China‘s explosive buying, Taiwan‘s ball screw out of stock. Why is he the biggest winner?

China‘s explosive buying, Taiwan‘s ball screw out of stock. Why is he the biggest winner?

Without it, Taiwan‘s self-made missile tails will not move, Samsung‘s 4D movie seat will not move, and Japan‘s Matsushita‘s semiconductor equipment is also useless heroes. However, the key component of the automation equipment, the "ball screw", has become globally out of stock due to the explosion of China‘s red supply chain. Who is the biggest beneficiary of this boom?

 

Global robot demand has exploded.

 

"Nihon Keizai Shimbun" reported that the Japan Robotics Association originally estimated that the global robot output value will grow by 7% in 2017, but under the "unprecedented status" of the Chinese market, the growth rate is more than double the original forecast, and the output value is estimated. It has also been revised from the original 200 billion to 220 billion.

 

This wave caused a big surprise for the industry. The explosion of demand for automation and robotics came from the overall rise in labor salaries in China. After the Chinese government proposed "Made in China 2025," the industry also introduced a large number of automation and robotics equipment with government support.

 

Yaskawa Motor, the Japanese robot maker, has more than doubled its share price since July last year.

 

Wang Zhengqing, secretary-general of the Taiwan Machinery Association, said that this wave of automation is heating up, leading to the global shortage of key components of automation equipment, such as "ball screw".

 

As a result, the “Global Drive Technology”, a ball screw plant located in the Xinbei Forest, became the biggest beneficiary of this automation boom. In January this year, revenue grew by 156.29%, and last year it also grew by more than 50%.

 

The heart of the robot

"In the past, not many ball screws were used in mainland China, but wages have risen in recent years. Our demand has soared. The Chinese mainland‘s red supply chain is already an important part of ours," said Li Jinsheng, general manager of Global Drive Technologies.

 

 

Speaking of the ball screw, we usually think of Shanghai S&T Technology, but few people know that North Taiwan also has a global drive technology company that specializes in ball screw and linear slides.

 

What is a ball screw? Li Jinsheng said that the ball screw is the heart of the robot and can help the robot move and position. As long as the moving machinery, these key components are needed.

 

Without the screw of the global transmission, Samsung‘s 4D movie seats couldn‘t move, Taiwan‘s homemade missile tails couldn‘t move, and Matsushita‘s semiconductor equipment was also useless.

 

The last eruption of the machinery industry, Li Jinsheng recalled that it was an order backing after the financial tsunami in 2008, but the demand soon disappeared. However, several years ago, after Germany called out Industry 4.0, all countries followed suit, and the industrial sector feared that it would be eliminated if it did not upgrade, thus spurring a new wave of demand.

 

Li Jinsheng said, "The list has been filled until the end of the year. In 2019, we did not dare to agree with others. Now it is in short supply."

 

The originator of Taiwan ball screw

The origin of the global drive, like Shanghai, is to start with one of the pioneers of ball screw in Taiwan, Ho Fung Precision Industry.

 

He Feng Precision Industry is the originator of Taiwan‘s ball screw, which is used to help foreign manufacturers OEM ball screws. Later, due to poor management, Shanghai Founder Zhuo Yongcai took over and expanded into today‘s Shanghai Silver Group.

 

Li Jinsheng, who co-founded Global Drive, worked in He Feng early on and was the first generation of employees. But he is also a member of a mechanical family business.

 

Li Jinsheng, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said that in the 1980s, he was optimistic that the Taiwan’s machine tool industry would take off and needed a lot of transmission components. He left Ho Fung to assist in the transformation of family businesses, from mechanical bearing processing to ball screw.

 

However, the global transmission of ball screw products, the use of the industry and the big silver factory is very different.

 

Differentiation with Shanghai

Global Drive‘s customers are industrial machinery, such as automation equipment in the printing, semiconductor, paper, food, woodworking and other fields. It is different from the silver ball screw market in the machine tool.

 

Different markets, the product‘s main strategy is also different.

 

Li Jinsheng said that in the silver machine tool market, there is a high demand for customized ball screw and low standardization. What they are mainly for is the standardized ball screw, which can be applied to all kinds of industrial machinery.

 

But the same thing is that Li Jinsheng said that the ball screw is the heart of the machine. As long as the machine does not move, the customer is the first one looking for them. Therefore must be done very accurately, the error is controlled within 3μ, equal to 3% of the diameter of the hair.

 

In the early days, the global drive was a family business, and its business strategy was conservative. However, after the financial tsunami hit in 2008, it decided to openly raise capital in the capital market.

 

Finding Investors

Li Jinsheng said that the ball screw is well-made, equipment investment costs a lot of money, and after two financial tsunami, many peers constantly skip or bail. The family business also suffered a great deal of turbulence and went public.

 

In 2014, the global transmission of Singhing’s shares, in addition to the Zhongying Investment held by China Steel’s 100% shares, there were Mega Gold, Yushan Gold, First Gold and Yongfeng Financial.

 

With the sponsorship of the gold owner, the global drive began to expand its scale, investing in new plants in the woods, and its revenue has grown year by year.

 

One of the major shareholders, Huang Baijian, general manager of Zhongying Investment, said that at the time, Zhongying’s share of global transmission was optimistic that the automation trend was approaching, and the demand for ball screw would greatly increase. Compared with Shanghai Stock Exchange, the stock price was already high, and the global transmission was still small. The growth prospects are also good.

 

He also said that the original global transmission used raw materials from China Steel, but it was originally purchased through agents. After further cooperation between the two sides, the global drive can directly obtain raw materials from China Steel, and Sinosteel will also address the needs and issues of global transmission. ,further cooperation.

 

Attack the niche market

After taking a firm foothold in the Chinese market, Global Drive also began to attack niche markets with special specifications but potential for growth.

For example, the company is developing ultra-light industrial robots, and Li Quan Automation, which is cooperating with the world leader in drones, has been developing customized products with Global Drive many years ago. One of Japan‘s top three hand tool factories also finds them to develop unique products.

 

Li Jinsheng said that such a market can take two years from development to mass production, but it takes time to get emotional with customers. The advantage is that orders are stable, and they can cooperate with potential industries. “They will not be cheaper than three dollars. Just run away," said Li Jinsheng.

 

Looking ahead to the future development of automation, Li Jinsheng said that in the past, automation was concentrated in the 3C industry, and now it was gradually blowing into the food, clothing, housing, transportation, medical and other fields. “The footwear industry based on human-sea tactics is now starting its head equipment.” The problem of shortage of manpower has never been looked back. Automation is the inevitable direction.

 

 

（責任編輯：洪家寧）