Zhao Jizeng, Chairman of China Refractories Association-The Road to a Powerful Country in Refractories
On September 23, 2020, Chairman Zhao Jizeng of the China Refractories Association shared with you the theme report on the road to a strong refractory country at the fourth meeting of the eighth China Refractory Association. Among them, Chairman Zhao proposed to become a strong refractory country 6 Big elements, unique views, and eye-catching. The following is an overview of Chairman Zhao’s speech:
1. The standard of a strong refractory country
Refractories mainly serve the steel industry and are an important industry supporting the development of the steel industry. The power of refractory materials (discussion) will be mainly reflected in the following aspects:
1. Enterprises become bigger, better and stronger (Chinese enterprises should account for more than 5 of the world's top ten refractory companies);
2. The product structure and configuration structure are scientific and reasonable, applicable and practical, stable in quality, and cost-effective;
3. Unshaped products accounted for more than 50%, and unshaped products + non-burned products accounted for more than 90%;
4. The consumption of refractory materials per ton of steel for converters and ladle (over 250 tons) steel mills reaches 8kg, and that for other steel mills reaches 9-10kg;
5. Achieve 2:8 in the international and domestic markets. In addition to the introduction of refractory materials attached to the project, after 1-2 years of hard work, the national production of refractory materials will be realized;
6. Total factor productivity, environmental emission indicators, and energy (resource) consumption levels have reached the international advanced level.
Second, the differences in the refractory industry between China, Europe and Japan
Industry concentration: The concentration of the domestic refractory industry is still low. There are more than 2,000 domestic refractory industry companies. The top ten companies in 2019 have a combined revenue of 26 billion, which is approximately equivalent to the sales revenue of Amag.
Intelligent informatization level of the production line: The total number of employees in the 160,000-ton plant in Refra Germany is more than 90, with less than 30 production personnel, about 33 R&D and design personnel, and about 35 market development service and management personnel.
Domestic refractory companies generally still use more traditional production processes, with low level of equipment automation, low per capita output value, and domestic factories of the same size with 400-500 personnel.
3. Discussion on a Powerful Country in the Refractory Industry
1. The transformation of development model: The refractory industry should transform from high speed to high quality.
2. The transformation of the management model: management data, intelligence, information, and ecology.
3. The transformation of the business model: reduce costs, increase profits, provide customers with value-added services, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results for common development.
4. Transformation of the innovation model: to create the best value with the most advanced technology, the lowest cost, and the highest quality products.
5. The transformation of digital-intelligence organizational innovation: constructing an internal "data-based" organizational thinking and organizational platform from all levels of organizational thinking, form, mode, and boundary.
6. The change of cultural value: Talent evaluation: emphasis on diplomas and higher level, emphasis on academic qualifications and ability, emphasis on the past and present; technical assessment: value-oriented, papers are written in the workshop; value concept: value open ecology, all Members create and share together.
4. New era, new challenges, new crises, new opportunities
1. The new era
International turmoil, knowledge explosion, intensified competition at the commanding heights of international high-tech fields, the impact of people’s old and new ideas, and overcapacity. With the extensive and in-depth application of information technology, as well as the continuous innovation of new models and new formats, the economy and society are in In the era of accelerated transformation from an industrial economy to a digital economy, the production organization model is transforming and upgrading from rapid growth to high-quality development.
2. New challenges
In the process of transition from rapid growth to high-quality development, we are facing challenges such as overcapacity, rising overall costs, weak demand, and environmental upgrades.
3. New crisis
Challenges faced include complex international political relations, increasingly intensified trade wars, technological wars, financial wars, and the deterioration of the global environment.
4. New opportunities:
Although facing numerous difficulties and challenges, China's industrial scale has long been ranked first in the world, the industrial system is the most complete, and it has strong development resilience and many opportunities:
The government has scientific management and macro-control capabilities, and the proposed economic "double cycle" development approach can help domestic companies effectively reduce their dependence on foreign markets;
The comprehensive speed-up "new infrastructure" development strategy, through 5G, industrial Internet, big data and other advanced information technology, drives the rapid realization of digital and intelligent transformation of traditional industries; mixed ownership reform, enterprise restructuring, and the integration of upstream and downstream resources in the industrial chain are the reasons for enterprises. Big change has created new opportunities.
As far as refractory materials are concerned, China, as a major steel country, urgently needs to adjust and upgrade the structure of steel varieties. For example, the demand for military steel, stainless steel, clean steel, tool steel and other types of steel will continue to increase, and the steel process and equipment technology will also continue to change. There will be new demands for refractory materials, and refractory companies will continue to develop new products, new technologies, new equipment, new processes, etc. to meet the constantly changing needs of the high-temperature industry.
