Uncertainties affecting the industry's economic performance persisted in 2016, and experts predicted that the machinery industry would continue to face severe challenges. However, with the gradual implementation of national macro-control policies and the gradual improvement of the macroeconomic situation, the downward trend in the machinery industry will gradually stabilize. Furthermore, positive factors for industry development are accumulating, and some enterprises, industries, and regions that started structural adjustments earlier will accelerate their recovery. Technology leads the future, and innovation drives development. So, what are the mainstream technological trends in the construction machinery industry?
I. Modular Design and Virtual Manufacturing
Modular design encompasses both the previously mentioned component standardization and software modularization in the design process. Modular design software allows for the assembly and parameter modification of different systems or components on a computer, significantly accelerating the design and development of new products. Information technology and globalization have created conditions for virtualized manufacturing in the machinery industry. Among major multinational corporations in the construction machinery sector, a clear trend is that manufacturers are focusing their efforts on research and development and equipment assembly, rather than manufacturing parts, which is outsourced to parts suppliers. Mainframe manufacturers, parts suppliers, and research and development institutions collaborate, leveraging their respective strengths to jointly develop and produce marketable products.
II. Coexistence of Personalization and Multifunctionality
The evolution of engineering projects, materials, scales, and construction environments has placed demands on the personalization and multi-functionality of construction machinery. Furthermore, advancements in modern design and flexible manufacturing technologies have created conditions for achieving product personalization and multi-functionality. Personalized products emerge to adapt to specific working conditions, and multi-purpose machines represent another direction in the development of construction machinery, which will undoubtedly improve equipment utilization.
III. Environmental protection requirements are becoming increasingly stringent.
For the sustainable development of human society and economy, the world's public has placed increasingly stringent demands on environmental protection. Whether construction machinery has good environmental performance has become one of the important indicators for participating in international market competition, and has now become a "market access permit" for many industrialized countries. Therefore, the United States, Europe, Japan and other countries are vying to develop construction machinery that is "friendly to both people and the environment".
IV. Accelerated Upgrading and Replacement Speed
With the development of modern core technologies, the technological development and innovation of construction machinery products worldwide are becoming more rapid, the cycle of product updates is getting shorter and shorter, the product range is expanding, and the product series are becoming more and more complete. Major companies in the United States, Europe and Japan have launched second-generation, third-generation and even fifth-generation construction machinery products.
V. Simultaneous Development of Small and Large Specifications
Large and medium-sized construction machinery remains the mainstream of the global construction machinery industry, with annual sales reaching approximately $70 billion. However, the trend of construction machinery extending towards both miniaturization and large-scale production is evident. The US, Europe, and Japan are the main consumer markets for construction machinery. Large-scale infrastructure construction projects are decreasing, while repair, maintenance, and small-scale urban engineering projects are increasing. To save on rising labor costs and improve work efficiency, various small and micro-sized construction machines have emerged. These machines can be used for construction work in confined spaces or in residential and small-scale projects.
VI. Industrial design concepts are integrated into product design.
Industrial design is the design of a product's form, also known as its artistic form. The design of engineering machinery ensures that the machine's shape aligns with its structure, function, and usage requirements, while also harmonizing with human physiology and psychology. This design should include appropriate proportions, smooth lines, harmonious colors, aesthetically pleasing instrument arrangement, ease of intuitive operation, and prominent branding. Currently, major companies worldwide place great emphasis on industrial design, leading to the emergence of specialized research and design institutions.
VII. Robots Assist in Engineering Machinery Manufacturing
Since the 1980s, many large construction machinery manufacturers worldwide have invested significant human and financial resources in the research and application of modern design methodologies. Ergonomics advocates a human-centered design philosophy, emphasizing the coordination between machines and humans. The application of electronic technology in construction machinery has greatly simplified driver procedures and improved machine performance. Electronic control allows for automatic selection of machine operating modes; electronic monitoring enables timely detection and troubleshooting of machine system malfunctions; and electronic sensors, processed by microcomputers, can automatically detect the quality of machine operations.
Robots play a catalytic role in the transformation of both emerging and traditional industries. In the construction machinery industry, robots are often used on production lines for tasks such as spot welding, arc welding, painting, and assembly. This not only ensures product quality stability and improves labor productivity but also improves working conditions and reduces labor intensity for workers. In recent years, China's construction machinery industry has experienced rapid development and urgently needs upgrading and transformation. For enterprises to seize a larger market share in fierce competition and escape homogeneous product competition, strengthening the automation level of production lines and vigorously introducing robots will be indispensable.
Furthermore, the performance and price of construction machinery products largely depend on these components, such as transmission parts, control elements, diesel engines, and key hydraulic components—high-tech, high-value-added core components. In my country, these core components for construction machinery are still mainly imported, a situation that severely restricts the further development and expansion of Chinese construction machinery enterprises. This is because foreign companies controlling core components often employ a scarcity sales strategy, producing only a limited quantity of components each year to maintain price control. As a nascent and growing industry, my country's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry still faces prominent problems, mainly manifested in: weak technological innovation capabilities, with core technologies such as new sensors and advanced control being controlled by others; small industry scale, with a small, scattered, and weak industrial organization structure, lacking internationally competitive backbone enterprises; and a weak industrial foundation, with market share of high-end and special sensors, intelligent instruments, automatic control systems, high-end CNC systems, and robots less than 5%.
VIII. Understanding and Breakthrough of Operational Principles
Innovations and breakthroughs in operating principles: The operating principles of construction machinery include cutting, crushing, and backfilling earth and rock; screening, mixing, and heating geosynthetics; and spreading, leveling, and compacting the mixture. The theories behind these operations were originally based on bionics and Newtonian mechanics, but groundbreaking scientific advancements have laid the foundation for new operating principles in construction machinery. For example, the application of mechanical vibration, pulses, jets, photoelectric effects, and thermophysics has created conditions for construction machinery to save resources, improve project quality, and increase production efficiency, operational reliability, driving comfort, and automation.
IX. Hydraulic Transmission
First applied to road rollers in the 1960s, hydraulic transmission was widely adopted and popularized in just over a decade. Current road rollers have fully hydraulic transmission systems for their traveling, vibration, steering, and braking mechanisms. Hydraulic transmission greatly simplifies the design of the road roller's transmission and control systems. It offers smooth, convenient, and labor-saving operation, easily achieving stepless speed regulation and automatic control, thus improving the overall production efficiency and compaction quality of the road roller.
10. Mechatronics Integration and Intelligentization Process
Modern engineering machinery should be endowed with humanization and intelligence. Intelligent engineering machinery is an integrated mechatronics system with a thinking brain (microcomputer), sensory organs (sensors), neural networks (electronic transmission), internal organs (power and transmission), and limbs (working mechanisms and locomotion devices). The combination of electronic technology and sensors with mechanical devices enables automatic monitoring and control of engineering machinery—that is, mechatronics integration. Electronic sensors are the sensory organs of mechatronics, serving as the medium between the machine and its work objects. Microcomputer-based electronic technology is the brain and central nervous system of mechatronics; it receives various information from sensors, processes it, and then issues commands to the machine's execution components.
For more information, please visit the Machine Tool Channel.
