Ai Futiao Yongqiang: The global battlefield for the robotics industry is in China, and the advantages and competitiveness of domestic brands have been demonstrated.
Release time:
2024-04-26 00:00
Currently, the main battleground for the global robotics industry is in China. The competitive ability of domestic products has already been reflected in market results, which is actually due to the collaborative development of domestic manufacturers and the entire supply chain.
According to a report from China National Radio on April 26, reporter Qi Zhiying and intern Xie Xiaoxuan, "The main battlefield for the global robotics industry is now in China. The competitive capability of domestic products has already been reflected in market results, which is actually due to the collaborative development of domestic manufacturers and the entire supply chain," said Xiao Yongqiang, a member of the founding team and chief engineer of Efort, during his recent appearance on the sixth episode of 'Shanghai Market Exchange: Hard Science and Hard Guests' titled 'New Evolution of Industrial Robots.'
Xiao Yongqiang stated that the localization of core components is a 'bottleneck' encountered in the development process of industrial robots. Now, the domestic industry has established its own capabilities, and breakthroughs in the localization of core components have been achieved.
At the same time, Xiao Yongqiang believes that there are two measures for improving new productive forces in industrial robots: one is to enhance the optimization and upgrading of the supply chain industry chain, and the other is to achieve digital transformation.
Xiao Yongqiang, member of the founding team and chief engineer of Efort
Domestic companies focus on resources to catch up with foreign ones
According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has been the world's largest application country for industrial robots for several consecutive years. In 2022, China's industrial robot output reached 443,000 units, a year-on-year increase of over 20%, with installed capacity accounting for more than 50% of the global total.
However, for many years, market leaders have been dominated by foreign 'four major families' (FANUC, Yaskawa Electric, KUKA, and ABB). A report from China Merchants Securities shows that in 2022, these 'four major families' occupied 40% of the market, with a localization rate of about 30%.
Xiao Yongqiang said: "The development of foreign 'four major families' has a history of over 50 years. Therefore, whether in terms of technology products or process accumulation for specific scenarios, their foundation is very deep. This may be an area where domestic products still have some gaps."
However, it is generally believed in the industry that under the 'leading goose' effect released by domestic robot leaders, Chinese companies are catching up and achieving breakthroughs. In recent years, the market share of domestic brands has been steadily rising, and there have been some new changes in market structure.
According to the latest statistics from GGII (Gaogong Industry Research Institute), in 2023, the share of domestic industrial robots has surpassed 50% for the first time, reaching 52.45%.
"Many of our clients are domestic; we are closer to the market and customers. The engineering capabilities and engineer dividends give us strong rapid response and rapid industrialization iteration capabilities," Xiao Yongqiang believes that domestic products have obvious advantages.
In addition, Xiao Yongqiang believes that domestic manufacturers including Efort have done something very important—focusing.
"Because we are close to the market, we can focus our resources. Especially in some industries developing domestically, focusing on these points allows us to move quickly. Moreover, based on our own technical capability system that has been relatively well established, we have the ability to make rapid breakthroughs at these points," said Xiao Yongqiang.
In the process of focusing and breaking through, Xiao Yongqiang believes that the iteration speed of domestic products is very important. "We have developed a systematic capability that allows us to quickly fill gaps where needed. This gives our customers more confidence in cooperating with domestic companies and allows domestic companies to perform better," he stated.
"The competitive capability of domestic products has already been reflected in market results; this is actually due to the collaborative development of domestic manufacturers and the entire supply chain," Xiao Yongqiang believes that currently, the main battlefield for global robotics industry is in China.
"Although looking globally, Chinese domestic robots are still at an initial stage on overseas platforms; both market share and brand awareness need improvement. However, we believe that based on these capabilities formed domestically, there are still significant opportunities for catching up," said Xiao Yongqiang.
The increase in quantity and high integration are key to cost reduction
According to MIR's data from 2022, industries such as automotive electronics, lithium batteries, semiconductors, and automotive parts saw a year-on-year increase in downstream industrial robot shipments exceeding 30%. Industries like complete vehicles, medical supplies, photovoltaics, and warehousing logistics saw increases over 20%, with demand from multiple long-tail industries exceeding expectations; trends toward machine replacement for humans are evident.
A report from Huafu Securities shows that automotive (complete vehicles and parts) and 3C electronics manufacturing have large scales with high added value and automation levels; they are the two largest downstream markets for industrial robots. Moreover, both markets have historically had low localization rates with significant replacement potential.
Xiao Yongqiang believes that leading domestic robot companies are accelerating competition with foreign capital in fields such as photovoltaics, lithium batteries, automotive parts, and electronics while also beginning to penetrate into complete vehicle sectors; localization is accelerating replacement speed.
"The application of domestic robots across multiple industries over many years indicates that their performance can meet automotive industry demands. As car manufacturers consider cost issues on one hand while also considering supply chain security on the other hand; they need to collaborate," said Xiao Yongqiang.
Xiao Yongqiang further introduced that in industries other than automotive based on requirements for product quality improvement and cost reduction demands; the penetration rate of domestic robots is also growing relatively quickly.
With advancements in AI, communications, hardware technologies etc., the era of humanoid robots is accelerating its arrival. According to GGII predictions, it is expected that by 2026 global market size for humanoid robots will exceed $2 billion; by 2030 it could surpass $20 billion globally; by then China's market size will reach $5 billion; a new decade-long industrial cycle is about to begin.
Xiao Yongqiang believes that humanoid robots actually evolved from industrial robots. On one hand their structural form resembles humans—they have hands, arms and legs—making them more adaptable compared to industrial robots which is their biggest advantage; on another hand from an intelligent perspective humanoid robots will share or coexist with industrial robots in future as industries also require intelligent technologies integrated into industrial robots for intelligent operations.
When discussing application scenarios for humanoid robots, Xiao Yongqiang believes that some current industrial robots possess unique capabilities not available to humans; these areas should be where humanoid robots should operate.
"In some dangerous environments such as fire or nuclear radiation scenarios or extremely high or low temperature spaces; humanoid robots may be among the first to enter these scenarios replacing humans for certain tasks. They will also expand into home services like elderly care or assistance etc.; there will be vast application space," said Xiao Yongqiang.
Regarding future trends in robot costs, Xiao Yongqiang analyzed that future costs for components depend on materials, processes and equipment. If quantities are sufficient and highly integrated then costs will significantly decrease; mature processes leading to specialized production will also greatly lower costs.
"We see many potential paths for cost reduction so we believe costs will definitely come down as quantities increase in future," said Xiao Yongqiang.
"Three turning points broke through core component localization bottlenecks"
"In 2007 Efort's predecessor Wuhu Chery Equipment Co., Ltd was established starting independent research and development of industrial robots. Xiao Yongqiang stated that since its establishment there have been three turning points in its development journey."
In 2015, Efort迎来了第一个转折点，那一年该公司进行了混合所有制改制，正式成为一家完全自主独立运作的企业。
Xiao Yongqiang recalled that the management planned the future development route of industrial robot technology at that time, and realized that relying solely on self-research would take a long time. Therefore, the company formulated a strategy of 'independent research and development + technology acquisition' and implemented it. This laid the foundation for Efort's core technology today.
2021 was the second turning point. Efort restructured its future development strategy, clarifying that industrial robot products would be the core, focusing resources better on industrial robot products.
The latest turning point was at the end of 2023 when Efort launched an integrated development platform.
"This platform has been opened from the bottom to the top, allowing customers to have some control over the bottom layer when applying it at the top level. This is more conducive to integrating with processes to form an overall solution. In the future, we can also integrate the latest intelligent technologies on this platform," Xiao Yongqiang introduced.
Xiao Yongqiang believes that the localization of core components is a 'bottleneck' encountered in the development process of industrial robots.
Xiao Yongqiang stated that China has now established its own capabilities, including technological capabilities and industrial chain capabilities. The localization of core components has achieved breakthroughs, but there are still some gaps compared to foreign countries.
Firstly, in terms of overall machine performance, it involves reliability or understanding of processes. More investment in research and development is needed for process accumulation; secondly, as a main engine manufacturer, collaboration with core component companies is necessary. Clients and industries also need to collaborate with core component companies. 'Domestic products for domestic use' can form scenario-oriented solutions more through applications, and can be improved through certain customization.
Two paths to achieve the 'double first' goal
This year's 'Government Work Report' proposed to vigorously promote the construction of a modern industrial system and accelerate the development of new quality productivity.
Xiao Yongqiang believes that for industrial robots, there are two measures for improving new quality productivity: one is to enhance the optimization and upgrading of the supply chain and industrial chain; the other is to achieve digital transformation.
Xiao Yongqiang stated that these two aspects are closely related to industrial robots and automation. 'Because currently in the manufacturing field, industrial robots and automation are very mature for some typical industrial scenarios, such as precision, speed, and load capacity may be stronger than humans. Therefore, achieving an upgrade in automation in these areas is itself an improvement in new quality productivity. I think this is an important point related to industrial robots,' Xiao Yongqiang said.
At the same time, Xiao Yongqiang stated that there is a standard for evaluating new quality productivity, which emphasizes the improvement of technology and management that leads to increased production efficiency.
Looking to the future, Efort has formulated short-term, medium-term, and long-term development strategies and planned key layout directions.
It is reported that in the short term, Efort will focus on enhancing core competitiveness around business improvement, including underlying algorithms and platforms as well as core components invested in various aspects. It will further integrate them to improve product quality and reduce human costs, ultimately achieving a high level in complete machines.
In the medium term, Efort will focus on a new open software platform to help customers better utilize robots, including integration and know-how. On this platform, Efort is also trying to incorporate some of the latest technologies, such as large models, attempting to empower industrial robots with large models to enhance their intelligence level and expand their application scenarios.
Regarding the company's long-term vision, Xiao Yongqiang stated that Efort aims to achieve productivity in intelligent manufacturing and intelligent equipment. 'We have also set a 'double first' goal to enter the international first tier and become a leading domestic brand.'
Xiao Yongqiang introduced two paths to achieve the 'double first' goal: one is to consolidate existing businesses deeply and then achieve absolute advantages in this field; the other is to actively combine with the latest technologies to explore in this industry and enhance industrial robot capabilities, especially intelligence.
Automobile manufacturing: Industrial robots are widely used in the automobile manufacturing process, including tasks such as welding, assembly, painting, dispensing, and inspection.
A welding robot is an industrial robot that has welding programs preset in its control system, allowing the robot to automatically complete welding tasks.
The types of welding robots are divided into spot welding robots, arc welding robots, laser welding robots, etc. The most common ones in the market are spot welding robots and arc welding robots.
