New product development is an effective way for enterprises to carry out technological innovation and explore the market, and also a “wind vane” for enterprises to layout future markets.
Since 2013, Ningbo has produced a total of 1 new product in trial (production).740000. Among them, there are 403 products that have reached the international leading level, and 1516 products that have reached the international advanced level.
However, from the perspective of R&D (scientific research and experimental development) investment, Ningbo’s performance as an important basis for measuring regional, urban innovation capacity, and future development potential is not ideal.
How to drive major innovation with new products and activate the new engine of technological innovation has become an important breakthrough for Ningbo’s manufacturing industry to grow from large to strong and achieve high-quality development.
Ningbo’s new products gallop on the “new track”
By simulating the process of lightning hitting oxygen and generating ozone, Zhejiang Jinda Wanxiang Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. successfully “moved” the natural way of generating ozone into boxes of different sizes.
You see, the purple light occasionally emitted inside the box is high-voltage discharge, “said Liu Xinwang, General Manager of Jinda Wanxiang, as he picked up a box he was holding and introduced the core technology of the company. With the principle of ozone inactivating bacteria and viruses, Jinda Wanxiang has successfully applied the ozone disinfection machine products to the preventive disinfection and sterilization links in the cold chain logistics system such as large-scale low-temperature cold storage, storage, containers, etc.
Last year, the CCTV News Studio reported that Suifenhe Port used advanced ozone oxidation disinfection technology and equipment for the first time to carry out preventive disinfection and sterilization of goods exported to Europe under the title of “Science and Technology Enable Large scale Preventive disinfection and sterilization Increaser”. What is used here is our product, “Liu Xinwang said. This technology can also be widely applied to large warehouses, workshops, even kitchens, bathrooms and other fields in enterprises. Just three days ago, Tongji University just ordered 10 sets of ozone disinfection machines from Jinda Wanxiang for disinfection and sterilization in the school canteen and refrigerator.
With the continuous increase in innovation efforts of manufacturing enterprises in Ningbo, stories like Jinda Wanxiang are accelerating in Ningbo. A continuous stream of new products that are highly competitive and have achieved core technological breakthroughs has made Ningbo manufacturing even more powerful.
With the batch application of fully automated intelligent rubber cutting robots and precise control of big data, Ningbo Zhongchuang Hanwei Technology Co., Ltd. has developed a robot rubber cutting operation management system, which has successfully solved the pain points of harsh production environment and difficult recruitment in the rubber cutting industry, helping the rubber cutting industry enter a new era of mechanized and intelligent production management. The method of replacing people with machines has completely overturned the adhesive cutting method that has been passed down for over 500 years, with only a quarter of the traditional labor consumption, but the adhesive production can increase by about 50%.
With the help of planetary reduction gears and electrification of construction machinery, Ningbo Dongli Transmission Equipment Co., Ltd. is accelerating the layout of electric drive planetary reduction gear products in the construction machinery industry. At present, planetary reducers used in engineering industries such as road rollers and tower cranes have also been customized and developed. With the launch of the technical renovation project in the new factory area of Hangzhou Bay, the newly introduced automatic assembly line for planetary reducers in the factory area has been put into trial production and operation, with a single line.Every 4 minutes, one planetary gearbox can be taken offline, and the annual production scale of the project is expected to reach 520000 units.
Whether a city’s manufacturing industry has vitality and competitiveness, and the volume of new products, especially those that achieve core technological breakthroughs, is an important indicator. With the accelerated emergence of a batch of high-end and cutting-edge new products, the vitality of Ningbo manufacturing continues to burst out.
Data shows that the output value of new products in Ningbo reached 7574 last year.400 million yuan, accounting for approximately 34% of the total industrial output value above designated size.26%, an increase of 26% compared to the previous year.3%. With innovation as the engine, batches of new products manufactured in Ningbo are accelerating into the new track, helping Ningbo manufacturing accelerate into the fast lane of high-quality development.
Small Concerns about Enterprise R&D Innovation
Behind the continuous emergence of new products is the continuous investment of enterprises in research and development and their tireless exploration in the field of new technologies. However, according to the recently released 2021 Zhejiang Province Manufacturing High Quality Development Assessment Report, Ningbo’s R&D investment ranking is relatively low, which does not match our city’s solid industrial background.
The product development and innovation cycle is long and the effectiveness is slow, requiring a long-term trial and error process. Even if the product is successfully developed, it still needs to undergo market testing and there are certain risks. “Professor Zhao Yingjun, Dean of the School of Business Administration at Ningbo University of Finance and Economics, said that the main reason why Ningbo’s R&D investment ranking lags behind other cities is that enterprises are hesitant to invest.
In the process of conducting research on enterprises, we often see them displaying patents on the wall. Although there may seem to be a large number, upon closer inspection, it is not difficult to find that there are not many invention patents among them, and utility models still dominate. “An expert who frequently participates in enterprise research bluntly stated that there are still a group of enterprises in Ningbo that mainly imitate and follow, with few original achievements and relatively weak basic research. Some products have only been adjusted in appearance and color, Lack of breakthroughs in core technologies, and even some companies choose to “lie flat” in the OEM model.
Why are companies unwilling to invest? Zhao Yingjun believes that the overly traditional industrial structure, the lack of leading enterprises, and the inability of the talent team to keep up are three important reasons.
Talent is currently the main factor restricting our enterprise’s R&D and innovation. “Zhang Bojie, Manager of the Intelligent Equipment Business Unit of Ningbo Xiatuo Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., admitted that as a new sector separated from Xiaxia Gear, Xiatuo Intelligent Technology focuses on creating a turnkey project for the construction and renovation of intelligent production lines in the machining industry. With the rapid development of the enterprise, the R&D investment of Xiatuo Intelligent Technology has exceeded 7% in the past three years.
But it’s difficult to recruit suitable technical talents now! “Zhang Bojie said. Currently, more than 70% of Xiatuo Intelligent Technology’s 20 person R&D team is trained by the company’s original frontline team.
Tan Qiangsheng, Deputy General Manager of Zhejiang Kabar Electric Co., Ltd., came to Ningbo in 1995 through talent recruitment. He said that what he valued back then was the inclusive, innovative, and actively open vitality of the city of Ningbo, so he stayed in Ningbo. In recent years, Ningbo has continuously increased its support for innovation policies, but the atmosphere of innovation still needs to be strengthened. On the one hand, Ningbo’s traditional industries account for a relatively high proportion, and the R&D investment in traditional advantageous industries such as clothing, home appliances, and molds is not on the same level as strategic emerging industries such as biopharmaceuticals, new energy, and information. On the other hand.Ningbo also lacks leading enterprises such as Huawei and DJI to drive neighboring enterprises to increase their R&D and innovation efforts.
Integrating innovation into urban development genes
Increasing R&D investment cannot be achieved solely by spending money. We need to further plan and answer core questions such as who will invest, where the money comes from, and where the money will go. “Guo Yue, a professor at Ningbo University of Finance and Economics, believes that our city should further strengthen policy guidance and integrate innovation into the genes of urban development.
Who will invest? Enterprises are still the “main battlefield” of innovative research and development. To achieve high-quality development, enterprises must rely on innovation driven connotative growth.
Guo Yue stated that first of all, the government should establish and improve a mechanism for innovation needs to be proposed by enterprises, innovation resources to be organized by enterprises, and innovation achievements to be shared with enterprises in supporting projects that are oriented towards industrial technology applications or have strong potential for industrial applications, and promote the government’s innovation resources to be more inclined towards enterprise entities. Secondly, it is necessary to support enterprises to become the main body of scientific research organizations and achievements transformation. It is suggested that relying on enterprises, especially private enterprises with good foundation, a number of major innovation platforms such as State Key Laboratory, industrial basic technology research institutes and manufacturing innovation centers should be arranged to mobilize enterprises’ innovation enthusiasm and improve their original innovation ability. Finally, standardize the mechanism of profit distribution and other mechanisms for enterprises and universities to carry out collaborative innovation between industry, academia, and research, ensuring the dominant position of enterprises and the effectiveness of collaborative innovation.
Where does the money come from? Several experts believe that our city should strengthen cooperation with domestic resources through the link of Ningbo academicians and Ningbo Bang. At the same time, make good use of the capital market as a financing channel. Taking the Ningbo Yongxin Weihao Semiconductor Industry Fund established in November last year as an example, the new Ningbo Gang represented Yu Renrong and its related parties to contribute 2 billion yuan, and the state-owned assets of Ningbo jointly contributed 8 billion yuan.
Where does the money go? Zhao Yingjun believes that our city not only needs to identify strategic emerging industries suitable for Ningbo’s development, such as new energy, biopharmaceuticals, new materials, high-end equipment manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection, and new energy vehicles, but also needs to solve the “bottleneck” problem, accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing through industry digitization, and guide the traditional manufacturing industry to accelerate its transformation towards digitization, intelligence, greenery, and fashion.
At the same time, with the continuous acceleration of the construction of the Yongjiang Laboratory and the Yongjiang Science and Technology Innovation Zone, Ningbo can fully utilize the role of these large platforms and invite academicians, especially those from Ningbo, to participate in the research and development innovation of key industries and projects in Ningbo, in order to have a deeper binding with academicians in a way of unveiling and leading..Excellent products will be rewarded accordingly, guiding enterprises to develop more new products that achieve core technological breakthroughs.
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(Contributed by Ningbo Municipal Commission of Commerce)