase in tool life, and then users have put forward requirements for the entire manufacturing process, replacing many machine tools and tools. and the application of multi-functional tools has increased, replacing many simple tools with single function in the past.

　　In the future, users will pay more attention to the research and development of tools in production plants, not only in the field of materials and surface coating technology, but also in the field of tool products and their production processes, focusing on production practices, which will help tool manufacturers increase their market competitiveness in the fields they are familiar with.

　　From the perspective of the development trend of the machinery manufacturing industry, the main components of high-efficiency CNC high-end advanced tools CNC machine tools in our country's factories in the future. The proportion of machine tools will increase year by year, and the demand for high-efficiency and advanced tools will also increase. China is a major producer and exporter of hardware tools, most of the power tools sold worldwide are produced and exported from our country Although our country's tool industry is large, due to factors such as weak technological innovation capabilities, too single market structure, weak brand influence, etc., many tool manufacturers often lack core competitiveness, low-end product technology, and it is difficult to become bigger and stronger. Advanced tools are the main components necessary for CNC machine tools, but there is a big gap between the tools produced by domestic tool manufacturers and foreign advanced tools.

　　Of course, there are also quite advanced tools in Tianjin, Shanghai and other places, mainly there is a price difference, but this trend is obviously that the demand for advanced tools is increasing year by year. According to statistics, the country consumes 40% of the world's tools and materials, but its sales revenue only accounts for 12%-15% of the world's tool industry. The gross profit margin of tool enterprises in developed countries is about 40%, while the profits of our country's tool factories are very low, and some tool factories are still losing money.

　　From the perspective of the technological development trend of the machinery manufacturing industry, the proportion of high-efficiency CNC machine tools in our country's factories will increase year by year, the demand for high-efficiency advanced tools will increase rapidly, and the demand for aggressive standardized tools will decrease year by year. In view of the increasing demand for advanced tools of CNC machine tools, our country's tool industry must change its concept, vigorously develop the production of efficient advanced tools, pay attention to sales at the same time, pay more attention to after-sales service, and strive to innovate to occupy more market share.