Mold is an important process foundation in the manufacturing industry, accounting for a large proportion in China's manufacturing industry. With the development of the Chinese economy and the improvement of people's living standards, the demand for various products is constantly increasing, which is both an opportunity and a challenge for the mold industry.

1、 Overview of mold industry

Various molds and tools used in the mold industry production to obtain the required products through injection molding, blow molding, extrusion, die casting or forging, smelting, stamping, and other methods. In short, molds are tools used to make molded items, which are composed of various parts, and different molds are composed of different parts. It mainly achieves the processing of the shape of the object by changing the physical state of the formed material. Known as the "mother of industry".

A tool that transforms a blank into a workpiece with a specific shape and size under external force. Widely used in stamping, forging, cold heading, extrusion, powder metallurgy parts pressing, pressure casting, as well as in the forming and processing of engineering plastics, rubber, ceramics and other products through compression molding or injection molding. The mold has a specific contour or inner cavity shape, and the application of a contour shape with a cutting edge can cause the blank to separate according to the contour line shape (punching). The application of inner cavity shape can enable the billet to obtain the corresponding three-dimensional shape. A mold generally includes two parts: a moving mold and a fixed mold (or a convex mold and a concave mold), which can be separated or combined. When separating, take out the parts, and when closing, inject the blank into the mold cavity to form. Molds are precision tools with complex shapes that withstand the expansion force of billets. They have high requirements for structural strength, stiffness, surface hardness, surface roughness, and machining accuracy. The development level of mold production is one of the important indicators of mechanical manufacturing level.

2、 Market development status of mould industry

In addition to its own body, the mold also requires a mold seat, mold frame, and mold core to lead to the ejection device of the workpiece. These components are generally made into universal types. Mold enterprises need to grow and refine, and determine product positioning and market positioning based on market demand, technology, funds, equipment, and other conditions. These practices are especially worth learning and learning from for small mold enterprises, focusing on gradually forming their own technological and product advantages. Therefore, Chinese mold enterprises must actively strive to learn from the experience of these advanced foreign enterprises in order to achieve better development in the future.

There are many types of molds, which can be classified into different types according to different classification methods. According to the different materials formed, molds can be divided into metal molds and non-metal molds. Metal molds are further divided into casting molds (non-ferrous metal die-casting, steel casting) and forging molds, while non-metallic molds are also divided into plastic molds and inorganic non-metallic molds. According to the different materials of the mold itself, the mold can be divided into sand mold, metal mold, vacuum mold, paraffin mold, and so on.

Intelligent molds are stamping molds and die-casting molds with sensing and temperature control functions. Injection molds manufactured by intelligent control methods such as temperature control, injection parameters, and flow status inside the mold are all intelligent molds. Compared with traditional molds, intelligent molds have obvious advantages such as high technological content, high product added value, long service life, wide application range, and large market space. High precision and sharpness are the most obvious characteristics of intelligent molds. If they can be effectively used in traditional industries, intelligent molds will greatly improve the production efficiency of existing manufacturing industries, and industrial transformation and upgrading work can be better carried out. The market size of China's intelligent mold industry reached 5.53 billion yuan in 2020 and 5.94 billion yuan in 2021.

In 2022, the market size of China's mold industry was approximately 346.773 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%. From the perspective of market structure, with the steady progress of automobile lightweighting in recent years and the continuous development of China's plastic industry, especially modern new material industries such as engineering plastics, the plastic mold market has been able to develop rapidly and has now become the largest sub category of molds in China, accounting for about 45%, followed by stamping molds and casting molds, accounting for about 37% and 9% respectively.

While meeting the domestic market demand, molds can also be exported in large quantities to the international market, and the trade gap between industry imports and exports is also expanding year by year. Specifically, in recent years, the overall import amount of molds in China has shown a downward trend, while the overall export amount has shown an upward trend. In 2022, the import amount of molds in China was 711 million US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 17.6%; The export amount was 6.142 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. From the perspective of export distribution, the top three regions in China's mold export value in 2022 are the United States, Vietnam, and Germany, accounting for 10.73%, 7.4%, and 6.55%, respectively.

With the advancement of technology, new manufacturing technologies and processing techniques continue to emerge, providing more possibilities for the mold industry. For example, the application of new technologies such as digital manufacturing technology, 3D printing technology, and intelligent manufacturing technology will make mold manufacturing more efficient, precise, and personalized. With the complexity of product appearance and internal structure, the precision and complexity requirements for molds are also increasing. In the future, precision and complex molds will become mainstream, and the demand for high-precision and high-efficiency mold manufacturing equipment will continue to increase.

3、 Development trend of mould market

Intelligence: With the advancement of Industry 4.0, intelligence will become an important trend in the mold industry. By introducing intelligent technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, etc., mold manufacturing will become more automated, flexible, and personalized. The application of intelligent technology will improve the accuracy and efficiency of mold manufacturing, shorten product launch time, and meet customer needs for rapid response and customized production.

Green environmental protection: With the increasing global awareness of environmental protection, green environmental protection will become an important trend in the mold industry. In the future, mold manufacturing will pay more attention to environmental protection and sustainable development, using environmentally friendly materials and green processes to reduce energy consumption and waste emissions. At the same time, enterprises will also pay more attention to the recyclability and reuse of products to achieve sustainable utilization of resources.

Digitization and networking: Digitization and networking are important trends in the future mold industry. By introducing digital technologies such as CAD, CAM, CAE, etc., mold design and manufacturing will be more efficient and accurate. Meanwhile, the application of networked technology will enable remote monitoring and maintenance, improve production efficiency, and reduce operating costs. The application of digitalization and networking technology will bring more opportunities and challenges to the mold industry.

Personalization and customization: With the continuous changes in the consumer market, personalized demand has become the norm. In the future, the mold industry will pay more attention to personalized and customized production to meet the unique needs of customers for products. By introducing technologies such as rapid prototyping and 3D printing, enterprises can quickly respond to market demand and achieve a production model of small batches and multiple varieties.