Die casting molds are important molds in modern industrial production, which can quickly improve production efficiency. Beilun die-casting molds have gained a high level of recognition in the same industry nationwide, and have been praised as the "hometown of die-casting molds in China" and the "industrial base of die-casting molds in China".

Our district's die-casting manufacturing enterprise cluster has a leading density in the country, with automotive engine die-casting parts and die-casting molds accounting for more than half of the national market. At present, our district has nearly 2000 die-casting and related enterprises, with over 80000 employees. In 2016, the output value of the foundry industry was about 58.2 billion yuan, making it the largest production hub for die-casting molds and die-casting products in China.

Die casting mold related enterprises cluster and develop into the largest industrial agglomeration in the country

In May of this year, the China Foundry Association organized an expert review meeting for the "Top 20 Comprehensive Strength of Chinese Die Casting Mold Production Enterprises". Ten enterprises from our region were selected, accounting for "half of the list" with a total output value of over 900 million yuan. From 2006 to 2016, among the 36 sets of molds recommended by the China Mold Industry Association to apply for national level new products, Beilun Mold had 19 sets, accounting for more than 50% of the national die-casting molds, further highlighting its leading position in the mold industry.

At present, our district has more than 1000 types of die-casting machines with a total tonnage of over 300000 tons. The number of die-casting machine tools with a tonnage of over 1000 tons ranks first in our city. The total manufacturing volume of die-casting products is dominant in the East China region, and the product quality and accuracy have reached advanced levels at home and abroad. In recent years, die-casting products have been growing year by year, and the grade of die-casting products has been continuously improved. World famous manufacturers such as Bosch, TTI, Tesla, Chrysler, and Mahler in Germany have all chosen Beilun Enterprise as their die-casting product supplier.

The rapid development of die-casting parts in our region has promoted the development of die-casting molds. Currently, we have more than 1000 machining centers of various types, as well as over 200 advanced precision machining machines and testing equipment such as CNC high-speed milling, slow wire cutting machines, EDM machines, deep hole drilling machines, coordinate measuring machines, mold clamping machines, and electronic universal testing machines imported from countries such as Japan, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. We also have more than 30 five axis machining centers with a cost of over 3 million yuan. The number of various advanced equipment is still increasing, and the overall technical equipment is in a leading position in China. The rapid improvement of technological level has accelerated the emergence of a large number of leading backbone enterprises. Companies such as Ningbo Xusheng Automotive Technology Co., Ltd., Ningbo Xunhui Electric Appliance Co., Ltd., Beilun Huiwang Mold Industry Co., Ltd., and Ningbo Huashuo Mold Machinery Co., Ltd. have become leaders in the development of the die-casting sub industry.

Ningbo Xunhui Electric Appliance Co., Ltd. is an enterprise that integrates mold design, mold manufacturing, part die-casting, surface treatment, and precision machining. It has 15 internationally renowned die-casting equipment, more than 20 high-speed and high-precision machining centers, more than 40 CNC lathes, more than 20 high-speed and high-precision machining centers, more than 40 CNC lathes, more than 30 high-precision electrical machining machines, more than 10 surface treatment equipment, and more than 30 other precision specialized equipment. We also have multiple coordinate measuring machines, spectral analyzers, and other precision measuring equipment, and are designated as supporting manufacturers for internationally renowned companies such as BOSCH, RYOBI, Panasonic, and other well-known domestic and foreign manufacturers. After 30 years of development, the enterprise has become a high-tech enterprise in the city and one of the strongest and fastest growing enterprises in the "mold and aluminum die-casting industry" in our district.

Accelerate the enhancement of enterprise technological innovation capabilities, improve industrial supporting facilities, and move towards high-end precision

In recent years, our district's die-casting mold enterprises, especially the leading backbone enterprises, have targeted the high-end precision direction, accelerated the improvement of technological innovation capabilities and the upgrading of production equipment. Ningbo Zhenzhi Mold independently developed CNC Demage three-axis and five axis linkage high-speed milling equipment; Junling has introduced a batch of machining centers with industry-leading automation level; Liaoyuan Mold has invested millions of yuan to purchase new equipment and continues to eliminate outdated products.

Over the years, the "Beilun District (Development Zone) Special Fund Support Policy for Promoting Industrial Structure Adjustment" has placed great emphasis on key support for regional advantageous industries. On the basis of enjoying the Generalized System of Preferences, preferential policies have been introduced for the die-casting industry, resulting in an additional 70 million yuan in financial subsidies. Our district encourages enterprises to develop the intelligent equipment industry and provides corresponding financial support for demonstration service providers and projects of "machine for human" replacement, thereby promoting industrial transformation and upgrading. As of now, 35 die-casting enterprises have automated production lines, equipped with 150 automated production lines and 310 robots. 21 provincial-level high-tech enterprise R&D centers and 4 provincial-level enterprise research institutes have been awarded. In 2016 alone, 1080 patents were applied for, including 110 invention patents. The innovation capability of enterprises has significantly improved, such as Zhejiang Huashuo Technology Co., Ltd. winning innovation honors such as "National Torch Plan Project Supporting", "First Provincial Patent Excellence Award", "Zhejiang Province Innovation Demonstration Small and Medium sized Enterprise" in 2016; Tuopu Group and Ningbo Jifeng Automotive Parts have been listed as provincial patent demonstration enterprises.

After more than 5 years of development and construction, the Daqiao High end Mold and Auto Parts Industry Base has gathered more than 50 die-casting advantage enterprises, many of which have strong brands and leading advantages in the same industry nationwide. At present, there are 19 high-tech enterprises including Huiwang Mold, Xusheng Automobile, and Liaoyuan Mold Casting, as well as 6 "China Key Backbone Mold Enterprises" including Huiwang Mold, Xinlin Electromechanical, Xusheng Machinery, and Zhenzhi Machinery. There are also 2 national laboratories, Jifeng Automobile and Minda Electromechanical, and more than 20 research and engineering (technology) centers at the national, provincial, and municipal levels.

Our district encourages die-casting mold enterprises to expand their domestic and international markets and optimize their product structure. With the development of the mechanical industry, especially the domestic and international automotive industry and the global communication industry, our district's die-casting enterprises are rapidly developing in an industrial cluster, forming a network among die-casting enterprises, constantly innovating, setting up automated production lines, and using new technologies and equipment such as vacuum die-casting and mold flow analysis. At present, the clients we are developing include not only major domestic brands such as Volkswagen, FAW, and Haier, but also international brands such as Daigo, Volkswagen, Tesla, Bosch, Samsung, and others LG、 Panasonic and other world-renowned enterprises have exported their products to Europe, America, Oceania, etc. Beilun Die Casting has entered the international stage.

Our district also organizes enterprises to participate in the formulation of national standards and seize the high-end of the industry. On the basis of seizing 14 national technical standards for die-casting molds in 2016, the revision of national standards for die-casting was initiated. As of now, the 19 national technical standards for die-casting molds declared by our district in 2016 have passed the review, and we strive to obtain approval from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and implement them within the year. It is understood that the Die Casting Mold Standardization Committee and the Die Casting Mold International Standard are also striving to complete the data compilation and report by the end of this year.

In recent years, the supporting facilities for the die-casting mold industry in our district have become increasingly perfect. In order to better serve the die-casting industry, our district has established the Beilun Die Casting Public Service Center, which creates four service platforms including e-commerce, product testing, technology research and development, and product display. We actively promote the cultivation of technical talents and assist in the transformation and upgrading of our die-casting industry.

Since its establishment in 2012, Beilun Die Casting Public Service Platform has continuously innovated its service system and expanded its service scope. In March 2016, the platform, together with Ningbo Vocational and Technical College, created the province's first "e-commerce platform for die-casting machinery", integrated industrial design, manufacturing and other full industry chain resources using Internet technology, and through the platform's self built engineering technology service team, let domestic and foreign end product design and research and development institutions directly conduct business cooperation with small and medium-sized mold and die-casting enterprises in our region, to help buyers develop new products and small batch customization. This not only reduces the research and development, production, and sales costs of terminal procurement manufacturers, but also enables small and medium-sized processing enterprises in our region to obtain orders with higher cost-effectiveness.

The rapid development of the die-casting industry is attributed to the improvement of supporting industries. After the establishment of the heat treatment center of the Ningbo branch of Jiangxi Academy of Sciences in Beilun in the 1990s, in 2003, Sweden's Yishengbai Company settled in its second heat treatment base in East China, positioning Beilun as the heat treatment center for the Ningbo region. In March 2015, Yishengbai Group installed a super large imported vacuum furnace, which is the world's largest vacuum heat treatment furnace. It is a supporting industry for the development of large die-casting molds and the die-casting industry, greatly improving the supporting industry level of our die-casting industry.

The processing supporting enterprises and manufacturing industry in our district's die-casting industry are organically combined to form a relatively complete system with a high degree of social cooperation, including mechanical equipment, material supply, heat treatment, mold forging processing, mold design and manufacturing, precision machining of die-casting products, and many other aspects. This enables all processes in the die-casting industry manufacturing process to be completed on site in our district, saving logistics costs for enterprises, shortening production cycles, and improving production efficiency. The first domestically developed new magnesium alloy insulation furnace independently developed by Ningbo Xunhui Electric Appliance Co., Ltd. was taken offline last year, breaking the previous situation of mainly relying on imports.

Continuously enhancing the core competitiveness of the industrial chain and strengthening its regional dominant position in China

With the rapid development of China's automobile and motorcycle industry, the die-casting industry has ushered in a new era of development. At the same time, higher requirements have been put forward for the comprehensive mechanical properties and service life of die-casting molds.

In order to accelerate the structural adjustment of the die-casting industry, create unique advantages, and enhance the competitiveness of the industry chain centered on die-casting, our district has built the largest high-end die-casting specialized base and die-casting demonstration base in China, which is based on high-end die-casting molds and integrates research and development, production, testing, exhibition and sales functions. At the same time, the die-casting industry has become one of the main cores of our district's industry and a new economic growth point.

By 2020, 5 new die-casting listed enterprises will be cultivated, with an average annual growth rate of over 20% in the output value of die-casting enterprises in the entire region. There will be 10 enterprises with an annual output value exceeding 1 billion yuan, 20 enterprises with an annual output value exceeding 500 million yuan, and 50 enterprises with an annual output value exceeding 100 million yuan. We plan to further plan and construct a listed industrial park for die-casting enterprises with a total land area of 2000 acres. Currently, a working leadership group for the listed industrial park has been established with the district mayor as the leader, which has led to a qualitative leap in our die-casting industry.

A complete industrial supporting system is an important guarantee for the rapid development of the die-casting mold industry. Our district also has effective measures and clear goals in the construction of supporting service systems. By 2020, a supporting service system centered on the die-casting and die casting markets will be established, accelerating the construction of the entire innovation chain, industry chain, and service chain. The die-casting industry should be built into one of the most competitive blocks in our district's industry, and its extended industries should be promoted to become an important component of our district's block economy and a breeding ground for enterprise listings. The supporting market should be built into a model for the development of the tertiary industry in our district. While further improving the functions of the die-casting public service platform, we should focus on the use of "Internet plus" technology to integrate industrial design, product manufacturing and other resources in the whole industry chain, so that domestic and foreign end product design and research institutions can directly cooperate with die-casting enterprises in our district to promote the vigorous development of producer services.

In terms of regional brand building, our district actively encourages enterprises to participate in the national standardization revision of die-casting technology, create an international die-casting gathering place, and build a national standardization demonstration zone for die-casting, so as to elevate the level of our die-casting industry and become a lasting and influential regional brand.

Our district has also set development goals for key areas of the die-casting industry. By 2020, we aim to achieve international advanced levels in die-casting design, manufacturing, and establish internationally recognized quality control and testing centers; We will focus on developing key components for automobiles, such as engine cylinder blocks, automatic transmissions, and steering gear castings. We aim to establish a leading die-casting industry demonstration base in China with distinctive regional characteristics, a prominent role as a leading enterprise, high product technology content, elegant environment, complete supporting industries, and strong radiation power.

In order to promote the sustainable and healthy development of the die-casting industry in our district, we plan to introduce 1-2 die-casting aluminum water and aluminum alloy ingots with an annual output of 200000 tons. This will help reduce the emission of pollutants in the region, leave space for energy conservation and consumption reduction, and improve the competitiveness of the aluminum die-casting industry. It is expected that one of them will be settled and put into operation early this year. Through these efforts, the core competitiveness of our district's die-casting industry chain will continue to improve and develop rapidly, further strengthening our district's regional strong position in the domestic die-casting mold industry, "said the person in charge of the Daqi High end Mold and Auto Parts Industry Base.