Mold Industry: Global Supply Chain Innovation Development Model

"With the development of information technology and computer network technology, the mold manufacturing industry has entered a new era of globalization." The relevant professor of the Secretary-General of the International Mold and Hardware Industry Suppliers Association said that at present, China's economic growth continues to slow down, the economy Rapid growth has significantly weakened the pull of various industries. Market demand is a major factor in the development of the mold industry. Although the downstream industries in various mold industries have weakened the role of the mold industry in China, with the continuous progress of China's mold industry, mold manufacturing technology has improved, and mold types have become diverse. With the promotion of emerging industries such as energy conservation and emission reduction, the demand for molds in China is gradually increasing.

Although the demand for molds in the Chinese market is still growing further, its growth rate has obviously slowed down compared with the same period in history. Although the automotive, electronics, home appliances, aerospace, new energy, IT, medical machinery, and high-speed railway industries have provided new market opportunities for the mold industry, the demand for molds has continued to slow as the industry's growth rate has declined. This has led to a slowdown in the pace of development of China's mold industry.

“From the point of view of the upstream and downstream industries in the current mold manufacturing industry, digital prototypes, 3D printing, 4D printing, 5D printing, continuous improvement of tool rationality, technical ideas, and application experience are constantly combined with industry applications to promote mold manufacturing. Enterprise transformation and upgrading and business model innovation." Associate professor pointed out that efficiency, innovation, sustainability, etc. are the future development direction of mold manufacturing. Affected by new manufacturing technologies, the supply chain has entered the era of software definition. New generation manufacturing technologies such as 3D printers, intelligent robots, and open source hardware have driven the supply chain into a new era of “software definition”. The biggest feature of this supply chain is miniaturization, Simplification and localization.

If you use a set of words to describe the current development of the global supply chain, "California Design, China Assembly" is undoubtedly very appropriate. Although this may seem simple, it has an extremely complex supply chain operation process behind it. Numerous global supplier networks, sub-assembly companies, and logistics service companies have converged to form a huge supply chain network.

Software-defined supply chain

In the era of digital economy, the supplier network is all over the world and the relationship is complicated. How to make it harmonious and unified operation becomes a big problem. So, is there an alternative solution? According to the relevant professor of the Secretary-General of the International Tool & Die & Hardware & Plastic Industry Suppliers Association, the world is entering a new era of supply chain. Its greatest feature is miniaturization, simplification and localization, and the biggest driving force for the supply chain to enter a new era is New generation manufacturing technologies from 3D printers, smart robots and open source hardware. This new era of supply chain is also known as "softwaredefinedsupplychain".

In the next five years, with the rapid development of the "software-defined supply chain", it is expected that the prices of most major consumer products will decline and their market operations will be simpler. In fact, if calculated on an average basis, the cost of this new production model will be 23% lower than that of the traditional model. Although the concept of low cost is not new, the supply chain once again achieved localization and simplification has attracted widespread attention.

With low-cost assembly robots and 3D printers, almost any solid-state part can be manufactured, which will make the entire assembly process more efficient. In this case, it is very simple for suppliers to achieve process simplification. According to a recent report released by ibm, in the “software-defined supply chain” environment, the minimum production scale for ensuring operations and cost competitiveness is on average 90% lower than before. It is expected to be applied in the large-scale production process in the next five years. Although the industry has doubts about the actual value of 3D printers in large-scale production, according to research, 3D manufacturing technology has been greatly improved by adding some new key patents, and it will be able to print the average cost of objects within five years. A reduction of 79%, and by 2023, the average cost reduction will even reach 90%.

Impact of supply chain changes

Of course, for some industries, "software-defined supply chain" is not the good news. For example, the intermediate links we need to improve efficiency will completely lose their value. Molds, foundry manufacturers and special component manufacturers will eventually be replaced by 3D printers. In the field of electronic product manufacturing, if based on open-source design, coupled with low-cost 3D printers and assembly robots, companies will be able to quickly connect with the market and sell small-scale products at reasonable prices.

For consumers, the development of "software-defined supply chain" means that customized products can be obtained more quickly. For example, in an old-fashioned house, a company can tailor a washing machine product according to the interior design style. If it is still necessary to use spare parts for the washing machine, the merchant can directly print it out on a 3D printer without requiring the consumer to ask again.

In general, the new, supply-chain model of localization and simplification will gradually replace the current huge and complex global supply chain model.