1. The pattern of PLC in the Chinese market
LC occupies a pivotal position in the field of domestic industrial automation. It is like the brain of industrial automation, controlling the entire production process. In the domestic market, foreign brands have long dominated, but in recent years domestic brands have also shown a rise.
(1) Foreign brands have a significant dominant position
Foreign brands such as Siemens, Mitsubishi, and Omron occupy a large share of the domestic market. Take Siemens as an example. It can be described as a "Big Mac" in the domestic PLC market. my country's PLC market size is approaching 17 billion yuan in 2023, and Siemens' market share is far ahead of other brands. Despite the impact of the epidemic on the supply chain in 2020 and the shortages caused by chip price increases in 2022, this did not affect Siemens PLC's market share, but instead allowed it to reach a new peak. End customers have deep recognition of the value of Siemens' brand and products, and its leading portal and PROFINET ecosystem have an epic status in the global automation field. Siemens stands for proven and enduring. Mitsubishi PLC is a Japanese brand that once occupied a dominant position in the southern light industry. Omron is more focused on medium and large motion control, and its EtherCAT motion control solution is famous in the lithium battery and photovoltaic industries. Siemens, Mitsubishi, and Omron account for 70% of the domestic PLC market, and the strong ones are always strong.
(2) The rise of domestic brands
Domestic PLC brands such as Huichuan, Delta, Xinjie, etc. are gradually emerging, and their market share is gradually expanding. Inovance is the only domestic PLC brand that can compete with foreign brands. At present, Inovance's servo motor market share has surpassed Siemens and Yaskawa to become the No. 1 company, with a share of more than 23%. Inovance PLC has a rich product line, including the AM series for medium and large-sized PLCs, and the easy series for small and medium-sized PLCs. The easy series has been nationally produced, and Inovance PLC's market share ranks first among domestic manufacturers. Delta's global influence is stronger than that of Huichuan, and it has been working for a long time. However, with the rise of PLC brands in mainland China, many of Delta's domestic mid- and low-end markets have been seized by rising stars such as Inovance and Xinjie with higher cost performance and better services. Xinjie PLC is the only domestic PLC brand that relies on PLC to open up the market. In the past two years, the market share of small PLC was higher than that of Innovator. In addition, there are domestic brands such as Hollysys, Liancheng Co., Ltd., VEICHI Co., Ltd., Huangshi Kewei PLC, Nanda Aotuo PLC, etc. They play an important role in different fields and contribute to the rise of domestic PLC.
2. The dominance of Siemens PLC
(1) Leading the market share
Siemens PLC's domestic market share exceeds 40%. This data fully demonstrates its dominance in the domestic market. status. Siemens PLCs are widely used in many industries. For example, in manufacturing, its efficient and stable performance can meet complex production process control needs. In the automobile manufacturing industry, precise control ensures the efficient operation of production lines and improves production efficiency and product quality. In the power industry, the reliable performance of Siemens PLC provides a strong guarantee for the stable operation of the power system. According to statistics, more than half of domestic large-scale industrial projects choose Siemens PLC, which further consolidates its leading position in the domestic market.
(2) Technology and ecological advantages
The Portal and PROFINET ecosystem led by Siemens play an extremely important role in the global automation field. Portal software adopts graphical programming method, which is easy to learn and master. Beginners can master PLC programming with a little learning and practice. At the same time, Portal software has high programming flexibility and can implement various complex control logics. PROFINET bus technology is a new generation of automation bus standard based on industrial Ethernet technology. It has the characteristics of strong real-time performance, high reliability and strong programmability. It can be used in decentralized field-level equipment and time-critical application integration based on industrial Ethernet communication, as well as component-based distributed automation system integration.
The product stability and reliability of Siemens PLC is also one of its outstanding advantages. The modular design avoids the large number of wires and relays in traditional electrical control methods. The modules are connected through plug-in interfaces for easy maintenance and replacement. At the same time, Siemens PLC is designed and tested according to strict industrial standards, has good temperature adaptability and anti-shake capabilities, and can operate stably in various harsh industrial environments. For example, in some industrial environments with high temperature and high humidity, Siemens PLC can still maintain stable performance and ensure smooth production. To sum up, Siemens PLC occupies a dominant position in the domestic market with its technological and ecological advantages.
3. Development status of domestic PLC
(1) Technological progress and application expansion
In recent years, domestic PLC has made significant progress in technology. With the continuous increase in R&D investment, the performance of domestic PLCs has been greatly improved. In terms of processing speed, some domestic PLCs have been able to reach a level comparable to foreign brands. For example, some enhanced PLCs using domestic chips have fast processing speeds, such as PLCs using the domestic ARM-M4 core 407 chip, which can meet the needs of complex industrial control.
In terms of functions, domestic PLCs are also becoming more and more abundant. It not only has traditional logic control functions, but also adds analog quantity acquisition, high-speed pulse output, bus control servo motor and other functions. For example, some domestic PLCs support 10 high-speed pulses with a frequency of 200k per axis, have weighing functions, RS232 and RS485 communication interfaces, etc., and also support electronic cams, G codes, linear arc interpolation instructions, etc., providing programmers with More programming flexibility.
Domestic PLC has been widely used in manufacturing, non-standard machinery, power equipment and other fields. With the transformation and upgrading of my country's manufacturing industry, the demand for automation control equipment continues to increase. Domestic PLCs have gradually gained a foothold in these fields by virtue of their high cost performance and localized service advantages. For example, in industries such as electronic manufacturing and packaging machinery, domestic PLCs have been able to replace some foreign brands, reducing costs and improving production efficiency for enterprises.
(2) Policy support and market opportunities
The state has given strong support to domestic PLCs. In the past ten years, the country has successively introduced a series of industry support policies to promote the intelligent development of industrial clusters, and to a certain extent, also promoted the healthy and orderly development of the PLC industry. For example, in 2011, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued "Several Opinions on Accelerating the In-depth Integration of Informatization and Industrialization," proposing to enhance the information industry's ability to support the in-depth integration of "two informatizations" and vigorously develop industrial control systems; in 2015, the State Council issued the "Made in China" 2025", proposing to break through intelligent core devices and promote the industrialization process of intelligent manufacturing equipment, including programmable logic controllers (PLC).
In emerging fields such as new energy and the Internet of Things, domestic PLC has also ushered in broad application prospects. With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, wind power and other industries, the demand for PLC continues to increase. Domestic PLC can develop suitable products and solutions based on the characteristics of these emerging fields. For example, in the lithium battery manufacturing industry, although the current localization rate of PLC is still less than 10%, as domestic industrial control companies increase their innovation efforts and launch more cost-effective and customized solutions, the application prospects of domestic PLC in the lithium battery manufacturing field broad.
In the field of Internet of Things, domestic PLC can realize remote monitoring, diagnosis and Maintenance makes it easier for enterprises to carry out production management. For example, the PLC industrial IoT platform launched by Shuzhineng can not only connect to foreign PLC brands, but also connect to domestic PLCs such as Delta, Inovance, Yonghong, Hollysys, and Xinjie to achieve PLC data collection and real-time communication. , thereby realizing functions such as PLC remote monitoring, PLC remote control, and PLC remote maintenance.
4. The future prospects of domestic PLC
(I) Challenges and opportunities coexist
Domestic PLCs face many challenges in terms of technology and brand building. In terms of technology, compared with foreign brands, domestic PLCs still have a certain gap in performance, reliability, and functions. For example, large PLCs of foreign brands are far ahead in high-speed real-time control indicators such as operation speed and update time, and have a large number of controllable I/O modules and a large control scale. However, the layout of domestic PLCs in the field of high-end large-scale equipment control is relatively weak, and technological innovation and R&D need to be improved.
In terms of brand building, domestic PLCs lack brand awareness and market recognition. International brands have a first-mover advantage in the market and have established a certain user base and market share. Foreign brands of PLC have the advantage of a complete ecosystem, not only with relatively independent development software and programming instructions, but also with competitive advantages such as industrial control learning platforms and e-commerce selection tools. Engineering R&D personnel will have a certain degree of dependence in selection, and are more willing to use brands that they are familiar with and have a complete ecosystem.
However, under the trend of localization, domestic PLCs have also ushered in huge opportunities. On the one hand, the support of national policies has created a good environment for the development of domestic PLCs. National strategies such as "Made in China 2025" and "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" provide policy guarantees for the development of local brands, encourage the autonomy and control of the industrial chain, and create a good development environment for local manufacturers. On the other hand, with the trend of industrial digitalization and cloud computing, domestic PLCs can seize the opportunity to deploy "5G + cloud PLC" and seize the intelligent manufacturing market. At the same time, changes in the global supply chain have also brought opportunities for domestic PLCs. The shortage of chips and the rise in raw material prices have prompted domestic companies to accelerate the process of PLC autonomy to cope with the problem of insufficient supply of high-end products. The gap between domestic PLC and foreign brands is narrowing. Under the current economic situation, downstream enterprises have increased the replacement opportunities brought by the need to control costs. The cost and supply flexibility advantages brought by the rapid response of local brands to customer needs and the localization of parts will also help significantly improve the competitiveness of the local PLC market.
(II) Continuous innovation and development
Domestic PLC brands must increase R&D investment and enhance independent innovation capabilities to achieve overtaking. Continuously increasing R&D investment is the key to improving independent innovation capabilities. Although the road to tackling core technologies and intellectual property rights is long, it will be the only way for domestic PLC companies to catch up with international standards. Domestic PLC companies should actively invest funds and manpower to strengthen R&D in hardware design and software programming to improve product performance and reliability. For example, independent research and development and innovation in real-time operating systems, control algorithms, hardware design, etc., some products have reached the international advanced level.
Integrating resources is also an important way for domestic PLC to achieve overtaking. Fully integrate the advantages of upstream and downstream enterprises, universities and scientific research institutions, form an industrial cluster effect, give play to the multiplier effect of collaborative innovation, and inject new momentum into the development of the industry. Domestic PLC companies can cooperate with upstream chip design and manufacturing companies to increase the localization rate of chips and reduce costs. At the same time, cooperate with universities and scientific research institutions to jointly carry out technical research and development to improve the technical level of products.
Talent training is the foundation for the continuous innovation and development of domestic PLC. High-quality compound talents are the inexhaustible driving force for the sustainable development of the industry. All major PLC manufacturers should attach great importance to the reserve and training of talents. Domestic PLC enterprises should increase their efforts in talent training and introduction to build a high-level PLC professional team. They can cooperate with universities to set up PLC professional courses to train professional talents. At the same time, they can introduce advanced foreign technical talents to improve the technical level of enterprises.
In short, although domestic PLC faces many challenges, it also ushered in huge opportunities under the trend of localization. As long as domestic PLC brands increase R&D investment, improve independent innovation capabilities, integrate resources, and cultivate talents, they will surely be able to achieve overtaking on the curve and win a broader market and a more brilliant future in the wave of intelligent manufacturing.