As times develop and change and the trend towards globalisation continues to intensify, technological revolutions and industrial transformations are becoming inevitable. Recently, the head of the research centre of the Italian Plastics and Rubber Processing Machinery and Moulds Industry Association (Amaplast) said that the much-anticipated Industry 4.0 will push the plastic machinery industry to a higher level and that this will be the most important industry trend in the next two to three years. So, will the plastics machinery industry be able to take advantage of the Industry 4.0 wave to set sail quickly in the near future?
In today's world, a new wave of industrial revolution has been set in motion, which we call "Industry 4.0". The so-called Industry 4.0 refers to the use of the IOT information system to data and wise the supply, manufacturing and sales information in production, and finally to achieve a fast, effective and personalised product supply. For the plastic raw material industry, plastic products industry and plastic machinery industry, will certainly all be affected by this wave, the plastics industry is no exception.
Throughout the plastic machinery sector, intelligent, automated and systematic machinery and equipment has now gradually become mainstream. The head of the German Federation of Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Plastics and Rubber Machinery Branch said that in the world's future, smart factories will achieve new business models, changes in production and working conditions will be adjusted, and smart factories and cloud-based processing is the core of Industry 4.0.
In recent years, products with independent intellectual property rights and more high-tech content undoubtedly have higher and stronger market competitiveness, while the plastic machine industry is expected to achieve new breakthroughs under the impetus of Industry 4.0. In 2017, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the "Action Plan for High-end Intelligent Remanufacturing (2018-2020)" policy document, with a view to further enhancing the technical management level of remanufacturing of electromechanical products and the quality of industrial development to promote the rapid development of China's high-end intelligent remanufacturing industry.
It is reported that Industry 4.0 as one of the ten future projects, by the German government in the "Germany 2020 high technology strategy" formally proposed, aims to enhance the level of intelligence in manufacturing, the establishment of intelligent factories with adaptability, resource efficiency and genetic engineering, and hopes to effectively integrate customer and business partner relationships throughout the business process. The success of many manufacturers of rubber and plastic processing machinery in developed countries stems from providing customers with technological innovations that offer original best-in-class solutions for the production, recycling and reuse of plastic and rubber products within the Industry 4.0 system. For example, Husky, the world's largest manufacturing solutions provider, KraussMaffei, known as the industry's "Rolls-Royce", and Engel, whose products and companies are very personal and unique, and other internationally renowned plastic machinery companies, have benefited from the Industry 4.0 system.
With the deepening of the concept of industry change and industrial transformation in China, Industry 4.0 will enter a new era of Sino-German cooperation. China and Germany have signed the cooperation document "Sino-German Cooperation Action Platform", which clearly puts forward the digitalisation of industrial production as "Industry 4.0", which is of great significance for the future economic development of China and Germany. Germany's Industry 4.0 can provide China with a model for future industrial development and help it to solve some of the challenges it is facing today, such as resource and energy efficiency, urban production and demographic change.
At present, the new system of Industry 4.0 has been well implemented in some European countries, and its popularity is less than that of China at present. Now there are more than 400 enterprises above the scale of plastic machinery manufacturing in China, the momentum of the plastic machinery industry is still strong, and well-known domestic enterprises have been actively preparing for the international market. However, the Chinese market is so huge that, as with all other markets in the world, there will always be entry-level companies that are not yet ready and not interested in Industry 4.0. What is not difficult to see is that in recent years the mid-range industries in China have already managed to improve and will be actively prepared for Industry 4.0, while some high-end industries have already adopted it or are preparing to do so.
In other words, in the near future, the various advantages associated with Industry 4.0, which originated in Europe, are expected to translate to China and will have a significant impact. For the development of China's plastics machinery industry, Industry 4.0 is undoubtedly a good opportunity to look forward to and not to miss the industry, so the future of the plastics machinery industry is bound to grasp the east wind of the times, in the global market to ride the wave, brave forward to create a new industry glory.
