The Battle of Valves: An Innovative Assault from "0" to "100"

December 28th is a big day for nearly a hundred valve companies in Liandu.

 

On this day, the Liandu Pump and Valve Industry Association was announced to be established, and the heads of upstream and downstream enterprises in the valve industry chain that landed in Liandu jointly spoke out: "The cluster has formed momentum, promoting the intelligent manufacturing industry of Liandu valves to enter the 'fast lane'."

 

From civilian valves to industrial valves, from low-end to mid to high end, from small to large caliber... Over the past decade, the valve industry in Liandu has grown from scratch and has become an important component of high-end manufacturing. The annual total output value of 98 valve enterprises exceeds 3 billion yuan, covering upstream industries such as seals, flange fittings, fasteners, valve bodies, actuators, as well as various valve products such as ball valves, butterfly valves, and globe valves, Widely used in downstream fields such as HVAC, pharmaceuticals, and petrochemical facilities.

 

With the establishment of the first valve testing institution in the city last year, the industry's call for industrial agglomeration is also increasing. It is obvious that as "Liandu Zhizao" increasingly densely sets up "safety valves" for various mechanical equipment, showcasing Jianzhi's ambition in the high-end market, "Gathering Fingers into Fists" has become the way to strengthen the industry's advancement.

 

Realize from scratch

 

How to "unscrew" the valve without any industrial foundation?

 

For Liandu, the confidence in developing the valve industry from scratch stems from the favorable timing, location, and people.

 

"Don't be fooled by the fact that the factory area is now surrounded by valve enterprises. When we first arrived, we were only faced with a barren land." 14 years ago, Chen Chaokui, the person in charge of Lishui Ouyi Valve Co., Ltd., came to the Bihu block of the Liandu Economic Development Zone, which is now surrounded by factories, and only a large piece of wasteland fell into sight.

 

Choosing to take root and sprout in a barren land is because the starting point of the valve industry in Liandu is not high. "Initially, they all took on the industry spillover from Wenzhou, the 'valve capital'." Chen Chaokui told reporters that Wenzhou valves, which started in the 1960s, have become the most concentrated and largest leader in the domestic valve industry after decades of development, "At that time, the industrial chain of Wenzhou valves had already developed relatively maturely, including the upstream raw materials, accessories, and downstream products required for valves. Especially in the pump and valve industry, which was mainly focused on exports, it was already a leader."

 

In the 1990s, Chen Chaokui established a ball valve processing workshop in Oubei, Wenzhou. After overcoming numerous obstacles, the company's independently produced balls began to gain recognition from customers in 2000. Chen Chaokui seized the opportunity to establish Kailite Valve Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in 2002, upgraded to Zhejiang Ouyi Valve Co., Ltd. in 2007, and relocated from Wenzhou to Lishui in 2009, settling in the original Lishui Industrial Park and establishing Lishui Ouyi Valve Co., Ltd. More than ten valve enterprises that were put into operation in the same batch as Eurovalve have become the first batch of valve explorers in Liandu, taking the first step from scratch in the Liandu valve industry.

 

It is interesting that as the valve industry in Liandu enters the spring of development, the valve industry in Wenzhou is entering a period of pain. "The rapid development of Wenzhou valves has caused problems such as land restrictions and low-quality competition in the industry, hindering the development needs of enterprises. Therefore, many Wenzhou bosses have the idea of developing in other places. At this critical juncture, the adjacent Lotus City has extended an olive branch." Chen Chaokui told reporters that in addition to geographical advantages, favorable land use, talent attraction policies, and a sincere business environment have also become the key to attracting Wenzhou merchants to settle down.

 

"At the beginning, all the rough castings we produced were supplied to valve enterprises in Wenzhou. Gradually, the industrial chain of Liandu has also become a model. Now, at least a quarter of the products produced by the enterprise are for supporting Liandu valve enterprises." Zhejiang Feiwang Pump and Valve Co., Ltd., which has a development history of more than 30 years, is a pump and valve casting manufacturing enterprise. Jiang Deqing, the relevant person in charge of the enterprise, told reporters that as an upstream enterprise in the valve industry, The development of non king pump valves has also been accelerating with the growth of the Liandu valve industry. "When it was implemented in 2008, the annual output value was only over 40 million yuan, but now it has exceeded 200 million yuan."

 

As batches of valve enterprises in Wenzhou and surrounding cities land and start production, the number of upstream and downstream enterprises in the valve industry in Liandu is also increasing, gradually forming economies of scale. Nowadays, valve enterprises can be seen in blocks such as Bihu and Wanyang in the Liandu Economic Development Zone. The valve industry has also become the industry with the largest proportion in the manufacturing industry of Liandu. Among 98 enterprises, 34 are above designated size, and the total output value of the industry exceeded 3 billion yuan last year.

 

Moving towards high-end intelligent manufacturing

 

The implementation and production are only the first step, and how to achieve long-term development of the industry depends on equipment transformation and technological innovation.

 

This year, we produced the first 64 inch, 30 ton high-precision ultra large diameter ball valve ball in China, which was delivered to customers in September. As soon as we walked into the production workshop of Lishui Ouyi Valve Co., Ltd., Chen Chaokui introduced the company's latest technological achievements to us.

 

As a professional manufacturer of ball valve balls and accessories, Ouyi often receives orders from customers for the production of large-diameter balls. This type of product has a large volume and weight, and the manufacturing process is very complex. In order to improve product performance, Eurovalve spent a lot of money customizing a large integrated machining equipment for car grinding from Italy as early as 2010.

 

"At that time, there were no enterprises in the country that had yet introduced integrated processing equipment for car grinding, and I was at a loss. I made five trips to Italy before and after, and finally spent 20 million yuan to purchase this equipment." Chen Chaokui told reporters that the introduction of this equipment effectively filled the gap in the production capacity of large equipment in the field of overweight and ultra large high-end ball valves in China, As a result, Ouyi Valve has become the first enterprise in the country to produce 64 inch high-precision overweight ultra large diameter ball valves.

 

Not only that, in order to accurately control product quality, Ouyi Valve Laboratory has also obtained the CNAS laboratory qualification, introduced a complete set of professional testing equipment, and comprehensively tested the shape and position tolerances, contour dimensions, materials, physical properties, etc. of the products to ensure perfect delivery. "We invest tens of millions of yuan in innovative research and development every year, which is also the secret to maintaining a sustained growth of 10-20% in annual output value," said Chen Chaokui.

 

Enterprises that continuously invest in equipment renovation, product research and development, and technological innovation are not uncommon in the Liandu valve industry, which has laid the foundation for the overall quality level and regional competitiveness of the industry to continuously improve.

 

In the workshop on the third floor of Zhejiang Wowo Valve Co., Ltd., the reporter saw that the newly purchased intelligent machine tool this year is operating in an orderly manner under the supervision of a worker. In the workshop on the second floor, workers are busy operating on the machine panel, directing the robotic arm to skillfully place processed parts into the machining machine, and the entire production process is fast and efficient. Wowo Valve was officially put into operation in June 2021 and achieved the upper standard that year. Last year, its output value was nearly 100 million yuan.

 

"When we first arrived in Liandu, we still used the old equipment, and the product quality and production speed mainly relied on the experience of the workers." Chen Fan, the general manager of Wowo Valve, told reporters that at that time, Liandu actively promoted the digital transformation of the enterprise, and Wowo Valve actively responded by investing more than 10 million yuan in building a digital workshop over two years, purchasing more than 100 mechanical arms and new machine tools, "After the transformation and upgrading, the company has benefited greatly. In the past, making a product required five workers, but now it can be completed with just one machine. The company's efficiency has increased by about 40%, production capacity has increased by about 30%, and product stability and yield have also been comprehensively improved. It is expected that the output value will double next year."

 

At present, the first and second floors of the Wowo valve production workshop have all achieved an intelligent layout of "truss robotic arms, six joint robots with CNC centers". The third floor workshop is under further construction, and the second building of the enterprise is also under construction, with plans to become a future factory.

 

Building an intelligent base

 

Although the industry has a considerable scale and a relatively high market share, the Liandu valve industry still faces the problem of "low, small, and scattered".

 

"The number of leading backbone enterprises is not large, and many valve enterprises have relatively backward production equipment, product quality, and application scope are also in the middle and low end. The successful layout of Wowo Valve's automated production line and digital workshop planning have provided successful experience for the intelligent transformation of other enterprises." Li Junfang, Deputy Director of the Liandu District Bureau of Commerce, told reporters that currently, Liandu is deeply promoting the digital and intelligent transformation of manufacturing enterprises, including the valve industry, and promoting the industry from traditional manufacturing to high-end intelligent manufacturing.

 

How can we gain an advantage in competition, whether it's accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries or cultivating the innovation power of industrial clusters? For enterprises, we should pay attention to the latest technologies, actively promote the improvement of production and manufacturing capabilities and technological levels, strengthen talent cultivation and learning exchange, and promote the intelligent development of the valve industry. For associations, we will become a bridge between enterprises, industries, and governments, do a good job in promoting technological progress and exchange in the pump and valve industry, accelerating brand innovation, strengthening vocational training and talent cultivation, solving problems and coordinating for enterprises Contact upstream and downstream services in the industrial chain As the president of the Liandu Pump and Valve Industry Association, Chen Chaokui gave his own answer.

 

The leading role of digital intelligence in transformation and upgrading has brought not only a large number of orders to the valve industry. Last year, the Valve Industry Quality Testing Center in Liandu District, with a total investment of about 8 million yuan, officially settled in the Wanyang Industrial Block.

 

Entering the testing center, I saw the staff operating the machinery to conduct a comprehensive physical examination around the sealing, fire resistance, corrosion and other characteristics of the valve. "Previously, our company's products had to be sent to Wenzhou, Shanghai and other places for testing, which was time-consuming and labor-intensive. Now, there is such a testing institution in the park, which allows us to enjoy one-stop services, save production cycles and costs for enterprises, and make our products more competitive in the market." Fang Zhongshu, assistant to the general manager of Ouyi Valve, told reporters.

 

In recent years, with the continuous clustering and development of the valve industry in Liandu, the demand for valve product testing has become increasingly urgent. The appearance of the Valve Industry Quality Testing Center in Liandu District not only fills the gap of local valve testing institutions, further improves the quality level and branding effect of the valve industry, but also makes Lishui the third city in the province to have a valve testing institution after Hangzhou and Wenzhou. At present, the testing center has served more than 40 valve enterprises and signed over 100 contract orders.

 

It is worth mentioning that the testing center only took half a year from settling in Liandu to officially starting production. "In May of this year, we began providing testing services that basically meet the testing needs of all projects and parameters. Some testing equipment is at the forefront of the industry, providing technical support for valve enterprises in Liandu District and even nationwide." said Ji Cheng, General Manager of Lishui Valve Testing and Control Technology Co., Ltd.

 

For Liandu valve enterprises, the successive establishment of testing centers and associations means that an intelligent valve industry base has transformed from a blueprint into a reality.