Automation Upgrade "Ready to Launch" — LED Lighting Market Concentration Trend Becomes Evident
In the first half of this year, listed LED lighting companies generally showed an upward performance trend.
According to data from the GGII (High-tech Industry Research Institute LED Research Institute), LED revenue of traditional lighting listed companies such as Yankon Lighting (600261), Opple Lighting (603515), Foshan Lighting (000541), and NVC Lighting generally increased by more than 30% year-on-year, while gross margins also generally showed improvement compared with the same period of last year.
In the first half of the year, Yankon Lighting achieved operating revenue of 2.126 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.92%, and net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of 218 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.01%. The company's revenue and net profit continued to maintain steady growth.
In the first half of the year, Foshan Lighting achieved operating revenue of 1.756 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.17%; among which, LED lighting product sales revenue was 1.059 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.27%.
While LED revenue is growing, regarding the industry trend in the second half of the year, the aforementioned listed companies mentioned in their semi-annual reports that they have carried out automation transformation and trial production of production lines through independent transformation and upgrading, introduction and purchase, etc., achieving the goals of improving production efficiency, saving human resources, and enhancing product quality.
Based on the current industry feedback, these major lighting manufacturers will gradually promote mature automation transformation solutions in the second half of the year and carry out automation transformation on more production lines.
Sunshine Lighting mentioned in its semi-annual report that the expansion of production capacity is not simply an increase in the number of personnel. Sunshine Lighting has effectively promoted the direction of strengthening the increase in per capita output value, and has introduced and implemented automation transformation in multiple types of products and various process links.
Moderate promotion and replication of mature automation solutions has strengthened cost control and contributed to the improvement of the company's overall gross profit margin.
"Automation helps reduce labor risks, improve efficiency, and enhance quality, and it is also the core productivity of a manufacturing enterprise." Guan Yong, General Manager of Sunshine Lighting, said that for lighting companies, automated production lines, whether for producers or users, have high demands for talent and craftsmanship. In addition, they also need more finalized product design and technological foresight.
Although many automation projects are being advanced, Sunshine Lighting still needs to create and form an atmosphere and mechanism for manufacturing innovation, automated production, and moving toward Industry 4.0.
Sanxiong Aurora has always been unwavering in promoting automation.
It is understood that as early as 2000, Sanxiong Aurora had already begun its planning, with some products having already achieved automated production, providing strong support for offering customers products with good cost performance. However, there are still a series of products, especially in the assembly of luminaires, where automation has not yet been introduced on a large scale, or the level of automation is still very low.
Lin Yan, Deputy General Manager of Sanxiong Aurora, believes that "reasonable investment in automation is like adding wings to a tiger for any manufacturing enterprise, but it must also be analyzed in light of actual conditions. Investment in automation will not only bring cost advantages, but the results in terms of quality reliability and consistency are even more important."
另外，作为自动化应用企业，期望生产设备企业能参与应用企业使用过程，了解需求，特别是投入回报方面，这样才能更好的达到双赢。
上半年，国家工信部公布了“2016年智能制造试点示范项目”名单。立达信光电子科技有限公司申报的《LED照明智能制造试点示范》成功入围，成为2016年照明行业唯一入围的企业。立达信作为一个目前国内LED照明单品规模最大的企业之一，目前LED灯泡的自动化流水线有40条，筒灯的自动化生产线有两条，灯管自动化生产线有两条。
立达信工程中心总监汤茂平认为，导入自动化对于立达信而言，一方面降低成本，提升品质，最大程度减少对人的依赖。
同时，也是应对企业规模化生产制造能力快速提升所遇到的人工瓶颈。目前，立达信产能每个季度都会提升30%，如此快的提升速度，只能依靠自动化设备快速的持续导入。
2016年，LED行业整合洗牌潮还将延续，行业格局也将进一步形成，更多缺乏规模优势的中小LED照明企业将在这一轮洗牌潮中面临被淘汰的风险。
Meanwhile, those large lighting manufacturers with advantages in capital, technology, and scale will win more opportunities in this round of competition.
In fact, in the first half of this year, listed LED lighting companies generally showed a growth trend, with gross margins improving, and automation deserves much of the credit.
Zheng Jingwen, founder of Rongyu Machinery, believes that "as product structures and raw material prices become increasingly transparent, how to raise automation levels, control labor costs more reasonably, manage quality, and improve production efficiency will be issues companies must deeply consider."
Meanwhile, with the gradual advancement of automation upgrades, the past practice of some large manufacturers outsourcing the OEM production of conventional products will gradually become history. At the same time, a batch of relatively large OEM factories will also emerge.
"Automation equipment can drive further improvement in market concentration. Higher automation means more reasonable cost control and higher production efficiency. The advantages of small-scale OEM factories are gradually diminishing. Over time, high-quality customer groups will increasingly concentrate in a few large manufacturers," Zheng Jingwen mentioned.
Automation upgrades will inevitably drive further reshuffling in the industry.