In the precision operation system of modern industry, bearings are like the "invisible heart" of machinery, carrying the core kinetic energy of countless industrial scenes such as the roaring and galloping of cars, precise cutting of machine tools, and the spinning of wind turbines with their tiny bodies. The huge market demand is like a strong engine, driving the continuous expansion of the industry scale; The sustained release of policy dividends is like a spring breeze and rain, driving the bearing industry towards the high-end. Faced with challenges such as dependence on imported high-end materials and barriers to precision manufacturing technology, domestic enterprises are using scientific research to break through bottlenecks, technological innovation to achieve breakthroughs, and industry chain synergy to unite forces, striving to write a chapter in the rise of China's intelligent manufacturing in the global bearing industry competition.
Industrial strength
Huge market demand: Bearings, as key basic components of mechanical equipment, are widely used in many fields such as automobiles, machine tools, industrial robots, wind power generation, and engineering machinery. For example, in the automotive industry, each car's engine, transmission, wheel hub, and other parts require the use of multiple bearings; The rapid development of the wind power industry has also driven a large demand for large wind power spindle bearings, yaw bearings, pitch bearings, and so on.
Support for industrial clusters: Some regions have formed competitive bearing industry clusters, such as Linqing in Shandong. Linqing has more than 5100 manufacturing enterprises and over 10000 individual industrial and commercial households, with an annual revenue of over 50 billion yuan. It has also established a full chain industrial ecology from upstream raw material production, midstream heat treatment, grinding and processing, finished product production and assembly, to downstream market trading, warehousing and logistics. It has formed a unique "full process closed-loop" system in the national bearing industry, providing strong industrial support for the development of the bearing industry.
Strong policy support: Governments of various countries have attached great importance to and provided policy support for the bearing industry. China's "Made in China 2025" has listed high-end CNC machine tools and robots as key areas, with bearings directly benefiting as key components. In addition, the country has established special bearing research and development funds to guide and promote the development of the bearing industry towards high-end and intelligent direction.
breakthrough direction
Material research and development: Key materials such as special steel (such as high-purity bearing steel) and ceramic retainers required for high-end bearings have long relied on imports. At present, domestic enterprises are increasing their R&D investment, promoting industry university research cooperation, and tackling "bottleneck" materials. For example, through years of technological breakthroughs, Luoyang Hongyuan Bearing has to some extent achieved domestic substitution of some materials.
The improvement of precision manufacturing technology: Ultra precision machining equipment and processes are important factors restricting the development of the domestic bearing industry. On the one hand, domestic enterprises actively introduce ultra precision machining equipment (such as nanoscale grinding machines) and digital production lines to promote "machine replacement" and intelligent manufacturing; On the other hand, we continuously strengthen our own process research and development. For example, Luoyang Xinqiang Unicom has independently developed a five axis linkage grinder, which controls the surface roughness of the bearing raceway below 0.2 microns, achieving mirror level accuracy and improving the service life of wind power main bearings.
Core technology independent innovation: There is a gap between domestic enterprises and international advanced levels in core technologies such as simulation design, lubrication and sealing, and noise reduction. Some companies have achieved certain breakthroughs through continuous research and development investment. For example, Hongyuan Bearing invests 8% of its annual revenue in research and development, successfully improving product accuracy to 1 micron, reaching international advanced levels, and breaking foreign monopolies in robot harmonic reducer bearings, achieving reverse exports to Japan.
Industry chain integration: The development of the bearing industry requires deep collaboration between upstream and downstream enterprises. Some regions in China have leveraged the industrial cluster effect to promote the high-end transformation of bearing industry belts such as the Yangtze River Delta and the Bohai Rim, while strengthening cooperation between enterprises, unifying technical standards, and improving product adaptability. In addition, some enterprises have also linked up upstream and downstream to create a domestic high-end equipment ecosystem by participating in industrial innovation centers and other means.
