On the whole, domestic robotics companies have low technology and market concentration, and their ability to control the industry chain is relatively weak. Upstream components have always been in the state of import, and there is no bargaining advantage for upstream component manufacturers; most of the ontology and integrated enterprises are mainly assembled and processed, at the low end of the industrial chain, with low industrial concentration and small overall scale.

For robot enterprises that already have certain capital, market and technical strength, building an industrial chain has become an important way for enterprises to expand their market and influence.

At present, leading domestic robot companies have gradually expanded their industrial maps through cooperation or mergers and acquisitions, combined with the advantages of local system integration services, they already have certain competitiveness, and it is expected to achieve import substitution for foreign brands in the future.

According to the analysis of industrial chain theory and the experience of international advanced manufacturers, we believe that the robot enterprise layout industry chain has the following feasible ways:

Downward expansion of core components: Manufacturers of automation components such as CNC systems, motion control systems or servo motors can be deployed to the entire industry chain based on technological advantages, enabling business synergies.

In the case of Eston, Eston was deeply immersed in the field of metal forming machine tools, relying on mature servo system technology, and acquired TRIO into the field of high-end motion control, forming two business modules throughout the entire industry chain: intelligent equipment core functions Components and industrial robots and intelligent manufacturing systems.

In 2017, Eston achieved a revenue of 1076.50 million yuan and a gross profit of 33.44%. Among them, the industrial robot business revenue was 489 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 132%, and the growth rate was the highest in the domestic industry.

A similar growth path for KUKA. Through early understanding of the manufacturing processes of specific industries, the use of rich customer resources to accumulate initial capital, and then through the cooperative research and development, mergers and acquisitions, etc., the industrial chain's traceability direction integration, enhance industry concentration.

At present, the automobile industry that has become a scale effect has been occupied by foreign brands, and the downstream integration has been developed into a segmentation and specialization. The 3C electronic processing industry represented by panel, semiconductor and lithium battery manufacturing has a broad space and a large demand for automation. There is enough space to create a system integration leading manufacturer, and manufacturers who are deeply involved in downstream industry applications are expected to break through. The more successful domestic companies include Tusta and Eft.

Tuostar started from the auxiliary equipment of injection molding machine, cut into the robot industry from the system integration entrance, mastered the data of a large number of end customers, and later mastered the control technology through independent research and development, and mastered the servo through cooperation with Wuhan Jiutong Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. Driven, the current business field has gradually extended to the entire industry chain.

Instead of the listed company Evte mainly adopts the "ontology + system integration" mode. As a user of industrial robots, Eft is deeply involved in the automotive field, relying on a full understanding of the terminal requirements and processes to carry out research and development of core components. Industrial chain model transformation.

Its growth mode mainly relies on mergers and acquisitions. In 2015, it acquired the Italian CMA company to strengthen the competitiveness of the coating field. In 2016, it acquired the Italian EVOLUT company and cut into the high-end robot integration application. In 2017, it acquired the ROBOX, the core component manufacturer of the Italian motion control field.

The four families started their business in the robot industry chain. For example, ABB and Yaskawa Electric are engaged in the electrical equipment motor business, and the FANUC research CNC system. KUKA was originally engaged in welding equipment. In the end, they can become the world's leading integrated industrial automation company, because they master the technology of the robot body and its core parts, and are committed to research and ultimately achieve integrated development, which is the reputation of today's four major industrial robots. .