How to deal with the expanding aluminum veneer market
China’s manufacturing industry accounts for nearly 30% of the global industrial chain, but the overall size is not strong, and it lacks competitiveness in the international market. As a global provider of intelligent solutions for metal forming, Feiyue Laser aims to provide more efficient and intelligent production equipment. To this end, a column of sharp perspectives is specially set up to continuously track and pay attention to the intelligent transformation of China’s manufacturing industry, understand the production and technical needs of the industry, and provide strong support for China’s manufacturing to move towards lean manufacturing.
The aluminum veneer industry started late in China, but it has become one of the fastest growing construction materials in recent years, and has been widely used because of its environmental protection, non-toxicity, reusability, and easy modeling. According to the industry report of Zhiyan Consulting, the market size of the aluminum veneer industry in 2019 reached 4.643 billion yuan. At present, China has become the world’s largest producer and consumer of aluminum veneer.
While the market demand continues to expand, the technological gap between enterprises is narrowing, and industry competition is intensifying. At present, only by continuously innovating production efficiency and quality can companies win the fierce market competition and see the future.
As a large-scale joint-stock group enterprise with strong competitiveness in the industry, PTJ New Material Technology Co., Ltd. has continuously innovated its production methods with its keen market perception. In 2019, it introduced laser cutting equipment, which improved production efficiency by 200% and improved product quality. Significantly improved, thus further strengthening its own technical advantages.
Recently, BE-CU.COM walked into PTJ New Materials and interviewed Zhouhanping, Chairman of Pintejin New Materials. He introduced the opportunities and challenges of the current aluminum veneer industry to us, and shared his experience and exploration in transforming lean production.
What is the application status of aluminum veneer?
Zhou: ◎After nearly 20 years of development, the application of aluminum veneer has blossomed everywhere. Including the decoration of building exterior walls and curtain walls, and also used for interior decoration. As long as you can imagine all kinds of patterns, you can use aluminum veneer to reflect. At present, the annual production of aluminum veneer is about 70 million to 80 million cubic meters, and the annual growth rate of 10% to 20% is no problem. Because of the increasing demand for national construction, the improvement of residents’ aesthetic concepts, and the pursuit of living experience, these will stimulate the demand for aluminum veneer.
◎The difference between the previous products is mainly reflected in the hyperbolic panel and the more complicated veneer processing. Now is the information age, with the free flow of talents and the gradual reduction of differentiation, which has led to very fierce market competition. I feel this.
What is the development trend of aluminum veneer?
Zhou: ◎At present, it is developing in the directions of heat preservation, sound insulation and sound absorption. The northern region mainly needs thermal insulation, while large venues mainly need sound absorption and sound insulation, as well as some design needs of difficult modeling.
What differentiating advantages does your company have?
Zhou: ◎Following the market demand, we are constantly expanding our business. Since its establishment in 2010, it has now owned four companies. In recent years, the annual growth rate is about 20%. In the past year, it was more than 100,000 cubic meters, and now the annual production capacity exceeds 1 million cubic meters. At present, the annual production capacity of most aluminum veneer enterprises is 200,000-300,000 cubic meters.
◎We insist on putting quality first, efficiency second, and service third. Only by doing these three points can customers be satisfied. If the customer is satisfied, our cooperation is a long-term cooperative relationship. At present, our cooperative customers include China Railway, China Construction and some large decoration companies.
How to achieve differentiation advantage?
Zhou: ◎Mainly to improve the processing equipment. We first used a shearing machine, and later used a turret punching machine, which could realize punching and corner cutting on one machine. Laser cutting is now used to improve the cutting speed and efficiency of aluminum veneer. It is a good thing for our production.
◎At present, we mainly use laser cutting machine for pre-cutting, which is the most important process. Because the previous process cannot be completed, the later bending, welding and grinding cannot be done.
How does laser cutting promote the intelligent transformation of enterprises?
Zhou:
◎Currently, 90% of our aluminum veneers are cut by laser, with a daily output of about 1,500 cubic meters, which is quite fast and three times faster than traditional processing methods. In the past, only 400 squares could be made a day with the engraving machine and the turret punch.
◎The flexibility of laser cutting is very high, and any graphics can be cut. You can design patterns at will, input the program into the system, and you can cut according to the graphics. A turret punch can’t do it. The engraving machine can also be used, but the speed is too slow, and some materials will be lost, but the laser is not lost.
◎The precision of laser cutting service is very high, and the error will not exceed a few tenths of a millimeter. Its processing precision is high, and the precision of the produced products will be improved accordingly.
In the aluminum veneer industry where the market cake continues to expand and the number of manufacturers gradually increases, the competition among enterprises is gradually evolving into a competition for product quality and production efficiency. As an advanced aluminum cnc machining method, laser cutting has outstanding advantages in flexibility, cutting accuracy and efficiency, which naturally fits the production demands of the industry. The exploration of Pintejin’s new materials not only represents the future direction of the innovation of production methods in the aluminum veneer industry, but will also inspire other manufacturing companies.
