Industry 4.0 Strategy Unfolds a New Blueprint for the Development of the Instrumentation Industry

Instrumentation, acting as a "multiplier" of industrial production, a "pioneer" of scientific research, a "combat force" in the military, and a "material judge" of modern social activities, covers almost all areas of human activity. Instrumentation plays a crucial role in promoting the development of science and technology and the national economy in the modern era. After decades of development, my country's instrumentation industry has formed a relatively complete industrial system with a certain production scale and development capabilities, experiencing rapid growth.

According to relevant statistics, in 2016, enterprises above designated size in my country's instrumentation industry achieved main business revenue of 935.54 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%; and total profit of 79.03 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. With the rapid expansion of my country's instrumentation industry market in recent years, sales revenue has increased from 442 billion yuan in 2009 to 935.5 billion yuan in 2016, a growth rate of 7.5%.

However, while the sales revenue of the instrumentation industry continues to grow, competition in the domestic and international instrumentation markets has entered a fierce stage, and competition will be extremely intense. According to relevant data, as of March 2017, there were 4,311 large-scale instrument and meter manufacturing enterprises in my country. Private enterprises accounted for 45.96%; foreign-invested enterprises and those from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan accounted for 24.68%; joint-stock companies accounted for 4.19%; state-owned enterprises accounted for 2.28%; and shareholding cooperative enterprises and collective enterprises accounted for 1.16% and 0.70%, respectively.

In various sub-sectors of the instrument and meter industry, large foreign companies, such as Shimadzu, still dominate the high-end product market. However, in the fields of electrical instruments and meters, industrial measurement, and scientific testing instruments, Chinese companies have gained certain competitive advantages, and a number of internationally competitive companies have emerged, such as Beijing Instruments. Currently, the main problems facing my country's instrument and meter products include slow progress in technological innovation and industrialization; a lack of key core technologies and a prominent problem of low-level duplication; the long-standing inability to fundamentally solve product stability and reliability issues; and the significant negative impact of large-scale imports on industrial development.

Currently, about one-third of my country's high-end instruments still rely on imports; another one-third of domestically produced instruments are now completely equivalent to imported products. To enhance the overall competitiveness of my country's instrumentation industry and narrow the gap between Chinese and advanced foreign technologies, government coordination and support are needed. This includes developing comprehensive plans, supporting leading enterprises, and establishing national-level technology centers that integrate production, education, research, and application to improve the technological level and application capabilities of existing products. Furthermore, based on actual needs, the application of domestically produced instruments should be encouraged, and first-of-its-kind demonstration projects should be established to give domestically produced instruments sufficient influence and provide platforms for promotion and demonstration. 

2017 was a crucial year in the 13th Five-Year Plan, a pivotal year for both the past and the future. With increasing national focus on livelihood and environmental protection, the demand for instruments related to these areas is constantly growing. For example, there is a continuous stream of requirements for instruments related to food and environmental monitoring. It can be said that focusing on any sub-sector can lead to market share in the fierce competition. This necessitates that instrumentation companies strengthen their market awareness and continuously explore the readily available market potential.

In addition, as green development becomes a goal of my country's economic development, a number of rapidly developing new industries are emerging rapidly. Industries such as photovoltaics, wind power, and smart grids represent significant market growth opportunities for the instrumentation industry. In the wind power sector, the government aims to integrate into the main power grid and build large-scale bases, striving to establish several wind power bases with a capacity of tens of millions of kilowatts within a decade. The target for total installed wind power capacity has been raised from the original plan of 30 million kilowatts by 2020 to 100 million kilowatts. These policy adjustments will reduce traditional market demand for instrumentation, requiring companies to move towards the high-end market and develop technologically advanced and highly intelligent instruments based on market demand.

Rapid economic development is stimulating increasing demand for instruments, especially with the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements in recent years. 2017 is expected to be another bumper year for my country's scientific instrumentation manufacturing industry. It is predicted that the comprehensive economic indicators of the scientific instrumentation industry will continue to grow at around 15% in 2017. 

Furthermore, under the implementation of the "Industry 4.0" and "Made in China 2025" strategies, and with the development of modern science and information technology, my country's intelligent manufacturing equipment industry will experience a strategic opportunity for development in the next decade. Instrumentation companies should seize this opportunity, addressing the needs of traditional industry transformation and upgrading and the development of strategic emerging industries. They should integrate advanced manufacturing, information, and intelligent technologies to address the sensing, analysis, decision-making, control, and execution aspects of the manufacturing process, thereby achieving intelligent, lean, and green development in the instrumentation manufacturing industry.

As the foundation of the industrial economy, the instrumentation industry plays a "multiplier" role in industrial production. Over the past two decades, with the advancement of science and technology and the continuous improvement of automation, it is no longer easy to maintain a dominant market position solely through production advantages or cost advantages. In industrial production, "Industry 4.0" emphasizes intelligent factory production. After achieving superior products through transformation and upgrading, it is also possible to monitor the after-sales operation of products in real time, providing real-time assistance in solving product problems and providing feedback to customers. In terms of sales models, "Industry 4.0" emphasizes a shift away from traditional one-way sales, encompassing the entire industry, management, and supply chain to create a competitive advantage in instrument and meter sales. 

In scientific research, the instrument and meter industry also plays a pioneering role. "Industry 4.0" can facilitate communication and identification between researchers and instruments through cyber-physical systems, accelerating R&D and technological breakthroughs, and breaking the current monopoly of my country's instrument and meter industry in multiple fields.

The instrument and meter industry acts as infrastructure in civilian activities. In the "Industry 4.0" environment, practical instruments for daily life can be widely adopted through interconnectedness, allowing advanced instruments to be fully utilized while upgrading or replacing those that are less useful. Under "Industry 4.0," industrial manufacturing is no longer the primary focus, while the proportion of service transformation is gradually increasing. The application and market share of civilian instruments and meters need to be monitored. Only by mastering this detailed information can the full vitality of the civilian market be tapped into in the future development of the instrument and meter industry. 

With the implementation of the "Industry 4.0" strategy, the development blueprint for my country's instrumentation industry has been unveiled. In the future, the fields covered by instrumentsation will become more extensive, and the level of informatization and internet integration in the industry will inevitably improve. In the future, utilizing the internet to achieve interconnection between instrumentation production and sales is an inevitable trend and a necessary path under "Industry 4.0."

The emergence of the Industry 4.0 strategy presents us with a brand-new development blueprint. With the favorable policy environment, the development of domestically produced instruments will inevitably be more rapid. As the saying goes, "A sword's edge is honed through tempering, and plum blossoms' fragrance comes from bitter cold," this thorny path of development amidst challenges will surely become the driving force for the leap forward of domestically produced instruments.