Overview of the Development of Major Global Mold Markets

The world's major mold producing countries include Japan, South Korea, and the mainland in Asia, the United States in the Americas, and Germany in Europe.

Global Mold Market Analysis

The industrial appearance of various countries
Among the major mold production and sales countries in the world, the mainland has the largest number of mold companies and the number of employees. Nearly 70% are state-owned enterprises, and foreign-funded enterprises also account for the majority. Large mold factories have about 600-700 employees, and even companies with thousands of employees, Medium-sized mold factories have between 150 and 300 employees, and small mold factories have at least about 50 employees. The mold industries in other countries are mostly operated as small and medium-sized enterprises.

In terms of product categories, Japan and the mainland focused on the production of stamping dies and plastic molds in 2002, and the combined output value of the two accounted for 80% of the total output value. South Korea has the largest proportion of other mold output values, accounting for 47% of the total output value. In the application market, Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Germany use automobile molds as the largest products, while my country uses molds for electronic communication products.

According to the situation of foreign countries in 2002, molds in Japan, South Korea, and Germany are strong/quasi-excellent products, while molds in the mainland and the United States have a large domestic demand market, and domestic manufacturers cannot fully supply them, so they must rely on imported molds to meet downstream The manufacturing of products in the market is, therefore, a strong/access super product. Based on the analysis of the main import and export countries of each country in 2002, it has a great correlation with the geographical distribution. Most import and export regions belong to neighboring countries, while Japan is more particularly exporting to the United States. However, with the rapid development of downstream industries in mainland China in recent years, The development of China has gradually turned to the trend of expanding the mainland market.
In terms of wages in various countries, according to the survey results of the mold industry white paper made by the US International Trade Bureau in 2002, Germany has the highest hourly salary, with an hourly salary of $12.13~$19.28 for technicians and $16.91~$25.26 for designers. Japan and the United States are in the middle. The mainland has the lowest wages. The annual salary for technicians is only $732~$5,853, and the annual salary for designers is only $2,927~$5,853. If compared with Germany based on the highest annual salary, only German technicians can be hired for about 38 days. That shows that advanced countries there is such a big gap with the low wage costs in China.

Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of various countries
Technology-advanced countries such as Japan, the United States, Germany, etc., have a leading position in the development of high-precision and composite molds, regardless of design capability or manufacturing technology, and they also have well-trained technical research and development personnel. Among them, Japanese mold manufacturers pay more attention to the polishing and grinding process in technology, while German mold manufacturers start by improving the accuracy and efficiency of mechanical processing and electrical discharge processing to reduce the time of manual processing. In terms of market size, the decline in Japan is the most obvious regardless of output value or domestic demand. In terms of operating costs, they often face problems of high wages and high welfare. Therefore, downstream industries or mold manufacturers gradually move their production bases to neighboring newly industrialized countries or technologically advanced countries to reduce labor costs and enhance price competitiveness. However, this trend often causes doubts about the invisible outflow of technology, which makes it necessary to invest a large amount of research and development expenses to accelerate the improvement of processing technology and high-speed mechanical performance and widen the difference between each other.
In terms of Taiwan, South Korea, and China, Taiwan lags behind Japan, the United States, and Germany in terms of technology, but still outperforms South Korea and China. At the same time, it is also far ahead in terms of production speed. However, the market production and demand of South Korea and China in recent years. The scale is showing a growth trend, especially the mold industry in mainland China is developing rapidly. Well-known large factories from various countries were stationed in production equipment, which invisibly enhances mold development and design capabilities. In terms of cost, mainland China and South Korea have relatively low labor cost advantages, so they often use low-price marketing to enter the market in terms of the price of molds. Therefore, in the global economic situation, they successfully grabbed the favor of market buyers. The most obvious example is the rise in export value.

Taiwan Mold Market-
Relative Advantage:

• Fast production lead time.
• We have mastered proficient technology for molds with high precision and complexity.
• It adopts an operating model of production in China and designed and marketed in Taiwan, effectively using China's low wage rate to control costs.

Relative Disadvantages:

• The labor force is highly dependent on mainland China.
• Downstream manufacturers move their production locations abroad, especially the mainland.
• Mold factories are mostly small companies, so the source of funds is easily restricted.
• Lack of technical personnel.

Japan Mold Market-
Relative Advantage:

• Have skilled technical personnel.
• The products have high-quality assurance.
• Short production lead time (fast).
• It has the ability to manufacture high-precision, high-complex molds.

Relative Disadvantages:

• Relatively high labor costs.
• The problem of industry hollowing out is serious.
• In terms of CAD/CAM and 3D computer software autonomy and application, it is still insufficient compared with advanced countries.

South Korea Mold Market-
Relative Advantage:

• Due to the 1998 economic crisis, the Korean won sharply depreciated, personnel costs were reduced, and mold prices fell, which was conducive to export growth.
• Many small mold factories are supported by large companies' financial and material resources.

Relative Disadvantages:

• Mold design capabilities and development technology still need to be strengthened.

China Mold Market-
Relative Advantage:

• It has a highly growing domestic market and has the effect of gathering international downstream customers.
• Have low-paid technical and design personnel.
• Set up a special mold area to attract foreign manufacturers to form an industrial cluster.

Relative Disadvantages:

• Lack of flexible and creative mold design capabilities.
• There is no technical ability to produce high precision and complexity.
• It is necessary to import molds at a high cost to make up for the supply gap of low-quality domestic products.

The U.S.A Mold Market-
Relative Advantage:

• High-quality products.
• Have research and development strength and innovative production technology.
• Strong product design ability.
• It has a vast application market and a diverse downstream customer base.

Relative Disadvantages:

• Labor costs are high.
• The market price is high.
• Related employee benefits, training, and insurance costs are heavy.

Germany Mold Market-
Relative Advantage:

• Possess excellent traditional mold production technology.
• Strong and solid apprenticeship training program.
• In the production of high-precision and composite molds, it has a fairly good technical foundation.

Relative Disadvantages:

• Labor costs are high.
• Downstream customers move to overseas locations with lower production costs, including Eastern Europe and China.
• Mold manufacturing plants are also moving outdoors with tourists.

Generally speaking, since most mold companies in various countries operate in the form of small and medium-sized enterprises, they often encounter difficulties in raising working capital. Without government policy support and tax preferential measures, mold companies will form a situation of fighting alone and fighting alone. , Let alone competition with the international market. Except for the mainland and South Korea, all countries are facing pressure from high labor costs. Therefore, only by increasing the added value of products can they escape the pressure of low-cost competition.
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Reference: tmdia