The list of the first batch of companies accepted by the Sci-tech Innovation Board, which will surely become a hot spot in the market this year, was released at the end of March, with a total of 9 companies. Among them, Jiangsu Beiren has caused a lot of controversy in the market. Mainly because this company focuses on the industrial robot system integration business and does not provide the robot body, many market participants feel that the technical content of the system integration business is not high enough, and there is a gap with the positioning of the science and technology innovation board.
In the author's opinion, such doubts are biased. It is well known that system integrators have an important position in the automation industry chain. They integrate all kinds of scattered products from multiple suppliers into solutions that meet the specific needs of customers, meet industry and field applications. System integrators not only need to be familiar with the attributes and functions of these products, but also need to have a deep understanding of customer needs and application requirements. The technical content is not low, but this technology is more application technology, integration technology, rather than product technology. In today's many automation products, especially the hardware products tend to be commercialized and homogenized, system integrators endow these products with ultimate customer value, and differentiate them through the final delivered solutions. It seems unfair to simply compare the relevant indicators of the system integrator and the product supplier, and simply draw the conclusion that the technical content is low.
More importantly, technical content is not an element of judging the strength or value of the system integrator. The core of the system integration business is project management, which involves many elements of project implementation efficiency, cycle, cost, team management, etc., in order to ensure that they deliver solutions that meet the needs of users on schedule and within budget. These are for users. Language is also a crucial consideration.
The current status of the domestic automation system integration market is that on the one hand, mainstream multinational suppliers, especially process companies, have retained their own engineering services and system integration teams to varying degrees, mainly serving core customers or projects to reflect their own Core competitiveness and customer value; and more market participants are the so-called third-party system integrators, which are very scattered, but there have also been many strong companies with characteristics in specific industries or application fields. Jiangsu Beiren belongs to the latter. It mainly focuses on the system integration of car access robots and automation equipment. There are nearly 10 competitors with similar positioning and similar scale in the market.
In recent years, market transformation has become driven by the general trend. On the one hand, digital transformation is largely due to the government's promotion of the "Made in China 2025" strategy and the implementation of smart manufacturing. On the other hand, industrial transformation is reflected in the increased volatility of the industrial boom and investment in emerging industries with promising market prospects, or industries with higher technological content and higher added value of products.
Market transformation is no small challenge for domestic automation system integrators. Digital transformation means that system integrators need to rapidly enhance their technical capabilities, extending from the traditional OT field to the IT field; due to the pilot nature of a considerable number of digital manufacturing projects, the scope of the project, implementation content and delivery, etc. are all uncertain , Which also puts forward higher requirements for the project management ability of the system integrator. Industrial transformation forces existing system integrators to have a sense of crisis, have the ability to change, and emphasize the ability to develop new industries or applications. When the market expands, how to mobilize resources to meet the booming market demand; and when the market declines, how to balance various expenditures and preserve strength to survive the cold winter. These are indeed no small challenges for more domestic system integrators who have experienced continuous market expansion over the past few decades.
Of course, the challenges brought about by market transformation also mean that the status and value of the system integrator group in the entire automation industry chain will continue to improve, which is undoubtedly an opportunity. I believe that in the foreseeable future, more integrators will emerge in the market through the survival of the fittest, and the capital market is undoubtedly a channel that can be leveraged today to enhance strength. The growth of the Chinese automation system integrator group will be expected More powerfully promote the development of China's automation market and even China's manufacturing industry.
