Since the outbreak in 2020, many industries have been disrupted by the pandemic. The injection molding machine industry in China has also been affected by factors such as increased material prices, weak consumption in various industries, and fierce internal competition. 

Jerry Wang, Ningbo FCS Vice Chairman, offered his insight into how the injection molding machine industry will evolve in 2022 and beyond.

Photo/ Jerry Wang, FCS Vice Chairman

The Industry is in a Trend of Diversified Development, Medical Care and Automotive Parts Have Become Big Markets

1. Demand for medical products remains strong



Nucleic acid testing has been normalized and the demand for medical products continues to be strong. Many manufacturers have developed their own injection molding machines to manufacture medical products and optimized energy-saving injection molding to adapt to the market. 

"The medical industry will still be one of the most important markets for injection molding machines in the future, and injection molding machines will have faster speed, higher precision, and strong flexibility," said Jerry Wang. "This requires injection molding machines to evolve in the direction of all-electric or to achieve electric-driven injection unit.!" 

All-electric is the trend for future development of injection molding machines. It can improve precision and reduce pollution caused by oil pollution. As more and more efforts will be made to achieve the "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" goals, it will become the mainstream of the industry. 

2. New growth points are emerging in the automotive parts

With the proposal of the "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" goals, the advancement of new energy vehicles has become an essential measure in the transportation sector to achieve those goals. In 2022 Q1, the cumulative sales of battery electric vehicle reached 954,000, which realized a year-on-year increase of 133.3%. In the meantime, the multiple oil price rises in 2022 also allowed the new energy vehicle market to thrive again. 

As automobile exteriors, especially automobile lamps, have become more beautiful, higher requirements have been raised for injection molding machines, and large two-component injection molding machines will become the new wind vane in the automobile sector. 

Specialized in two-component injection molding machines and multi-component injection molding machines for 38 years, FCS has launched an all-electric two-component injection molding machine and other products. The products have stable quality and fully consider the cost performance, which has improved user experience. 

Jerry Wang told the reporter, "The enhanced automobile exterior lamp design has also raised higher requirements for injection molding machines. We will make further efforts to launch multi-component injection molding machines with higher clamping force to meet user demand and contribute to the sustainable development of China's automobile sector."

The Industry is Faced with Many Difficulties and Needs the Joint Efforts of All Parties

In 2021, the term "involution" resonated across industries. In 2022, raw material prices remain high. Affected by the global pandemic and the sagging economy, the consumption capacity has declined, and equipment manufacturing has also been hit. 

Facing the complex market environment, Jerry Wang said that enterprises in the injection molding machine industry should make joint efforts, learn from each other, and provide featured and high-quality products in sectors where they have advantages. 

FCS specializes in the development and production of two-component and multi-component injection molding machines. In high-speed injection molding machines, all-electric injection molding machines, and other fields, FCS cooperates with peers in order to solve the problems of technology and production, and to stabilize the market. All these efforts have played a good effect in improving product quality and stability. 
 

About controlling the cost of injection molding machines, Jerry Wang said: 

"First of all, we need to cooperate with material suppliers for mutual benefits. Our new plant in Ningbo Hangzhou Bay will be completed soon, which can provide suppliers with stable and continuous product orders. In the meantime, suppliers will have stable benefits in aspects such as procurement costs. 

"Second, it has become the development trend in all industries to replace imports with domestic products. Without a doubt, as the quality and stability of Chinese products have improved continuously, product price advantages become an important competitive power. This helps us address the risk of our supply chain in a volatile global environment and provide better after-sales service and keep pricing competitive."

Two-component and multi-component injection molding machines, as FCS's core products, have a more complex process, and therefore the delivery cycle is relatively long. In order to better reduce the cost, the R&D Department has been making efforts in the general utilization, modularization, and standardization of parts and components. In the meantime, FCS has always attached importance to reducing the failure rate of machines to ensure stable equipment quality. A low failure rate helps us reduce the after-sales service costs and is the best way to effectively reduce production costs and improve the influence of the enterprise brand. 

In 2022 H1, FCS's performance remained stable. In 2022 Q1, FCS's customer orders in the automobile industry hit a new high. At present, FCS's orders from the automobile industry have accounted for more than 50% of the total. 

Our new plant in Ningbo Hangzhou Bay is accelerating its construction and is expected to be put into operation in 2023. By then, it will be able to better meet FCS's steadily growing capacity demand. 

"In the future, the injection molding machine will take "specialized and refined" development as its market positioning. The segmented markets will be more and more segmented, and single champions and leading enterprises will emerge in many sectors. Injection molding machine industry will also form a benign competition model in which all parties make joint efforts and learn from each other!" concluded Jerry Wang.  

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