The development of new products for ballast water systems must be rigorous

At present, many domestic shipping companies are or will enter the field of new ballast water treatment system manufacturing, and mainly rely on the company's own technical strength to independently research and develop and rely entirely on outsourcing drawings for research and development. At the 16th China International Maritime Exhibition held not long ago, in the N1 pavilion, which is the main exhibition of domestic ship supporting enterprises, six new domestic ballast water treatment system manufacturers were gathered. In this regard, relevant sources in the industry said that with the introduction and implementation of the new regulations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the market demand for new ballast water treatment systems has been continuously released, and business opportunities are huge. However, while companies are grabbing the market, they must also raise awareness of risk prevention.

From a technical point of view, IMO has high requirements for new ballast water treatment systems and product inspection is very demanding. For example, if a new ballast water treatment system product using a purification method is applied for certification, it is necessary to submit the relevant information to IMO for discussion one year in advance. Moreover, IMO is discussed twice a year in the year of the double-double, and the year of the individual is only discussed once a year. For the new ballast water treatment system using pure physical methods, IMO, although authorized by the government of the country where the manufacturer is involved, has a market entry threshold that is not lower than the new ballast water treatment system using the purification method: the application of pure physical methods After the prototype of the new ballast water treatment system comes out, it is necessary to carry out the product ground-based experiment first; after the land-based experiment meets the requirements, it is also entrusted to the domestic organization with relevant testing qualifications to carry out the 6-month uninterrupted real ship operation test. . Only these two experiments are up to standard, and the new ballast water treatment system using pure physical methods can meet the requirements of IMO. Therefore, even if a company completed the technical reserve work of the new ballast water treatment system and produced the first prototype, it still had to continue to pay considerable manpower and material resources before completing the two test tests of land-based and actual ships. As for when these two experiments can be successfully completed, it depends on the degree of mastery of the manufacturing technology of the production enterprises. If the technical performance of the product is not mature, it needs to be revised repeatedly.

There is no doubt that this is a great test for the technical and economic strength of the shipping company. According to a person in charge of the company that has obtained the certificate of the new ballast water treatment system of China Classification Society, the company started to develop the system from 2009, and did not complete the first prototype required by the classification society until March 2011. The experiment cost a total of 30 million yuan for this.

Experts say that companies that purchase new types of ballast water treatment systems by purchasing drawings must thoroughly understand technical drawings and fully understand the principles of product manufacturing. Moreover, it is best not to be easily introduced to the market until the technical performance of the product is not fully improved. If the product is unstable in terms of technical performance, it is prone to failure during the user's use, which will have a fatal impact on the marketing of new products. In this regard, some domestic ship supporting enterprises have profound lessons. In the 1990s, a domestic supporting company spent huge sums of money to introduce a patented technology for advanced marine boiler manufacturing in the world. Since the introduction of manufacturing patent technology was not digested, the product was produced and marketed. As a result, the boiler was installed. After only one year of operation on the ship, there were faults such as broken pipes and a large amount of water leakage, and the user had to replace other brands of boilers. To this end, some users were angry and decided not to use the products of the supporting company within the next five years. After this attack, the supporting enterprise was completely eliminated from the marine boiler market, and the huge investment in the introduction of patented manufacturing technology was also “floating”. Therefore, relevant experts said that enterprises should comprehensively consider and scientifically arrange according to the company's own technical strength, comprehensive strength and overall market demand, and guard against the "business opportunity" of new product development to become a new product development "crisis".