According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2011, there were a total of 1416 enterprises in China's bearing manufacturing industry with an annual sales revenue of over 20 million yuan. The total industrial output value for the year was 193.211 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.59%; The sales revenue was 191.097 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.30%; The total profit was 12.523 billion yuan, an increase of 26.54% compared to the previous year. It is expected that by 2015, China's bearing production is expected to exceed 28 billion sets, and its main business revenue is expected to reach 210 billion yuan, becoming the world's largest bearing production and sales base.
At present, China's bearing industry is mainly facing three prominent problems: low production concentration, low research and innovation capabilities, and low manufacturing technology level.
Firstly, the concentration of industry production is low. Among the approximately $30 billion in sales of bearings worldwide, the world's top 8 multinational corporations account for 75% to 80%. Two major companies in Germany account for 90% of its national total, five in Japan account for 90% of its national total, and one in the United States accounts for 56% of its national total. However, the top 10 bearing enterprises in China, including the tile shaft, account for only 24.7% of the industry's sales revenue, and the production concentration of the top 30 is only 37.4%.
Secondly, low R&D and innovation capabilities. Weak basic theoretical research across the industry, weak participation in international standard formulation, fewer original technologies, and fewer patented products.
At present, our design and manufacturing technology is basically imitation, and our product development ability is low. This is reflected in the fact that although the matching rate for domestic main engines reaches 80%, the matching and maintenance bearings for important main engines such as high-speed railway passenger cars, mid to high-end sedans, computers, air conditioners, and high-level rolling mills mainly rely on imports.
Thirdly, the level of manufacturing technology is low. The development of manufacturing processes and equipment technology in China's bearing industry is slow, with a low CNC rate for turning and low automation level for grinding. There are only over 200 automatic production lines in the country. Advanced heat treatment processes and equipment that are crucial for bearing life and reliability, such as controlled atmosphere protection heating, double refining, bainite quenching, etc., have low coverage rates, and many technical difficulties have not been overcome. The research and development of new types of bearing steel, the improvement of steel quality, and the development of related technologies such as lubrication, cooling, cleaning, and abrasive grinding tools cannot yet meet the requirements of improving the level and quality of bearing products. As a result, the process capability index is low, consistency is poor, product processing size dispersion is large, and the internal quality of the product is unstable, which affects the accuracy, performance, lifespan, and reliability of bearings.