China's PLC application status

At present, more than 95% of China's PLC market is occupied by foreign products. Domestic research institutes have developed PLC products and have not developed for various reasons. It is gratifying to note that companies with strong capabilities in China have begun to expand their PLC business and have had a certain voice in China's PLC market, such as Hewlett-Packard, Deweissen, and Ankang.

The automation degree of China's industrial enterprises is generally low, and PLC products have a large application space. For example, more than 80% of equipment in the machinery industry still uses traditional relays and contactors for control. Therefore, the application potential of PLC in China is far from being fully utilized.

Large and medium-sized enterprises in China generally adopt advanced automation systems to control the production process. However, most small-sized enterprises have not applied automation systems and products to control the production process. With the increasing competition, more and more small-scale enterprises will use economical and practical automation products to control the production process, in order to increase the economic efficiency and competitiveness of enterprises.

After China's accession to the WTO, more and more international companies have transferred their manufacturing bases to China. At the same time, China's state-owned enterprises and private enterprises are also taking advantage of rare historical opportunities to develop the manufacturing industry. China is trying hard to become a new manufacturing base in the world. Manufacturing control is mainly based on discrete control, and PLC is the first choice for control systems in this area. To increase labor productivity and product quality, manufacturing companies will inevitably use PLCs in large numbers to provide a broad application prospect for PLC applications.

Since 2001, the machinery industry, one of the basic industries, has become a new growth point for China's industrial development, with an average annual growth rate of more than 20%. Different from the feedback adjustment of the analog industry in the process industry, the mechanical industry needs to perform chain and sequential control of the switching quantity, so PLC becomes the first choice for its control products. The rapid growth and automation of the machinery industry provide a huge market space for PLC applications.

China's "15th Five-Year Plan" has clearly proposed the "information to promote industrialization," the development plan, the automation of a large number of traditional industries will provide ample room for the development of PLC applications. China's industrial development and the level of automation applications are lagging behind those of industrialized countries for several decades. According to the analysis of the current economic situation, China will usher in a period of rapid growth in the PLC market.

Based on the above reasons and the current rapid growth of China's economy, the PLC market in China will continue to maintain rapid growth in the coming years. Combine the data provided by the relevant data and analyze the current operating data of major manufacturers in China's PLC market. It is estimated that the total amount of PLCs currently sold in China will be RMB 3,000 to RMB 4 billion (excluding the PLCs supplied with imported main equipment). The growth rate is 15 to 20%.

At present, China's PLC market is dominated by major international companies such as Siemens, Mitsubishi, Omron, Rockwell, Schneider, and GE-Fanuc. European and American companies have absolute advantages in the large and medium-sized PLC fields. Japanese companies occupy a very important position in the small-scale PLC field. Companies in Taiwan and China also have a certain market share in the field of small PLCs. The market share of PLC manufacturers in mainland China is almost negligible.

Target users of large-scale PLCs generally do not consider price as their primary consideration when selecting a PLC, but instead pay more attention to product performance, quality, and brand, and are not very sensitive to price. Therefore, it is difficult for Japanese products to enter this field. The products of South Korea and China Taiwan have been imitating Japanese products from the very beginning, basically following the technical route of Japanese products. Its market strategy and industry influence in China are basically the footsteps of Japanese manufacturers. They are only a lag behind Japanese products.

The huge market demand provides a rare historical opportunity for the development of the PLC business. The domestic powerful automation company should make full use of the accumulation in the market, technology, industry influence and brand, and vigorously expand the PLC business so that the domestic PLC will soon become China PLC. One of the major players in the market.

For the target users of medium and small PLCs, the PLC products of the major manufacturers in the market can meet their requirements, so the price is a very important factor in product selection. Therefore, Japanese products have an absolute advantage in this field. After Siemens introduced a new generation of small-scale PLC products S7200, its price is not much different from that of Japanese products. In recent years, the market of its small PLCs has grown rapidly, and has achieved a similar market position with major Japanese products (Mitsubishi and Omron) in the field of small PLCs. . In recent years, due to the obvious price advantage, some Taiwanese PLC manufacturers in China have had a strong momentum in the field of small-scale PLCs and have seized a portion of the low-end market of Japanese products.