In 2019, the textile machinery industry may face more challenges, and the importance of technological innovation is particularly prominent

The past 2018 was a year of heightened uncertainty in the global economy. From the Forbidden City lipsticks sold out of stock, to the "lipstick" Baidu search index hitting a record high, it all shows that 2018 is a year of "lipstick effect". The "lipstick effect" is a well-known economic theory, that is, whenever the economy goes down, people's consumption will turn to buying lipstick and other commodities, because lipstick, a cosmetic that is both cheap and whitewashing, can bring psychological effects to consumers. Of solace. However, the charm of the "lipstick effect" is that although some sectors will encounter challenges with the economic downturn, there will always be some industries that will become the new favorites of the consumer market.

Just like the textile machinery industry, although the market has been weak after the third quarter of 2018 and orders have begun to decline, some textile machinery companies have achieved double-digit growth despite generally facing considerable downward pressure.

What changes will happen to the development environment in the new year? Which areas will face challenges, and what kind of companies will have the opportunity to counterattack? What should be the focus of industry and enterprise development? Chairman Wang Shutian of China Textile Machinery Association gave the following answers.

Technical upgrading supports steady growth

What is the overall operation of the textile machinery industry in 2018 and what characteristics does it reflect?

Chairman Wang: For the textile machinery industry, 2018 is a good year, and the industry as a whole has maintained steady growth. With the support of the macro economy and the overall stable operation of the textile industry, the textile machinery industry has been further upgraded, with good overall operational quality and efficiency, and the main business income and export volume have maintained double-digit growth. However, the growth rate of the industry has slowed down.

Starting from the third quarter of 2018, orders for some textile machinery products have declined. After the third quarter, some chemical fiber companies requested delayed delivery of equipment orders signed before. The sales of most spinning equipment in the domestic market in 2018 declined to varying degrees. The overall performance of printing and dyeing equipment is tepid. Generally speaking, the textile machinery market is facing downward pressure in the future.

In recent years, textile machinery companies have continued to innovate. Whether it is the main engine or basic parts, their technical level is constantly improving, some are close to the international advanced level, and the stability, reliability, and consistency are continuously improved, especially in economics. Has advantages. In addition, textile machinery enterprises pay more attention to the improvement of product technology content and have made breakthroughs in many technical fields. It can be said that technological innovation and structural adjustment have supported the steady growth of the industry, but the cyclical fluctuations of the textile machinery market have become more obvious.

In 2018, the characteristics of smart manufacturing became more prominent. The textile machinery industry has achieved varying degrees of progress or improvement in new high-efficiency, low-energy consumption, flexibility, automation, digitization, intelligent textile equipment and new CNC technologies, intelligent manufacturing solutions, and equipment manufacturing levels. The development of intelligent manufacturing systems has promoted the structural adjustment of the textile industry. Textile digital workshops and digital factories based on domestic digital textile equipment have been built in many places, covering many areas of textiles.

On the other hand, the development of textile machinery enterprises in the international market has also shown results. In the first three quarters of 2018, textile machinery exports were 2.78 billion U.S. dollars and imports were 2.751 billion U.S. dollars, and the export value exceeded the import value again.