The 9th China CNC Machine Tool Fair (CCMT 2016) has ended successfully on April 15, but its influence is spreading rapidly. Recently, the global machine tool industry has some hot debates about it. In addition to its exhibits and activities, probably there are some "unexpected" topics. No one has the thought that CCMT2016 could expand by 20% in scale under the situation of years doldrums for global machine tool industry and especially for its market in China; No one has the thought that professional visitors at CCMT2016 could increase by 5%, while other similar exhibitions have shrunk; Apart from the above, no one has the thought that organizers of the event have held such a wide-variety, pragmatic and innovative supporting activities at the difficult moment to boost market! There are just too many to mention.
So, what kind of machine tool professional grand event is CCMT 2016?
I．Exhibition Overview
1. Basic Information
Time: April 11-15, 2016
Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Center
Organizer: China Machine Tool Industry Association
Co-organizers: China Machine Tool Industry Association
Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
Theme: “New Environment•New Pattern•New Action”, accurately and vividly reflects the characteristics of the times of China's machine tool industry development and market, reflecting the background of CCMT2016.
2. Scale
CCMT2016 uses E3-E7 and N1-N5, 10 halls of Shanghai New International Expo Center, with the total exhibition area of 120 thousand square meters, increasing by 20% compared with that of CCMT2014. Among them, the display area of overseas exhibitors reaches 35%. 1148 exhibitors from 22 countries and regions participate in CCMT 2016, increasing by 26% over the previous one. Nearly 400 overseas exhibitors participated; the number is a hundred more over the previous fair.
3. Exhibitors
The globally well-known exhibitors in machine tool industry have gathered in CCMT2016. Among them, Shenyang Machine Tool, Dalian Machine Tool and FANUC take up more than 1000 square meters. Beijing No.1 Machine Tool, JIER, DMG MORI, Mazak, Qinchuan, CHMTI, RIFA, Jingdiao, Push Ningjiang, Bystronic, Yawei, Amada, Okuma, Emag, Doosan, Shanghai Machine Tool, MAG, Haitian Precision, Yonghua, DNELaser, Tornos, Siemens, Heidenhain, ISCAR, KUKA, ABB, and Comau also take up large areas. It is worth mentioning that Germany, for the first time, has listed CCMT as government funded project. Spain and the Czech Republic have also done the same. For the first time; exhibitors from Germany, China Taiwan and Japan occupy dominant positions among overseas exhibitors. The number of German exhibitors is up to 67. 325 domestic exhibitors for the first time participate in CCMT, accounting for as high as 42%, among them; some give up other exhibitions and take a larger area at CCMT.
4. Audience
Accumulated 105,032 people have visited the fair in the 5-day period, a y-o-y increase of 5%. Total person-time is 145,666, a y-o-y rise of 5.2%. Among them, audience has reached 59101, a y-o-y increase of 5%. The continuing upgraded CCMT2016 has attracted 15 visiting delegations from aerospace, automotive, nuclear industry and other key areas to visit negotiate and purchase equipment. Among them, the aerospace group comprises more than 160 people. More than 100 people come from the group of automobile industry and the group of nuclear industry is close to 50 people. On the last day of the exhibition, there were still more than 30 people in automobile group visiting the fair. It is noteworthy that the fair has also attracted more than 3600 students in related professions from 23 universities or vocational schools to carry out field study activities, the number of them increased by 24% over the previous fair. This will undoubtedly accumulate potential strength for subsequent development of the industry. In the situation of economic downturn with many corporates downsizing, it is not easy to get such an increase of professional visitors.
II．Highlights
1. A Solid Step Forward to the Upgrading Objective
Since CCMT 2014 returned to Shanghai, the organizer-CMTBA proposed the upgrading objective for CCMT, which is to create an “internationalization, professionalization, informationalization” modern machine tool professional exhibition. Through the joint efforts of the organizer and each partner, CCMT 2016 has taken a solid pace toward the above "three objectives". In the aspect of Internationalization, overseas exhibitors reached 35%, and the total area increased by 46% over the previous fair. 9 countries and regions including Germany, the United States, Switzerland, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Japan, Czech and China Taiwan organized pavilions. CCMT 2016 based on the successful attempt in professionalization layout from last fair continued to implement professional classification layout by exhibits. Similar exhibits and closely related exhibits are put together for professional audiences to visit and purchase. The professional level of continuous improvement is reflected in the overall planning and layout, the site management, transportation, construction and other related services, activities planning and organization, media, and other aspects of the exhibition. At the same time, with the extensive application of information technology, we made beneficial attempts in visitor pre-registration, on-site code-scan admission, on-site visit-pass printing, and exerting new media superiority such as website and WeChat promotion, which pushed the level of informationalization to a new height, and achieved better effect.
2. Professional Features Are More Prominent
As an industry association, CCMT’s organizer has been committed to strive to create the machine tool exhibition with the most professional features. Therefore, CCMT2016 fully reflects the integration of fair and industry. The fair itself is not only a commercial activity, but it is a grand release meeting to display the industrial progress, satisfy the demand of customers, and innovate technologies and products. Its supporting activities are tightly around the industry development and needs of user field progress, which fully embody the Pragmatic Innovation to ensure the participants to achieve some beneficial results, and ultimately to help industrial transformation and upgrading. CMTBA announced the establishment of the Distributor Sub-Association during the fair indicating that the association's service areas and scope will be effectively expanded.
3. Further Expand the Influence
After years of continuous efforts, CCMT industrial influence has been growing. Its international influence is gradually increasing and its coverage of exhibitors is expanding fair by fair. Not only domestic exhibitors recognize its professional organization and the quality of its audience, but more overseas exhibitors also join the exhibition. More countries have listed it as government funded project. The "Special Achievement Show", "Academic World" and other types of display and service platform at the fair attracted a large number of key users, governments at different levels and foreign institutions in China to visit and investigate. News released on the platform of “technical market” and Sino-US cooperation in holding Chongqing International Machine Tool Fair attracted wide attention at the fair.
4. Structural Optimization of Exhibitors and Exhibits Accelerated
In recent years, CMTBA has proposed the upgrading objective of optimizing and adjusting exhibits’ structure for its professional exhibitions and made efforts to add forming machine tools, special processing machine tools and other relevant equipment in the industry besides the metal cutting machine. Through unremitting efforts, related exhibits have increased largely in number. A total of 86 forming and laser processing enterprises participate in the fair. Both exhibitors and exhibition area are higher than CCMT2014 by 79% and 34% respectively. A total of 25 robot exhibitors have joined with the number of exhibitors and exhibition area are higher than CIMT2015 by 39% and 126% respectively. As a result, this exhibition will be further optimized in terms of exhibitors and exhibits’ structure.
5. Rich, Innovative and Pragmatic Supporting Activities
In order to further improve the exhibition image and provide better service to exhibitors and audience, the organizers held a large number of supporting activities in CCMT2016. Among the said activities there are "Major Sinc-Tech Project Exhibition Area" and “Test Result Release of Rolling Functional Components" as well as “Domestic CNC Machine Tool Application Forum” jointly sponsored by several Ministries. There are not only “Technical Expert Diagnosis Service”, “Sino-France Exchange Meeting on Machine Tool”, “Seminar on Advanced Manufacturing Technology” and the like, but also some traditional activities with innovative elements such as: “International CEO Forum”, “International Business Forum”, “International Machine Tool & Tool Information Conference”, “Exhibition Information Conference” etc.. Each activity has prominent features in terms of innovation and pragmatic. It goes without saying; those activities have important significance and are bound to produce far-reaching influence.
Industrial "Top Ten Enterprises" selection and exhibits “Spring Sparrow Award" appraisal have always maintained vigorous based on continuous upgrading connotation in the industry. The current “Spring Sparrow Award" not only expanded the scope, but also highlighted the encouragement of self-independent innovation to promote technological progress, thus laid a solid foundation for industry transformation upgrade.
III．Observation of the Industry from CCMT
1. Robots Widely Used, Intelligent Equipment is Eye-Catching
We believe that visitors at the fair will have a clear feeling that robot-show is larger in both quantity and scope. Many machining centers, production lines and special purpose machine tools are equipped with hard-working robots, while booths of robot manufacturers and suppliers are bustling. At the same time, products with intelligent manufacturing as the theme and technology release are also everywhere. A lot of booths are with slogans of “Industry 4.0” or “Made in China 2025” and other key words alike. Many exhibitors and audience also found this obvious feature to share it in WeChat moments that “the robot application in the machine tool industry has entered into the stage of normal use".
2. Obvious Trend of Strategic Transformation of Enterprises
Exhibitor’s exhibits planning, booth layout and emphasis of publicity reflected the beginning of industrial transformation and upgrading. Exhibitors are no longer blindly or simply to promote the efficient and advanced aspect for their single product, but pay more attention to the utilization in product line to provide complete solutions, with particular emphasis on the management and service of the product life cycle. More and more exhibitors no longer emphasize their leading technologies filled how many gaps or created how many precedents, but increasingly focus on refinement of existing mature products and products truly meeting the market demand to make them unique so that users cannot do without them. It is not difficult to find out that a really firm foothold of an enterprise in the market is not gained by promoting some concepts in a high profile, but with low-key and down-to-earth research on products and technology to reach higher levels. Ultimately, the kind of enterprise wins users and solid markets.
3. Technical Research and Development Closely Follow the User Needs
The market demand drives technology innovation and development. Many years ago, the machine tool industry in a rapid development period, many enterprises did not pay deserved attention to the real needs of users. They only wanted to sell products at their ease. But now, after severe test of the market tide, more and more enterprises have realized the magic weapon to maintain a lasting vitality is to meet the needs of users, especially those in the key fields. "Forum on Application of Domestic CNC Machine Tool in Key Field" at CCMT2016 has deepened the long-term cooperation mechanism of machine tool docking with the users again resulting in improved efficiency driving more enterprises to conduct deep communication and cooperation with key users to better meet users’ needs at last.
The fair has also reflected more and more enterprises conduct R&D for customized special product and process solutions for their users, thereby to realize the transformation from single product suppliers to comprehensive user-service providers.
4. M&A Sparked Hot Debate
Cross-border M&A, overseas M&A and foreign capital domestic restructuring are hardly fresh words in machine tool industry for years. Successful cases are anything but rare. However, perhaps no other enterprise like FFG is so "fanatical" in global M&A and enjoys "King of M&A” reputation with such a great pride. Especially, the release of its M&A of Doosan and China Qiqihar Heavy-Duty at the fair has triggered a lot of hot debates.
CCMT2016 of only five days is not enough to fully display all the latest developments and trends in the industry, but the follow-up influence will continue to ferment and spread. Let us pay close attention and expect more detailed technical reports.
