I. Overview
1. Exhibition Scale
Process instrument calibrators are mainly used for on-site testing of temperature transmitters, pressure transmitters, and indicating instruments used with transmitters. These instruments primarily include dry block furnace temperature calibrators, pressure calibrators, and thermal instrument calibrators. Nearly 20 domestic and international exhibitors showcased these products at this exhibition. Exhibitor participation is shown in Table 1.
2. The quality of the exhibits
Most of the foreign companies participating in this exhibition brought products of internationally advanced level, and both domestic and foreign companies launched new products. Against the backdrop of the financial crisis, China's investment in heavy industry has attracted global companies to compete for the Chinese market, and each company has chosen China as the launch site for its new products. The level of exhibits at this exhibition has greatly improved compared to the previous one.
II. Exhibit Analysis and Technical Level Evaluation
1. Highlights and Hot Topics of the Exhibits
The process instrument calibrators showcased at this exhibition had many highlights and were particularly noteworthy, especially the pressure calibrators, which attracted a large number of customers. These are described below:
(1) GE's DPI620 series products. GE has not launched any major new products for many years. The DPI620 showcased at this exhibition is a new generation of advanced modular calibration system integrating a world-class pressure calibrator and a multi-functional process calibrator. GE's promotional slogan is "Revolutionary innovative product, one-stop mobile calibration expert." Although its anti-blocking and leak-proof performance still needs to be tested by users, many design concepts of the DPI620 series products are at the forefront of the world. This product is worth the user's anticipation.
(2) The 719 Portable Automatic Pressure Calibrator from Fluke Corporation (USA) Portable automatic pressure calibrators have always been a weak point for Fluke. Since Fluke acquired DHI Corporation (USA), it has gained a foothold in the high-end pressure calibration field. At this exhibition, Fluke launched the 719 Portable Automatic Pressure Calibrator, an upgrade from the 718. This product features a built-in electric air pump, making pressure testing very convenient.
(3) Beijing Constance's CST1088 intelligent micro-pressure generator and handheld pressure pump were showcased at this exhibition. The CST1088 intelligent micro-pressure generator has an accuracy of 0.05% and a pressure fluctuation of less than 0.1 Pa. Its resolution is 0.1 Pa, and its biggest advantage is that it requires no preheating. Constance's portable pressure calibration solution was also a highlight of the exhibition. The handheld pressure pump in this solution offers significantly better pressure generation convenience than foreign pliers pressure pumps.
(4) Temperature and pressure calibrators from NAGMAN, India. NAGMAN, an Indian company, exhibited its own temperature and pressure calibrators. This was the first time the company had brought these products to China. Currently, the technical specifications and manufacturing level of Indian products are lower than those of Chinese products. However, Indian products are not expensive.
2. Technological Trends and Development Trends as Seen from Trade Shows
This exhibition revealed the technological trends and development directions of process calibration instruments. The technological development trend of dry block furnace temperature calibrators is towards dual temperature control technology and rapid heating and cooling technology. Currently, typical representatives of these two technologies are AMETEK and FLUKE in the United States. At this exhibition, the manufacturers did not promote their newly launched dry block furnace temperature calibrators.
Thermal indicator instrument calibrators are more mature products compared to temperature and pressure calibrators. No new products were showcased by domestic manufacturers at this exhibition. A typical instrument in this category is the Fluke 744 process instrument calibrator. Its accuracy is sufficient for on-site calibration of process instruments, and it is fully functional, including the HART protocol. GE's new product, the DPI620CE, possesses the same functionality as the Fluke 744. Additionally, this product features a touchscreen, USB connectivity, Windows CE operating system, and wireless communication. The most intense competition among exhibitors at this exhibition was for pressure calibrators. Various domestic and international companies launched several new pressure calibrators. This exhibition shows that the development trend of pressure calibrators is towards higher intelligence, automation, and compact portability. For on-site calibration of pressure instruments, the most suitable pressure calibrator is the automated portable pressure calibrator, a combination of intelligence and miniaturization.
3. Domestic products' independent intellectual property rights and innovation
Many of the domestic exhibitors at this exhibition are product manufacturers. The instruments exhibited by domestic manufacturers primarily feature proprietary intellectual property rights. Representatives of domestic manufacturers with proprietary intellectual property rights include Beijing AVIC Electromechanical, Beijing Kangster, Shanxi Taihang, and Zhejiang University Control. Due to the characteristics of the process instrument calibrator industry, its market size is relatively small, and the scale of manufacturing enterprises is not large. Even for a relatively large company like Zhejiang University Control, process instrument calibrators only constitute a small part of its business. Looking at the three application directions of process instrument calibrators, the innovation of domestic manufacturers is mainly focused on pressure calibrators. Domestic manufacturers have made significant innovations in products such as portable pressure pumps and intelligent pressure controllers.
III. Market Demand Situation and Forecast
China is currently one of the world's fastest-growing countries, with the highest GDP growth rate globally. China's development is based on investment in heavy industry. Because process instrument calibrators are used in heavy industry, the Chinese market has attracted competition from the world's top instrument suppliers, even drawing Indian companies to expand into the Chinese market. The financial crisis originating in the United States began to impact China's real economy in 2008, with 2009 predicted to be the year of lowest market demand. With the implementation of the national policy to expand domestic demand, the demand for process instrument calibrators in the Chinese market is expected to reach 500 million RMB in 2010, with an annual growth rate of approximately 10% thereafter.
IV. Existing Problems and Suggestions for Industrial Revitalization
1. Existing Problems
Currently, the gap between domestic and foreign manufacturers in the process instrument calibration field is enormous. Foreign companies are at least 10 years ahead. We have only made breakthroughs in a few specific areas. The gap is mainly reflected in: First, the technological gap, primarily in product reliability and performance. For example, the measurement accuracy of foreign products is an order of magnitude higher than that of domestic products. Second, the gap in overall corporate strength, mainly in company size. The sales revenue of domestic process instrument calibration manufacturers is generally 10 times or more lower than that of their foreign counterparts; even the largest domestic company is more than 4 times smaller than its foreign counterpart. This gap is also reflected in labor productivity, with a 10-30 fold difference in per capita labor productivity between domestic and foreign companies. Furthermore, domestic companies' R&D investment is severely insufficient, generally less than 3% of their annual sales revenue.
2. Suggestions for revitalizing the domestic process instrument calibration instrument industry
First, strengthen basic scientific research capabilities and establish an industry-academia-research system. Because manufacturers in the process instrument calibration field are generally small-scale and their R&D capabilities are very weak, leveraging the strengths of universities and research institutions to strengthen the industry-academia-research system is an effective way to quickly improve the industry's R&D capabilities.
Secondly, it is crucial to enhance product awareness and strengthen product capabilities. Currently, Chinese companies have a rather weak product awareness. A common problem is prioritizing functionality over reliability. Why do so few Chinese companies have their own brands in the process instrument calibration field? This is directly related to the poor reliability of domestic products.
Third, increase government support for enterprise R&D. Currently, no large state-owned enterprises are competing in the process instrument calibration instrument field; private enterprises are the main force in this industry. Relevant departments should earnestly implement national preferential policies for enterprise independent innovation and R&D investment. The government should also provide support through research funds.
For details, please click: The Development of Process Instrument Calibration Instruments as Seen from the 19th Multinational Instrumentation Exhibition
