1 The market of CNC machine tools and production line transformation industry
The Retrofit Market of CNC Machine Tools
The total number of machine tools in my country is more than 3.8 million, of which the total number of CNC machine tools is only 113,400, that is, the CNC rate of my country’s machine tools is less than 3%. In the past 10 years, the annual output of CNC machine tools in my country is about 0.6 to 0.8 million, and the annual output value is about 1.8 billion yuan. The numerical control rate of the annual output of machine tools is 6%, and the numerical control rate of the annual output value is 12% (the latter two in Japan are 31.6% and 75.4% respectively). Moreover, economical CNC machine tools account for more than 80% of CNC machine tools, and there are not many advanced machine tools such as automatic machine tools. More than 60% of my country’s machine tools have been in service for more than 10 years; among the machine tools under 10 years, less than 20% are automatic/semi-automatic machine tools, and FMC/FMS and other automated production lines are even rarer (automatic and semi-automatic machine tools in the United States and Japan account for 60%). above). It can be seen that most of the production and processing equipment of most of our manufacturing industries and enterprises are traditional machine tools, and more than half of them are old machine tools with a service age of more than 10 years. Even CNC machine tools are mostly economical CNC machine tools with outdated production equipment and technology. The products processed by this kind of equipment generally have poor quality, few varieties, low grades, high cost, and long supply period, thus lacking competitiveness in the international and domestic markets, which directly affects the products, markets, and benefits of an enterprise. The survival and development of enterprises. Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously improve the numerical control rate of machine tools.

Experts predict that by 2000, the consumption of CNC machine tools in my country will reach 24.02 billion yuan. On the one hand, these needs are met by purchasing new equipment. On the other hand, if we make full use of our country’s existing stock assets and replace and reduce the purchase of new equipment with updated equipment, we can achieve a multiplier effect with half the effort. According to the estimated demand of 24.02 billion yuan, even if 10% of the demand is realized through the regeneration and transformation of equipment, there will be a market of 2.4 billion yuan every year.

NC Transformation Market of Imported Equipment and Production Lines
Since my country’s reform and opening up, many enterprises have introduced technology, equipment, and production lines from abroad for technological transformation. According to incomplete statistics, during the ten years from 1979 to 1988, there were 18,446 technological transformation projects introduced nationwide, worth about US$16.58 billion.

Most of these projects have played their due role in my country’s economic construction. However, in some imported projects, due to various reasons, the equipment or production line cannot be operated normally or is even paralyzed, which affects the benefits of the enterprise and seriously puts the enterprise into trouble. In order to make full use of these equipment and production lines, we conducted a survey on some technological transformation projects that have been introduced for more than 10 years and are related to the machinery industry. We learned that after some equipment and production lines were imported from abroad, some were poorly digested and absorbed, with incomplete spare parts and improper maintenance, resulting in poor operation; some only paid attention to the introduction of equipment, instruments, and production lines, ignoring software, technology, management, etc. As a result, the project is incomplete and the potential of the equipment cannot be brought into play; some cannot even start operation and fail to play their due role; some production lines have good product sales, but cannot reach production standards due to equipment failures; some are due to high energy consumption and product The low pass rate causes losses; some have been introduced for a long time and need to be updated. For various reasons, some equipment not only does not create wealth but consumes wealth.

This unusable equipment and production lines are a burden, and they are also a large number of stock assets. If they are repaired, they are wealth. As long as the main technical difficulties are found and the key technical problems of “stuck neck” are solved, the largest stock assets can be revitalized with the smallest investment, and the greatest economic and social benefits can be achieved. It’s also a huge remodeling market.

2 The content, technology, and principle of NC transformation
The Rise of Overseas Renovation Industry
Today, when the machine tool industry in developed countries such as the United States, Japan, and Germany is in a recession, their machine tool transformation is a new economic growth industry, which is full of business and is in a golden age. Due to the continuous advancement of machine tools and technology, the transformation of machine tools is an “eternal” subject. my country’s machine tool transformation industry has also entered a new industry dominated by numerical control technology from an old industry. In the United States, Japan, and Germany, the use of CNC technology to transform machine tools and production lines has a broad market, and a new industry of CNC transformation of machine tools and production lines has been formed. In the United States, the machine tool modification industry is called the machine tool regeneration (Remanufacturing) industry. Well-known companies engaged in the recycling industry include: Bertsche Engineering Company, Ayton Machine Tool Company, Devlieg-Bullavd (Depot) Service Group, US Equipment Company, etc. Depot of the United States has set up a company in China. In Japan, the machine tool modification industry is called the machine tool modification (Retrofitting) industry. Well-known companies engaged in the modification industry include Okuma Engineering Group, Gangsan Machinery Co., Ltd., Chiyoda Engineering Machinery Co., Ltd., Nozaki Engineering Co., Ltd., Hamada Engineering Co., Ltd., Yamamoto Engineering Co., Ltd., etc.

Contents of digital transformation
The main contents of the CNC transformation of machine tools and production lines are as follows:
One is to restore the original function, diagnose and restore the faulty parts of the machine tool and production line; the other is to NC, add a digital display device to an ordinary machine tool, or add a numerical control system, and transform it into an NC machine tool and CNC machine tool; It is refurbishment. In order to improve accuracy, efficiency, and automation, the mechanical and electrical parts are refurbished, and the mechanical parts are reassembled and processed to restore the original precision; the CNC system that does not meet the production requirements is updated with the latest CNC; the fourth is technology Renewal or technological innovation, in order to improve performance or grade, or to use new technology and new technology, carry out large-scale technological renewal or technological innovation on the original basis, and greatly improve the level and grade of renewal and transformation.

The criteria for evaluating the numerical control transformation are as follows:
The investment in the transformation is within 30% of the price of the new machine tool, and 70% to 80% of the use efficiency can be achieved, which is considered to be successful; 5 to 6 years) or less than half (usually 2 to 3 years), the transformation is valuable.
There are exceptions. For example, if the key equipment of a certain project is purchased from a foreign country, and its supply time and price are unacceptable, its transformation evaluation criteria should be considered separately.

Advantages and disadvantages of CNC transformation
Reduced investment and short delivery time
Compared with the purchase of new machine tools, it can generally save 60% to 80% of the cost, and the transformation cost is low. Especially large and special machine tools are especially obvious. Generally, the transformation of large-scale machine tools only costs 1/3 of the purchase cost of new machine tools, and the delivery time is short. However, in some special cases, such as the production and installation of the high-speed spindle, automatic tool exchange device, and automatic pallet exchange device, the production and installation are too labor-intensive and expensive, and the cost of transformation is often increased by 2 to 3 times. Compared with the purchase of new machine tools, it can only save 50% of the investment. %about.

Stable and reliable mechanical properties, limited structure
The basic parts such as the bed and column used are heavy and strong cast components, not the kind of welded components. The transformed machine tool has high performance and good quality and can be used as new equipment for many years. However, due to the limitation of the original mechanical structure, it is not suitable to make a breakthrough transformation.

Familiar with equipment, easy to operate and maintain
When purchasing new equipment, it is not known whether the new equipment can meet its processing requirements. The transformation is not the case, the processing capacity of the machine tool can be accurately calculated; in addition, due to years of use, the operator has already understood the characteristics of the machine tool, and the training time in operation, use, and maintenance is short, and the effect is quick. As soon as the retrofitted machine is installed, it can run at full capacity.

Take advantage of existing conditions
Existing foundations can be fully utilized, and there is no need to rebuild foundations when purchasing new equipment. At the same time, fixtures, software programs, templates, and peripheral equipment can also be reused. Taking a machining center as an example, the cost of process equipment generally accounts for more than 10% of the price of the entire machine tool.

The latest control technology can be used
According to the development speed of technological innovation, the automation level and efficiency of production equipment can be improved in time, the quality and grade of equipment can be improved, and old machine tools can be changed into machine tools of today’s level.