China Bearing Industry Intelligent Upgrades Drive is Steady Progress

Against the backdrop of the continuous development of the manufacturing industry, China's bearing industry is gradually achieving technological improvement and industrial upgrading. Although it started later than European and American countries, through independent research and development and intelligent transformation, some areas have approached or reached the international advanced level.

The head of a large bearing company in Luoyang said that the wind power main shaft bearings currently produced by the company have a high market share in the domestic market and have strong technical competitiveness. After years of development, the company's production line equipment has gradually been localized, and the degree of automation has been continuously improved, which has greatly improved production efficiency and product consistency. In the past, it took many days to complete the manufacture of a set of large-size bearings, but now it only takes two days to roll off the line.

As a key basic component, bearings are widely used in various types of mechanical equipment. With the changes in demand in downstream industries, such as new energy vehicles and air conditioners, higher requirements for quietness and durability have been put forward, which also prompted the continuous optimization of bearing performance. This "reverse-forced" improvement has become an important driving force for the improvement of domestic bearing quality.

According to industry data, China's bearing exports in the first quarter of this year increased by more than 8% year-on-year, showing that the international market's recognition of Chinese products has gradually increased. However, overall, China's bearing manufacturing is still in the middle and lower reaches of the world's first echelon, and its high-end products are still far behind traditional strong companies such as Germany and Japan.

In recent years, a long-established bearing company in Dalian has focused on the research and development of high-precision products and has made progress in the fields of wind power and high-speed rail. The high-speed rail supporting bearings it has developed have completed relevant tests and meet the stability requirements under high-speed operation. In addition, the company has completed the verification of the next-generation products suitable for higher speed levels in a laboratory environment.

Experts pointed out that the research and development of high-performance bearings involves multiple links such as materials, design, and technology, and is a systematic project. At present, domestic universities are strengthening the training of relevant talents. For example, a university in Henan has the only complete training system for bearing majors from undergraduate to doctoral degree in the country, focusing on practical teaching and strengthening students' hands-on ability and project experience.

Foreign inspection experience shows that Germany, Japan and other countries have broken traditional boundaries in subject settings, and the way of driving learning with actual projects is worth learning from. Some domestic universities are also trying new models for the training of engineering talents, and there is a lot of time for in-depth participation in research projects in enterprises during the master's and doctoral stages.

The German vocational training system also provides a reference for our country. The dual-system education model provided by the local bearing factory allows students to alternate between school study and enterprise training. Students can also receive a certain amount of compensation during their apprenticeship, which helps to quickly transform their skills.

Overall, China's bearing industry is transforming from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing". Although there is still a need for breakthroughs in mastering core technologies, driven by policy support, market demand and talent reserves, the industry is developing positively and is expected to further narrow the gap with the world's leading level in the future.