One of the major competitive advantages of Manst is that the runner design of the coating die can be customized quickly according to the process plan of various lithium battery companies.
Compared with 2015, the process of replacing imported domestic lithium battery equipment and its key components is speeding up.
At present, the top 20 power battery companies in domestic shipments have all imported domestic lithium battery equipment. Listed equipment companies led by Pioneer Intelligence and Han's Laser are all advancing the entire line of solutions, and the replacement rate of imported lithium battery equipment by domestically produced lithium battery equipment has been rising.
According to statistics from the Advanced Institute of Technology, Industry and Research Lithium Battery Research Institute (GGII), the demand for lithium battery production equipment in China in 2018 reached 20.68 billion yuan, an increase of 18% year-on-year; the demand for domestic lithium battery equipment accounted for 90%.
As a part of the localization process of lithium battery equipment, the coating die head has been developing by leaps and bounds since its development in 2015.
On the one hand, this is due to the upgrading of the technology of domestic power battery companies and the gradual decline of subsidies. Battery companies have become more and more stringent in the cost control of the supply chain and internal production; on the other hand, after recent years of market and technology precipitation , The quality and technology of domestic coating die heads have been comparable and even some performance indicators have surpassed imported companies.
It can be said that in the next 2-3 years, domestic coating dies will start the "honeymoon period" of cooperation with lithium battery companies. Industry insiders believe that the current market share of domestic coating die heads is about 30%, and there is still a lot of room for substitution.
Gaogong Li Battery understands that the leading domestic lithium battery companies have introduced domestic coating die heads on a large scale. Some head battery companies have adopted the mode of purchasing coating machines and die heads separately, and designated domestic coating die suppliers at the same time.
At present, a domestic coating die company named "Shenzhen Manst Technology Co., Ltd." is widely recognized by lithium battery manufacturers. From the growth context of this private enterprise, we can get a glimpse of the development process of domestic coating die heads.
Difficulties in the promotion of domestic coating die
Manst is a state-level high-tech enterprise with professional R&D coating technology as its core and dedicated to manufacturing perfect functional coatings. The company's predecessor originated in 2006. The founding team has rich experience in lithium battery production and manufacturing, and has accumulated long-term experience in repairing imported coating die heads from abroad. It is one of the few domestic companies that have independently developed high-precision lithium battery coating die heads. . The company's technical team has cooperated with well-known domestic lithium battery companies to jointly develop a coating die with a high speed of 120m/min and has been put into use on a large scale.
Although in 2018 and the first quarter of 2019, Manst has full orders and is expanding production, when the timeline is set back to 2015, this is almost impossible.
"Like today, many lithium battery customers have already voluntarily designated our die heads. A few years ago, the coating die heads were designated to purchase Manst. I dare not say that." Mr. Xiang Gao, the person in charge of Manst Lithium said frankly and explained the difficulties faced in the early promotion of domestic coating die heads.
As far as coating machine manufacturers are concerned, equipment companies prefer to have well-known brands of imported die heads such as Japan endorse their products. At the same time, a more realistic problem is that once the customer’s lithium battery cell production problems occur once it is replaced with a domestic coating die, it is difficult to define the accountability, but the coating machine company is likely to become "innocent." In order to avoid this potential "trouble", many coating machine manufacturers are not interested in purchasing domestic coating die heads.
Secondly, for lithium battery companies, coating is an important process in the front-end process of lithium battery cell production and directly determines key performance such as battery cell capacity. Lithium battery companies dare not easily try to replace the core components of the coating. There are reasons for the need to improve its own production process, and comprehensive consideration of the series costs of R&D, manufacturing, management, and maintenance.
Fortunately, with the rapid development of domestic lithium battery technology, especially power battery technology, lithium battery companies have gradually strengthened the control of the cost of coating machine die heads, and have more detailed research and requirements for their own coating technology. When foreign die head companies expand the Chinese market, they encounter difficulties such as short product life and delayed maintenance and after-sales. This gives domestic coating die companies the opportunity to counterattack.
stand out behind
Manst's reputation originated from an opportunity for an international competitor to "make a mistake", and it was attributed to the technology research and development strength of this coating die company.
"A certain imported die head product has a big defect-the service life is relatively short, which has caused problems with more than half of their die heads in the Chinese market. It can be said that it is this defect that contributed to the rapid rise of Mannst. the reason."
The service life of the die head of the extrusion coating machine is an important indicator for judging the actual cost and effect of the die head. The service life of the Manst die head is long. Under reasonable maintenance, it is 1.5 times to 2 times the service life of the imported similar products. , And its special structural design makes the number of repairs far more than that of imported similar products, which greatly reduces the customer’s long-term use and replacement costs.
Because there are only agents for foreign imported products in China, or the lack of technical personnel and equipment, the after-sales maintenance is "lost". With its professional maintenance skills, Manst has won a large number of lithium battery manufacturing enterprise customers.
As of 2018, Manst has firmly held the after-sales maintenance business in the Chinese market. At the same time, Manst also analyzed and summarized the defects of some imported products in a timely manner, and finally found out the crux of the problem and developed related replacement products, which won the favor of customers of lithium battery manufacturers. More and more lithium battery companies have come to proactively purchase.
At present, Manst has established long-term and stable cooperative relations with more than 95% of large and medium-sized battery factories in the country, including CATL, ATL, BYD, Wanxiang One, Two Three, Guoxuan Hi-Tech, Xinwangda, Lixin Energy, Xingheng Power supply, AVIC Lithium Battery, Lishen, Coslight (Guanyu), Gateway Power, Narada Power, Polyfluoride, Ganfeng Battery and other well-known domestic companies.
"The die head in our house can theoretically be used repeatedly. After the customer has used it for a period of time, he can use it again as long as the product is sent back for repair." Manst explained.
Where is Manchester's competitive advantage?
The coating die is called the heart of the coating machine and is a key device to improve product quality and yield. In terms of energy density, its performance mainly depends on the consistency of coating, which puts forward high-performance requirements for the consistency of coating thickness and areal density of the die.
"Manst's product and service philosophy is not only to save customers the cost of purchasing a large number of die heads, but also to ensure the consistency of the surface density of the lithium battery cell coating, and ultimately realize the value of improving the quality and performance of the customer's lithium battery. "
The person in charge of Manst said that compared with domestic die heads, the advantage of imported die heads lies in the mechanical accuracy, which can be maintained at 1 micron, but domestic die heads can only reach 2-3 microns. However, the mechanical accuracy of the product is only an index to achieve the accuracy of the coating surface density, and another important measurement standard is the runner design. Take an imported product as an example. Its die head has only one runner in all of China. Can all the different areal densities of the coating section of all lithium battery companies in China be completed?
The answer is no, but Manst made this impossible possible.
One of the major competitive advantages of Manst is that the runner design of the coating die can be customized quickly according to the process plan of various lithium battery companies.
"Manst is designed according to the customer's own fluid, so in terms of process compatibility, we can assure all lithium battery customers that Manst's customized die head will be more in line with the customer's own unique requirements, and because It is a domestic enterprise. From customization to production of finished products, the overall speed is unmatched by foreign companies."
In addition to achieving the consistency of coating surface density for lithium battery companies, Manst also provides cost-effective coating gaskets, unique coating auxiliary equipment and die accessories. High-quality and ultra-fast after-sales maintenance is also its enhanced customer Stickiness, and the advantage of winning the trust and recognition of major domestic echelon battery companies.
At present, in order to meet the needs of the top five lithium battery customers, Manst is expanding production. It is estimated that by the third quarter of this year, the maximum production capacity of its die factory will reach 1,500 sets per year.
