The pace of industrialization accelerated the three-year plan for additive manufacturing

As one of the important symbols of the new round of industrial revolution, additive manufacturing technology has become an important means to speed up the transformation of manufacturing industries and improve quality and efficiency. Under the impetus of the "National Additive Manufacturing Industry Development Promotion Plan 2015-2016" (hereinafter referred to as the "promotion plan"), China's additive manufacturing industry has developed rapidly and key technologies are making breakthrough progress. At the recent seminar on the development of additive manufacturing industry, Director of the Machinery Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Wei Weizhen, stated that “the global additive manufacturing industry is in its infancy, and China must add materials, equipment, processes, and applications. In order to intensify the cultivation and improve the industrial policy system, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is stepping up preparation of the “Action Plan for the Development of the National Additive Manufacturing Industry (2017-2020)” and will issue a draft for consultation as soon as possible.”

Industry scale will grow at more than 25%

The current additive manufacturing has shifted from R&D to industrial application. The world’s major manufacturing powers have formulated national strategies and concrete promotion strategies and action plans, which will be cultivated as new economic growth points and strive to occupy the high ground of future technology and industries.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of the additive manufacturing industry and has included it in the key development direction of the “Made in China 2025”. As an important means for accelerating the transformation of manufacturing industries and improving quality and efficiency, the "Advancing Plan" has been issued. Wang Peng, the vice president of the China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute and the secretary general of China Additive Manufacturing Industry Alliance, said in an exclusive interview with the China Industry News reporter that under the impetus of the national policy, China's additive manufacturing industry has developed rapidly and has been completed. With a relatively complete industrial system, sales revenue achieved rapid growth, significant progress was made in industrialization, and the overall level of technology was significantly improved. Some of the manufacturing processes and equipment were close to or reached the international advanced level. The application of the industry has been significantly deepened, and a number of application demonstration centers and industrialization bases have been formed.

According to the statistics and prediction of the China Additive Manufacturing Industry Alliance, the scale of China's additive manufacturing industry has reached 8 billion yuan in 2016, and the industrial scale has achieved rapid growth. The industrial scale will increase by 25% to 30% in the next three years.

Start the technology roadmap preparation this year

Additive manufacturing also known as 3D printing. At present, the technological level of additive manufacturing in China has been accelerated, and a number of technological equipment, key components, and software systems have achieved breakthroughs. For example, Hunan Huayu Hi-tech Co., Ltd. has developed the world's first open-source integrated industrial-grade 3D printing intelligent control system; Yibo 3D has developed the domestic first micro-metal desktop additive manufacturing equipment; Foshan Fenghua Zhuo Lixin newly developed array The nozzle automatic sand additive production machine, the sand parameters of the printing are close to the foreign level; the vacuum induction gas atomization furnace developed by China Aviation Maite breaks through the foreign technology blockade, and forms an annual production capacity of 10 sets (sets).

The industrial application of additive manufacturing is also expanding and deepening. According to Wang Peng, at present, the development of parts and dies in the fields of aerospace, automobiles, and machinery and equipment has achieved remarkable results. For example, Huake 3D developed a sand mold for Yuchai's new product, the six-cylinder four-valve engine, and made its casting cycle from the original. 5 to 6 months reduced to less than 20 days. The C919, which had just been successfully tested, successfully applied a patented 3D-printed titanium alloy part for weight reduction.

In spite of this, the technological maturity of additive manufacturing is far from being comparable to conventional manufacturing technologies such as reduced materials and iso-materials, and still requires a large amount of basic research work from scientific basis, engineering application to industrial production and other links. At the same time, China’s industrial bases for additive manufacturing core devices, special materials, processes, and software are weak, and some key core equipment still need to be imported.

Wang Peng frankly stated that at present, China's additive manufacturing industry is in its early stage of development, and its lack of technology maturity, high application costs, and narrow application scope have caused the industry to appear as a small, scattered, weak state, although many companies have begun to get involved. In the area of ​​additive manufacturing, but lack of leading companies, the industry scale is small.

According to a review by the China Industry News, in order to solve the problems of policy guidance, industry scale, standards system, key technologies, and talents, there has been a local version of the additive manufacturing technology roadmap. In April this year, the Guangdong Provincial Additive Manufacturing Association released the Guangdong Province's additive manufacturing (3D printing) industrial technology roadmap, analyzing the current status, development direction, and key industries of the 3D printing industry in Guangdong.

At present, a national-level additive manufacturing technology roadmap is brewing. Wang Peng told the China Industry News reporter that “the preparation of a national-level additive manufacturing technology roadmap requires a large-scale invitation for relevant experts, key enterprises, upstream suppliers, and downstream user representatives to form a think-tank. The preparation of the road map will be completed during the year. Start up and provide reference for industry and business."

Promotion and application need to be accelerated

Wang Peng said that in the next step, China's additive manufacturing industry alliance will promote industrial development in terms of standards, policies, applications, and technologies. At the standard level, the alliance will coordinate with the National Standardization Technical Committee for Additive Manufacturing to give play to the role and enthusiasm of the enterprise and accelerate the research and formulation of relevant standards. In terms of policies, the alliance will play a role in the bond between the government, industry, and enterprises, strengthen communication with member companies, collect problems and suggestions, provide support services for government departments, and promote the formulation and landing of related policies. In terms of applications, the alliance will focus on selecting key areas such as medical care, education, and molds to promote the application.

Application promotion is one of the major bottlenecks that restrict the development of additive manufacturing. At present, the degree of popularization of additive manufacturing technology is relatively low, resulting in a relatively shallow understanding of additive manufacturing in the domestic consumer market. At the same time, due to the high cost and maintenance costs of industrial-scale additive manufacturing equipment, SMEs are discouraged and hinder the existing The transformation and upgrading of traditional production methods require a longer period of market cultivation.

To this end, the alliance has created the top platform for “Exhibition + Conference + Supporting Activities”. Wang Peng said that the 2017 China Additive Manufacturing Conference and Exhibition (AMCC2017) will open on July 28 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The theme of the exhibition will be "additive manufacturing, create new kinetic energy" as a theme to centrally and systematically display the achievements of China's additive manufacturing industry chain. In the same period, a series of supporting activities of the relevant government agencies in charge of the development of the “National Additive Manufacturing Industry Development Action (2017-2020)” consultation meeting and the China Additive Manufacturing Industry Alliance General Assembly will be held.