Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

The Nanshan Industrial Park was put into production, but Cao Yang couldn't take it easy.

No, Xiang Changle urged him to hand in his thesis.

Fortunately, Cao Yang was not unprepared.

So when Xiang Changle urged him, a paper titled "Hot stamping technology will become the key to improving the strength and weight of the car body" appeared in front of everyone.

As a researcher in the automotive industry, although Xiang Changle is not focusing on body design, he has a good understanding of the various parts of the vehicle.

"Xiao Cao, I have seen some introductions about this hot stamping technology in journals, but there should not even be a hot stamping line in China right now?"

"In your paper, you directly said that Nanshan Technology Co., Ltd. has mastered a full set of hot stamping technology, and you are promoting the application of this new technology in automobiles. Will you offend many people?"

Xiang Changle sees the problem differently from Cao Yang.

The current large domestic stamping manufacturers are basically subsidiaries of various automobile groups.

Only some less important parts such as brackets have the opportunity to be given to private enterprises.

For example, Yangcheng Huaqiang Stamping Factory, if it weren't for the fact that Yangcheng Automobile Group is too weak and there is no spare parts subsidiary, Yangcheng Honda's stamping parts business would definitely not be his turn.

Now Cao Yang is advocating a technology that none of these domestic companies have mastered to replace the traditional cold stamping technology. This is an act of ruining his job.

At that time, Spring City Stamping, Sihuan Stamping, Modu Tuonei, Xifeng Die Chong...

How much do these factories hate Nanshan?

Domestic companies have not mastered this technology. If OEMs want to use it, they can only give it to international auto parts companies.

Regardless of whether the localization rate will be reduced, the interests of relevant domestic parts manufacturers will definitely be damaged.

"Teacher, this problem is not that serious."

"Not to mention that not all parts on the body are suitable for hot stamping, the direction of each OEM will not be exactly the same."

"According to my survey, European and American manufacturers such as Volkswagen, General Motors, and Ford generally tend to use hot stamping technology."

"But those companies in Japan, they tend to use ultra-high-strength cold stamping technology."

"For example, the Yangcheng Apex and Yangcheng Aiji that Yangcheng Honda is planning to adopt, their parent company already has the cold stamping technology for processing 780Mpa and 980Mpa, and has even used it in large quantities on the latest models."

"Although there is still a gap compared with the tensile strength of 1500Mpa after hot stamping, but considering the cost and strength, not all car companies will choose hot stamping."

"Even if it is selected, it is only applicable to a few parts such as A-pillar and B-pillar, and it will not have much impact on domestic stamping manufacturers in a short period of time."

"But if we don't work hard, this market will be monopolized by international giants such as Benteler, Cosma and Gestamp."

Cao Yang knows that there will be so many parts on the body-in-white of the car in the future, and the competition will be fierce.

That is to say, the profit of hot stamping is still considerable.

At least in the next decade or so, it is a promising industry.

Although Nanshan has no plan to enter hot stamping parts by itself, Huaqiang Factory can do it.

More importantly, Nanshan can obtain a considerable profit from this industry by selling hot stamping presses and hot stamping dies.

Ordinary molds, a set of one million is very expensive.

In later generations, the unit price of stamping dies for most auto parts does not exceed 500,000.

And what about the molds for hot stamping parts?

Before 2010, a set of about 10 million!

Even in 2020, it will cost several million.

If hot stamping is done in advance, Nanshan, who first masters the production technology of hot stamping dies, will be able to eat the fattest piece of cake.

"That's the truth, but people don't like to hear it."

"It's okay if no one pays attention to your paper when it's published."

"If it is spread on a large scale, it will bring great pressure to Nanshan."

"I think it's fine to publish it in the school magazine before the time comes?"

Normal undergraduate papers are naturally copied here and there.

At this time, there is no such thing as checking for plagiarism in undergraduate papers.

It's almost enough to flicker past.

Anyway, the university pursues strict entry and wide exit, and it is rare to fail to graduate.

Undergraduates who failed to graduate because they failed their graduation thesis have never even heard of it.

However, Xiang Changle originally wanted to take advantage of Cao Yang's identity and take out their graduation thesis for publicity and publication.

Now that I saw the content, I was a little hesitant again.

Because this paper is not so much a paper as it is an advertisement for Nanshan.

The whole article does not introduce too specific technical information, but constantly emphasizes how Nanshan has done in-depth research on hot stamping.

He, Xiang Changle, is embarrassed to promote such a thesis.

"Teacher, hot stamping technology is definitely one of the hottest technologies for automotive body stamping parts manufacturing in the future."

"It will be very widely used in the next twenty years, or even the next thirty years."

"I also hope that the associated manufacturers can do a good job of accumulating technology in this area in advance."

"If you have difficulties, you can also come to Nanshan for cooperation."

"This is actually a good thing for everyone."

Although later generations of Tesla began to engage in integrated die-casting, the number of components of the car body dropped a lot.

But this can cause huge problems after sales.

So even in 2023, few models will be in use.

To put it bluntly, the integrated casting technology is to transfer the risk after the cost reduction of the OEM to consumers or insurance companies.

It is a cost-cutting solution that is not particularly responsible.

"You blow the cowhide so much, you have to believe it when the time comes."

Although Xiang Changle knew Nanshan technology and thought the company was very good, but he was also proficient in hot stamping technology, so he was a little skeptical.

"Teacher, don't worry."

"Hot stamping parts are not functional parts and do not require any durability or functional tests."

"After making it, as long as the strength and precision of the parts meet the requirements, it can be proved qualified."

"We just want to cheat, but there is no way."

Seeing Cao Yang's confident appearance, Xiang Changle gritted his teeth and prepared to "play around" with this disciple.

Soon, he used his connections to submit the article to "Huaxia Auto Stamping".

This magazine is a comprehensive academic journal sponsored by the Automotive Stamping Technology Branch of the China Automotive Engineering Society.

It mainly publishes the latest research results, application technologies and development trends in the field of automotive stamping forming.

Although few people have heard of it, this magazine has a high influence in the domestic automotive stamping industry, and is widely included in the China Academic Journal Network Publishing Database, the China Periodical Full-text Database, and the Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database.

As a result, the paper written by Cao Yang immediately attracted the attention of many people in the industry.

State-owned enterprises such as Xifeng Die Punching and Spring City Stamping have certain requirements for thesis when the technical personnel in them are hired for titles.

Even if it's not a must, it's a plus.

In this case, it is natural for everyone to find a way to publish papers in journals.

It is also more concerned about the movement in the industry.

As a stamping part, in the past, most people paid attention to the mold design.

How to keep parts from cracking and wrinkling are all related to mold design.

It can be said that the mold is the essence of stamping parts.

As the head of the technical department of Spring City Stamping, Liu Darui naturally paid close attention to the magazine "Huaxia Auto Stamping".

Cao Yang's article is so unconventional, it is completely different from other people's articles.

Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for Liu Darui not to pay attention.

"Minister, I collected and sorted it out. This hot stamping has indeed been used a lot in Europe."

"Volkswagen's new Passat and Audi A6 models all use some hot stamping parts."

"However, so far, no domestic manufacturer has built a hot stamping production line."

"In this case, Cao Yang claimed that Nanshan had mastered the hot stamping technology. I think it is grandstanding and has no credibility."

Yan Weiping has been busy looking for information these days.

Liu Darui assigned him homework and asked him to investigate the development of hot stamping at home and abroad.

Of course, what the reason is, he is naturally clear.

"You think Cao Yang said in his paper that hot stamping is the future of automotive stamping. How credible are these words?"

Liu Darui Shi is completely different from hot stamping.

If hot stamping is the future, then he will have to worry about whether his position as head of the technology department will be secure.

"There is no big problem with this statement, but it doesn't make much sense either."

"It's like new energy vehicles are the future of automobiles, everyone knows this."

"However, no matter whether it is hydrogen energy vehicles or electric vehicles, few of them have really entered mass production."

"I can also say that high-strength, lightweight technology is the future, but what's the point?"

"So far, the models produced by Spring City Volkswagen and Spring City Toyota, whether they are mass-produced models or new models that are being introduced, do not use hot stamping parts."

"Even if it is to be used in the future, it must be done step by step, and it will not be used on a large scale in one go."

"So I don't think there is any need to worry about it. Cold stamping will still be the mainstream in the next ten years."

Yan Weiping gave his own judgment with certainty.

The more I know about hot stamping technology, the more I feel that this technology cannot be popularized so quickly.

The heating furnace is produced by many domestic manufacturers.

However, the heating furnace used to process hot stamping parts is being researched by Schwarz and Benteler in Europe, and other manufacturers are still unable to do it.

The presses corresponding to the particularity of hot stamping are currently the best made by AP\u0026T in Europe. Other manufacturers have not focused on it, or have not made breakthroughs in this area of ​​technology.

After all, compared with cold stamping, the hot stamping process needs to maintain pressure.

This requires a completely different control logic for the press than that used for cold stamping.

As for the mold, because it involves quenching after heating, the inside of the mold is made of water.

This makes the processing of the mold very complicated and difficult.

This is why the cost of hot stamping dies is much higher than that of cold stamping.

And compared with cold stamping, after the hot stamping parts are processed, it is necessary to use a laser cutting machine for trimming, which requires the introduction of special laser cutting equipment.

All in all, Yan Weiping feels that investing in a hot stamping production line now costs at least 50 million, and may even cost hundreds of millions.

With such a large investment, how low can the cost of hot stamping parts be?

Based on these circumstances, Yan Weiping is not optimistic about hot stamping in the short term.

"Pay more attention to the movement in the industry. After all, hot stamping technology can be regarded as a hot and advanced technology on the car body."

"At that time, if the leaders of the group or the company ask, we won't be ignorant."

It is obviously impossible for Spring City Stamping to engage in hot stamping in a short period of time.

But Liu Darui also felt that it was necessary to plan ahead.

Otherwise, I will be passive at that time.

...

"Dai Gong, did Nanshan study hot stamping technology before?"

Inside Xifeng Mochong, Liu Wei came to Dai Shanhua with a copy of "Huaxia Automobile Stamping" magazine very curiously.

Since Zhang Fugui did ideological work with Dai Shanhua, he took advantage of the trend to join Xifeng Mochong and became a business backbone.

During this period of time, he has made some achievements.

The mold design level of Xifeng Die Punch has been improved to a certain extent.

Of course, in order to avoid the situation where the master starved to death after teaching the apprentice, Dai Shanhua has always cherished words like gold and was unwilling to teach other people in Xifeng.

Even when people come to ask for advice, he always says something that seems to be correct.

"Mr. Liu, Nanshan has done a lot of research on PRG molds before, but this is the first time I've heard of hot stamping molds."

"However, they can make PRG molds like nut plates, and now they can make hot stamping molds. It is not impossible."

Dai Shanhua really told the truth this time.

He really didn't know that Nanshan also did research on hot stamping.

At least he didn't hear about it when he was there.

"Is there a way for you to inquire and see how their technical research in this area is going?"

"Is there any possibility for us to cooperate?"

"After all, this hot stamping technology can be used not only on passenger cars, but also on some other special vehicles."

As a subsidiary of Xifeng Group, Xifeng Die Punching is obviously not only producing parts for passenger cars.

Some parts on commercial vehicles are also produced.

Even some special-purpose vehicles are produced by Xifeng Motor Group.

Others think that hot stamping is just a lively topic, but for Liu Wei, it is likely to be a technology that can benefit him.