innovation, leadership, extension! how zhangzhou watches keep pace with the times
2024-09-20
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recently, the watch industry released important news: at the end of the year, the annual meeting of the national technical committee for standardization of watches (tc160) will be held in zhangzhou; next year, the annual meeting of the international organization for standardization watches technical committee (iso/tc114) will be held in zhangzhou for the first time.
why did the two grand events take place in zhangzhou in succession? because zhangzhou’s watch industry has a special status.
one out of every three quartz clocks in the world comes from zhangzhou; pointer-type quartz clock movements account for more than 70% of global production and sales, watch movements account for more than 60%, and some watch parts account for as much as 90%.
more than 400 years ago, yuegang was opened as a port, and the watch industry was born in zhangzhou, starting from imitating the production of self-ringing clocks. today, zhangzhou has become a "famous watch city in china" and the world's largest quartz watch production base.
the gears of the clock have been turning for hundreds of years, but where will they point to next? the reporter went to longwen district, zhangzhou city, the core area of the clock and watch industry cluster, to see how zhangzhou's clock and watch industry is taking a new path.
innovation——product technology is at the forefront
in zhangzhou, besides telling time, how many other functions can clocks have?
"the flower bed clock located in the third museum in zhangzhou is currently the largest outdoor clock in china. its core components are made of aviation-grade aluminum alloy materials, which have the characteristics of high strength and corrosion resistance, and can withstand the test of wind, rain, severe cold and heat." zhang fang, head of the flower bed clock design team and dean of lichuang maritime silk road (fujian) watch industry industrial design research institute, said that the flower bed clock is not only beautiful, but also has the functions of internet of things and satellite automatic time synchronization.
the "flower clock" running in zhangzhou sanguan square is currently the largest outdoor clock in china. photo by yan jie, a reporter from minnan daily
traditional outdoor clocks are generally powered by external ac power or traditional batteries, which have many problems: clocks powered by external ac power require special cables to be laid, increasing costs; once a power outage occurs, the clock stops and requires regular inspection and maintenance; traditional batteries have a limited number of charge and discharge times and poor environmental adaptability; currently, the country produces about 150 million finished clocks a year, and the production and scrapping of batteries will cause environmental pollution.
the way to leap forward lies in innovation. in 2019, the lichuang haisi (fujian) watch industry industrial design institute, the only watch industry industrial design institute in the province, was established, integrating industrial design companies, manufacturing companies, and colleges and universities. through the "industry + platform + company" development model, it provides technical training, design verification, sample trial production, product testing, intellectual property service database support and other services.
in 2020, thanks to this unique team in the province, zhangzhou developed a maintenance-free outdoor photovoltaic clock with internal lighting, which uses solar energy charging and super energy storage devices to store electricity, making the outdoor clock energy-saving, environmentally friendly, maintenance-free and long-life. at present, the institute is expanding the application scenarios of photovoltaic clocks to indoors by upgrading photovoltaic materials, improving energy storage efficiency and reducing movement energy consumption.
innovation is the driving force behind the zhangzhou watch industry.
"the movement is the heart of the watch, and the processing accuracy requirements are very high. the precision is 0.02 mm, which is about 1/3 of the diameter of a hair." wei zhenjiang, general manager of fujian zhongchen precision movement co., ltd., said that for a long time, domestic quartz watch movements have been assembled manually, which is inefficient and of poor quality.
"we once offered tens of millions of yuan to buy the automated movement production line that was removed from abroad. but they would rather dismantle it and sell it as scrap than sell it to us." after being rejected, we had to rely on ourselves. after three years of intensive research, the company finally developed automated production equipment. "originally, more than 2,000 workers could only assemble 5 million movements per month, but now more than 300 workers can assemble 20 million movements per month." wei zhenjiang said that the automated movement production line not only improved efficiency, but also broke the industry record for yield rate, increasing the yield rate from 95% to more than 99%.
at present, zhangzhou watch companies have registered and obtained more than 2,000 patents, and have developed new products, new materials, and new processes such as photovoltaic watches, smart watches, degradable watch appearance materials, ion plating, and high-precision mold center network manufacturing technology, and are at the forefront of the industry.
leading - participating in the formulation of international standards
despite its dominance in the market, zhangzhou watches have always been mainly oem, with low added value. "swiss watches only have a global market share of about 10%, but they have always been at the top of the pyramid, accounting for more than 25% of the world's trade volume and more than 90% of high-end brands," said shao yueming, chairman of zhangzhou hengli electronics co., ltd.
in the international trade system, international standards are the "passport". however, chinese watches are still "primary school students" in the field of international standards, and are repeatedly constrained, which makes shao yueming feel like a thorn in his throat. "every detail in the standard may become a microcosm of trade benefits. if we cannot become a participant in the formulation of international standards, we will be restricted by others in every way."
don't be a follower, be a leader.
in 2012, the first international standard for clocks drafted by my country, iso13074 "analog quartz clocks - matching dimensions of movement and hands", was released, filling the gap in the international standard for clocks of iso/tc114 technical committee for clocks and watches, and overcoming a major barrier for my country's clocks to participate in international trade. "the production dimensions of zhangzhou analog quartz clocks have been included in the international standards, which has laid a solid foundation for zhangzhou quartz clocks to go around the world," said shao yueming.
going up the ladder, hengli also participated in the revision of the "analog quartz watch standard" (gb/t6044-2016), revising and improving the relevant performance indicators and requirements of analog quartz watches. for example, the "average instantaneous daily difference" was changed to "instantaneous daily difference", and the test time was reduced from 3 days to 1 day; the shockproof performance test requirements were increased from 0.5 meters to 0.75 meters to adapt to daily office scenes.
"only when workers and other productive factors work together efficiently can greater productivity be unleashed. the standards for the new workforce have become a blank area that the industry needs to fill urgently." this year, hengli participated in the drafting and final review of the two professional skill standards for "watch designer" and "watch repairer". the two standards were recognized and issued by the ministry of human resources and social security and were both issued this year. "the formulation of the two national professional skill standards will guide the industry to cultivate more new workers who are adapted to the development needs of new quality productivity." shao yueming said.
at present, the zhangzhou watch industry has 10 members of the national watch standardization technical committee and one observer, and has participated in the formulation and revision of 9 international standards, 22 national standards and 21 industry standards.
extension——integration with modern service industry
at present, the watch industry is moving into the field of smart wearable devices. hengli targets the health segment and develops and produces a series of smart sports watches, some of which are supplied to well-known sports brands, and some are for the elderly, which can monitor the elderly's blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate and other indicators in real time. shao yueming said that 80% of the pointer watches produced by the company are exported to the european and american markets. in recent years, the export share of smart watches has continued to increase. in the first half of this year, the company's export volume grew by 30% against the trend.
"watches, smart wearables, and precision manufacturing are three closely related industries." lingade, party secretary and director of the industry and information technology bureau of longwen district, zhangzhou city, said that longwen district is giving full play to the role of the national-level small and medium-sized enterprise characteristic industrial cluster of quartz watches, and compiling the "longwen district industrial chain investment map" for the two types of investment promotion in the watch industry involving high-end precision equipment and emerging consumer electronics, giving full play to the role of the park carriers such as the hengli smart wearable industrial park and the keneng industrial internet project, focusing on the development of wearable devices, and extending the development of upstream new components, and constantly enriching the electronic information subdivision industry ecology. at present, 8 precision manufacturing parts and wearable equipment companies have settled in the hengli smart wearable industrial park, and the first phase is expected to be put into production in the first half of next year.
the deep integration with the modern service industry has also opened a window for the individual expression of zhangzhou watches.
“watches are a high degree of combination of technology, art and emotion. they have long passed the stage of functional needs and will inevitably rely on cultural support in the future.” based on such considerations, in 2015, shao yueming decided to try industrial tourism, transforming and upgrading from industrial manufacturing to the tertiary industries such as culture, tourism and services, providing a new way for the watch industry to open up.
in 2017, the time culture science park and the fujian maritime silk road clock and watch museum were completed. as the only museum in fujian province with clock and watch culture as its theme, the fujian maritime silk road clock and watch museum has been rated as a national 3a tourist attraction, a national industrial tourism demonstration base, etc. since its opening, it has received tourists and groups from more than 60 countries.
in order to enhance the original design level and international influence of zhangzhou watches, longwen district actively promoted the permanent establishment of the "china (blue light cup) watch design competition". it has been held for six consecutive sessions, attracting well-known watch companies, independent watchmakers, designer associations and universities from home and abroad to actively participate, making the city's business card of "china's famous watch city" more brilliant.
