The 19th China International Machine Tool Exhibition was held in Beijing a few days ago. The exhibition area of ​​310,000 square meters not only breaks the exhibition's scale record, but also becomes the world's largest professional machine tool tool event in the past 10 years. More than 2,400 companies from 31 countries and regions gathered together with the latest technologies and products to fully demonstrate the cutting-edge trends in the machine tool industry.

  Behind the scale upgrade is the strong demand in China's market and the accelerated pace of innovation in machine tool companies. Mao Yufeng, president of the China Machine Tools Industry Association, said that as the world's largest machine tool manufacturer and machine tool consumer market, China has not only promoted the technological upgrading and structural optimization of the domestic machine tool industry, but also injected strong impetus into the coordinated development of the global machine tool industry.

  AI-driven intelligent manufacturing upgrade

  As we entered the venue, there were crowds of people and the machine tools were clamoring, and wonderful "industrial shows" were staged one after another.

  In front of the Central China CNC booth, the staff immediately woke up the intelligent CNC system with a sentence of "start intelligent programming". After a few seconds, the imported model appears on the screen, with amazing response speed and output quality.

  This is the world's first new generation of intelligent CNC system that integrates AI chips and AI models - the 10 smart CNC system in the middle of Huazhong. As the world's first intelligent CNC system with independent learning capabilities, its release marks a major breakthrough in my country's high-end CNC system field, achieving a leap from "following" technology to "leading" innovation.

  Chen Jihong, chairman of Huazhong CNC, told reporters, "We have given the system the ability to learn independently and innovatively built a technical architecture of 'one intelligent base, two digital main lines, and three functional subsystems', creating a new paradigm in the advanced stage of intelligent manufacturing." At present, the system has the equivalent of an engineer with 2 to 3 years of work experience, and can continue to evolve through data training. Its open platform supports the localized deployment of enterprise small models to effectively ensure data security.

  Huazhong CNC's breakthrough in intelligent systems is not an isolated case. At this exhibition, the deep integration of AI technology and machine tool industry has become the focus of industry attention. The latest products launched by many domestic machine tool companies vividly showcase the fruitful results of upgrading from traditional manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing.

  As the main production base in the field of heavy machine tools, Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group Co., Ltd. released the world's first intelligent heavy machine tool independently developed during the exhibition - the high-speed, high-precision, intelligent heavy-duty vertical milling and turning machining center, and simultaneously launched the "Wu Chongyun" online intelligent service platform developed in China.

  Compared with traditional heavy-duty machine tools, intelligent heavy-duty machine tools have become smarter, more stable in performance and more reliable in quality through AI. Qin Yong, general manager and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Wuhan Heavy Machine Tool Group Co., Ltd., introduced that this new product is equipped with a dynamic digital twin platform. When the machine tool is working, the internal sensor can detect the vibration curves of various parts in real time, and use the curve for accuracy compensation and feedback, thereby further improving the accuracy of the machine tool.

  Mao Yufeng introduced that with the empowerment of AI technology and the rapid development of the machine tool industry, the production efficiency and quality of enterprises have been rapidly improved, and the costs have been significantly reduced, which has also promoted the coordinated development of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain.

  "The next 10 years will be a critical period for the development of smart CNC machine tools, a typical equipment for the new generation of intelligent manufacturing." Zhou Ji, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the National Manufacturing Power Construction Strategy Advisory Committee, said that promoting the new industrialization process with the help of artificial intelligence technology has become the core technical path for the innovation and development of manufacturing industry, and the new generation of intelligent manufacturing is a key link in this path.

  New scenarios bring new demand

  Machine tools are known as the "device making device" and are the core hub of the modern industrial system. Represented by the 3C electronics industry and the new energy vehicle industry, the booming emerging industries have brought new demands and opportunities to China's local machine tool industry, and a number of machine tool companies have emerged with the trend.

  Above the booth of Wuhan Huagong Laser Engineering Co., Ltd., the sign "Laser Intelligent Manufacturing + AI" is particularly eye-catching. The fifth generation of three-dimensional five-axis laser cutting intelligent equipment exhibited this time is equipped with an AI intelligent interactive system for the first time.

  Deng Jiake, general manager of Wuhan Huagong Laser Engineering Co., Ltd., told reporters that the fifth generation of three-dimensional five-axis laser cutting intelligent equipment is comprehensively improved around high-speed and high-precision. With the rapid growth of new energy vehicles and the development trend of lightweight, domestic and foreign automakers have surged for high-strength steel plates. This type of steel plate must be cut with laser, which also promotes enterprises to accelerate their overseas pace.

  In addition, the development of emerging industries such as commercial aerospace and low-altitude economy has opened up a broader market space for the machine tool industry. According to the "2024-2043 Civil Aircraft China Market Forecast Annual Report", it is expected that China needs to supplement 8,278 civil aircraft of various types. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China also shows that by 2025, the size of the low-altitude economic market will reach 1.5 trillion yuan and is expected to reach 3.5 trillion yuan by 2035.

  Kede CNC successfully seized the opportunities brought by the wave of emerging industries. According to a relevant person in charge of Code, the company's five-axis vertical machining center, horizontal machining center and other products have been used in the production links such as helicopter engines and large-scale drone fuselage structural parts. In 2024, the company's new order amount increased by about 24% year-on-year. Among the new domestic orders, the aerospace field accounts for 53%; the repurchase rate of new orders for five-axis linkage CNC machine tools is about 41%, of which private enterprises account for about 74%. The company's independently developed five-axis linkage CNC machine tool covers the processing of core components such as aircraft engine blades and aircraft landing gears, and has provided equipment to nearly 30 domestic aviation companies.

  Mao Yufeng analyzed that in recent years, my country has cultivated and expanded emerging industries and future industries, carried out demonstration actions for large-scale application of new technologies, new products and new scenarios, and promoted the safe and healthy development of emerging industries such as commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and deep-sea technology. Establish a mechanism for future industrial investment growth and cultivate future industries such as biomanufacturing, quantum technology, embodied intelligence, and 6G. With the development of emerging industries and future industries, the demand for high-end machine tools continues to rise, the demand structure of China's machine tool market will undergo significant changes and the demand level will significantly increase.

  Actively integrate into the international industrial chain

  As a strategic basic industry that concerns national security and overall development, the machine tool industry has a crucial level of development. For machine tool companies, seizing the opportunities of scientific and technological innovation and international development, actively participating in the division of labor in the international industrial chain, and enhancing global competitiveness are the necessary paths for enterprise development and the need for national momentum transformation.

  Zhejiang Changer Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd., which specializes in high-end CNC pulling beds, is the pioneer of innovation in the industry. At this exhibition, the company demonstrated intelligent precision broaching technology and intelligent complete equipment. Lin Lugao, chairman of Changer Company, proudly stated that in response to major equipment needs, the company has mastered a number of key broking technology technologies, developed five-axis/six-axis CNC pull-up beds precision-processed by turbine discs such as aviation engines and gas turbines, and provided high-performance industrial mother machines for aerospace, ships, etc., realizing alternative imports, and exporting domestic high-end equipment to the global market.

  China General Technology (Group) Holdings Co., Ltd., the largest central enterprise participating in this exhibition, exhibited a number of high-quality high-end machine tool products and full-chain intelligent manufacturing solutions, including 22 machine tool hosts, 3 models, 4 machine tool measuring instruments, and 8 functional components. At the exhibition site, General Technology Group signed contracts with customers in many key industries and fields, and the amount of intention contracts in the first two days before the exhibition was nearly 500 million yuan.

  Chinese companies are actively "going out", while more and more foreign companies choose to "going in". This exhibition attracted more than 800 overseas machine tool tool companies to participate in the exhibition, and machine tool associations and trade promotion agencies from 13 countries and regions including Germany and the United Kingdom participated in the exhibition. In recent years, major machine tool companies around the world, such as DeMagesen Seiki, Yamazaki Mazak, and TRUMPF, have built factories in China or expanded production capacity. This two-way interactive flow provides opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises to reduce costs and improve efficiency and expand the incremental market, and also forces local enterprises to catch up, innovate and develop, build a machine tool industry ecosystem in competition and cooperation, and jointly develop Chinese and international markets.

  "The world economy continues to move forward in the interweaving of cooperation and opening up and trade protection, free exchanges and tariff barriers, and every choice is crucial." Mao Yufeng said that he believes that China will inevitably be an important gathering place for the global machine tool industry, an ideal investment destination and an innovative application scenario for technological progress. Walking with China is walking with opportunities, and investing in China is investing in the future. (Reporter Liu Jin and Pan Zhuoran)

[Editor in charge: Zhou Jingjie]