Deep analysis of the status quo and development trend of domestic diamond tools

As a superhard material with excellent performance, synthetic diamond is invaluable. From the point of view of synthetic methods, it has experienced high temperature and high pressure method, detonation method and chemical vapor deposition method. The fundamental principle is to provide an environment similar to high temperature and high pressure in the earth's crust to achieve the purpose of synthesis. From the perspective of material morphology and quality, diamonds need to undergo low-quality micronized powder, to high-quality, perfect structure of nano-size and gem-scale size, single crystal and polycrystalline together, and finally various doping to meet functional requirements. In simple terms, it is developing in both directions of micro and macro, and finally achieving functionalization. From the application point of view, diamond needs to be more valuable from traditional tools (mainly relying on high hardness and high wear resistance) to high-end tools (precision tools) to functional devices. At present, the application of diamonds is still difficult to break away from the scope of tools, as follows.

Diamond tools mainly include grinding tools, cutting tools, drilling tools, dressing tools, etc., which are widely used in geological exploration, stone, mechanical bearings, semiconductors, sapphire, composite materials, automotive and defense industries. At present, China's diamond tools have formed a series of products, the specifications are relatively complete, a few products have certain competitiveness in the international market, most of the product performance and cost performance need to be improved, and the competitiveness is low.

Analysis of the status quo of global diamond tools

At present, the global diamond market can be divided into three basic types. The first type is European and American countries, mainly including advanced countries such as the United States and Europe. They have more than 40 years of experience in diamond tool manufacturing, and their strength is strong. Leading, the sales system is perfect, and the market has formed a monopoly trend. Some representative diamond tool manufacturing groups in Europe and the United States, such as Husqvarna, have annual turnover of more than $300 million.

The second type is mainly Japanese and Korean. Its experience in producing diamonds and tools has been more than 30 years, and it has developed rapidly. It has occupied a certain position in the DIY market and the high-end market, and gradually entered the professional market. Among the manufacturing companies in Japan and South Korea, the related process technologies mainly include hot press sintering and laser welding processes. Representative units such as Japan Asahi Diamond Industry Co., Ltd. can produce more than 200 million US dollars per year.

The third type is a manufacturing company based in China. Some diamond tools in China have a high level of quality. Some foreign diamond tool brands are also commissioned by Chinese companies. However, most of the products produced by most companies are low in quality and low price. Although there are many tools, they are low-end products. The quantity and volume of quality products together is not enough to compete with foreign countries.

Analysis of the status quo of Chinese diamond tools

At this stage, major diamond tool export bases such as the Beijing area, Shijiazhuang area, Danyang-based Yangtze River Delta, Fujian Shuitou, Xiamen, Shandong coastal areas, Guangdong Foshan-based Pearl River Delta region have been formed in the country; Diamond tools in the Central Plains area centered on Zhengzhou and Hubei Ezhou area are also developing rapidly.

Problems and deficiencies in the development of diamond tools

(1) The independent innovation ability of production enterprises is not strong

The specific situation of the industry is: benchmarking enterprises that focus on independent innovation can develop some international high-end products, but the output is not large enough to meet the domestic and international market demand. These companies are limited in number and can represent the highest level in the country, but it is difficult to represent the overall level of the industry. Most companies have problems with quality and efficiency, rising production and operating costs and insufficient innovation capabilities. Some enterprises have more arduous tasks of “de-capacity”, and the backward production capacity has not been eliminated on a large scale. The development of diamond tool manufacturers is difficult to meet the diversified needs of domestic and foreign markets. At present, many high-end products used in emerging industries need to be vigorously developed to further expand the application of various types of super-hard materials, which is a big test for the company's research and development capabilities and innovation capabilities.

(2) Production technology needs to be further improved, taking the road of specialization

Most diamond companies were unable to complete technical updates in time due to funding problems, and failed to purchase new equipment. If you want to develop a first-class product, it is very difficult to complete without advanced technology and equipment. The testing of raw materials and the strict control of the production process still need to be continuously improved. As we all know, the profit of general-purpose products is low, and the profit of special-purpose products is high. In order to make special products and realize personalized and customized services, we must be familiar with the user's production process and become a guiding expert of the application. This is not a general enterprise or a single team. Can be achieved quickly. Although the degree of product specialization in China has increased in recent years, the task is still very heavy, which is the only way for the industry to transform and upgrade its products.

(3) Improve product quality standards, especially improve inspection and testing capabilities

The diamond industry began to conduct standard research and drafts in 1973. In 1979, the first industry standard "synthetic diamond" was born, which opened the prelude to the industry product standard revision. After more than 30 years of development, the current national and industry standards for superhard materials and their products in China have reached 41, which has played a huge role in regulating industry products and promoting the development of the industry. However, with the development of China's industrialization, the super-hard materials industry continues to advance, the application fields of super-hard materials are expanding, and the specifications of super-hard materials are increasing. Many products have no standards to follow, and many manufacturers in China directly lead to The specifications of commercially available products are confusing, and the versatility of products of different manufacturers is poor. In addition, with the increasing variety of diamond products, we put forward higher requirements for our inspection and testing capabilities. Hubei Province has established a national diamond tool quality supervision and inspection center to gradually fill the gap in the domestic authority diamond testing.

Development Status of China's Four Diamond Tool Research and Development Centers

The first town of China's diamond cutters - Yanji Town, Ezhou, Hubei

In the past 30 years of development, the diamond cutters of Yanzhou Town in Ezhou have turned from prosperous. With the guidance of the relevant departments of Ezhou Municipal Government and the hard work of entrepreneurs, the diamond cutter industry in Yanji Town, which has been dying for ten years, is slow. Slowly grow up.

In recent years, Yanji people who have mastered many tool core production technologies have begun to invest and set up factories across the country, forming three “Yanji Tool Towns” in stone production bases such as Shandong Laizhou, Fujian Shuitou and Guangdong Yunfu. Experts in the industry said that the diamond tools in Yanji Town are now at the forefront of international cutting tools. Yanji tools have been exported to Japan, South Korea, Russia, Italy and Southeast Asia, and the export revenue has reached more than 10 million US dollars. In the future, Yanji Town enterprises will go deeper into the international market with the Yanji tool brand.

One of China's diamond tool production bases - Quanzhou, Fujian

As we all know, Fujian has the largest stone processing base in the country. It is precisely because of the prosperous development of the stone industry that it has driven the rapid development of related industry diamond tools. There are already more than 100 diamond tool companies' production bases here, with relatively independent and complete industries. The chain has developed into one of the main production bases of domestic diamond tools.

However, the diamond enterprises here have always had a large brain drain, lack of innovative talents, slow technological innovation, small scale of production, and insufficient industrial base. These problems are the main reasons for restricting the development of the base industry.

The hometown of Chinese saw blades - Danyang, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province

Since the 1980s, Zhenjiang Danyang has been developing the hardware and tools export industry. The entire annual Danyang City has nearly 3 billion annual twist drills and more than 60 million diamond saw blades. It has become the largest diamond saw blade in Asia. , drill production base.

Tiangong Group and Feida Group, the leading enterprises in Danyang hardware tools industry, have strong strength and lead the steady development of the local hardware industry. However, there are still problems in the development of products with low technical content and weak profits.

Leading by the leading enterprises - Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province

The diamond tools in Shijiazhuang City are mainly based on the domestic market, supplemented by foreign markets. The diamond tools exported are mainly saw blades. The products are mainly thin-walled drill bits, sintered grinding discs and small saw blades for architectural decoration. Boshen Tools Co., Ltd., Fu Shihua Yukai Diamond Tools Co., Ltd. and Xiaobe Tools Group Co., Ltd. have an annual output value of more than 100 million yuan.

According to the Superhard Materials Branch of the Machine Tool Industry Association, the capacity of Shijiazhuang diamond saw blades in foreign markets has reached 25 billion yuan. However, as far as the current market is concerned, the prospects for export of domestic diamond tools are still very broad.

The attractive development prospect of diamond tools in China

The urban gap is the potential, and the biggest development potential in the country in the coming decades is urbanization.

The development of building materials market is a powerful driving force for the development of diamond tools

As we all know, real estate is the engine that drives economic development and the engine that drives the development of the diamond industry. Building materials and construction require diamond tools as a support. In fact, in the final analysis, the construction of infrastructure is still inseparable from diamond tools. According to the data, real estate and infrastructure construction will continue to drive the development of the diamond tool industry for at least the next five years. Building materials such as stone and floor tiles are closely related to real estate and closely related to diamonds. It can be said that there is no modern stone and floor tile industry without the development of the diamond tool industry.

The development of machining is a powerful driving force for the development of diamond tools

The "Made in China 2025" is actually based on manufacturing. Diamond tools as a tool for manufacturing are undoubtedly the cornerstone of development. Machine tools, automobiles, tractors, home appliances, aerospace, military, etc. are the main application areas of precision cutting and grinding tools for superhard materials. The fields of integrated circuits, clean energy, photovoltaics, semiconductors, and LEDs are emerging applications of diamond tools. And the development potential is huge.

Mineral exploration and railway construction are powerful engines for the development of diamond tools

The exploration and development of oil and gas resources is not only related to the development of the national economy, but also to the national energy security. The world today not only continues to deepen the exploration and development of land resources, but has already applied oil to the deep layers of 3,000 to 6,000 meters, and has set its sights on the wider ocean. The rapid development of oil and gas exploration and development, coupled with the exploration and development of mineral resources such as coal, steel, non-ferrous metals and non-metals, has brought new development opportunities for diamond drilling tools, and also put forward higher requirements. In addition, China's railway construction ranks first in the world. By the end of 2017, China's high-speed rail operating mileage reached 25,000 kilometers, accounting for more than 70% of the world's total high-speed rail. In 2020, it will reach 30,000 kilometers, and the scale of the railway network will reach 150,000 kilometers. Eight vertical and eight horizontal, covering more than 80% of big cities. These are all attractive prospects for diamond exploration and extraction tools.

The prospects are tempting, how to start a journey in a thousand miles, please continue to see:

(1) Increase the investment in the diamond tool industry, pay close attention to the development of new products and the promotion of new technologies and new processes, promote the sincere cooperation between technical teams and production enterprises, and support some technical consulting and service units. Improve the overall technical level and market competitiveness of the diamond tool industry, and continuously expand the field of diamond application, survive by variety and quality, and seek development with scientific and technological progress.

(2) In recent years, the demand for diamond tools in the processing of machinery, gemstones, medical equipment, wood, glass steel, stone crafts, precision ceramics and composite materials has increased year by year. At present, these products still rely on imports at home, and we must speed up development and make up for the gap to replace imports.

Products to be developed and improved: PDC drill bits for oil drilling, diamond grinding blocks for stone polishing, engineering thin-wall drill bits, diamond grinding stone, diamond film coating tools, diamond rollers, rubber bond diamond plastic tools, PCD diamond tools , diamond stylus, nozzle, diamond heat sink and triode.

Technologies that need to be upgraded or strengthened: vacuum welding technology, EDM technology, diamond uniform technology, diamond rhodium plating technology, metallization bonding technology, laser welding process, etc.

(3) Strengthen internal management, continuously improve production processes, take the road of grouping or joint ventures, set up leading enterprises, rely on the vast number of technology research and development teams, guide the creation of national brands, and actively participate in international competition.

(4) Accelerate the construction of authoritative testing institutions, gradually establish testing and testing centers in various provinces and cities, and strictly control the quality of products in accordance with the standards of Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea. At the same time, the production license system is implemented. Diamond tools not only have performance requirements but also safety requirements. The implementation of the production license system is a mandatory measure to strengthen the responsibility of diamond tool manufacturers and eliminate enterprises with low technology and poor management. It is conducive to improving product quality, is conducive to increasing the international market share, is conducive to improving economic efficiency, and is conducive to achieving the goal of energy saving and emission reduction.

(5) To improve the overall technical level of the diamond tool industry, we must start with high-quality materials, advanced technology and equipment. In terms of main materials, the quality of Chinese diamonds has improved rapidly and has been able to meet the needs of diamond tool production. It is also necessary to increase the level of pre-alloyed powder in the diamond tool carcass, enhance the holding force of the carcass on the diamond, and fully utilize the function of the diamond; further promote the orderly arrangement of diamonds (multi-layer, uniform) technology, and the current diamond tools The quality is pushed to the top; the automatic demoulding technology should be promoted on the equipment of cold-pressed saw blades, which can improve the yield and improve the work efficiency, and also ensure safe production.

(6) Rational division of labor, organization of large-scale production, and improvement of international competitiveness. At present, China's diamond tool industry is basically in a state of disorderly competition. The scale of enterprises varies, the level of technology is uneven, cooperation is less, and price wars and internal consumption are serious. Need to regroup, form group strength, encourage those enterprises with high technical level and strong strength to become bigger and stronger, eliminate those enterprises with low technical level, small scale and poor strength, truly realize energy saving and emission reduction, and environmentally friendly production.