Piston CNC machine tools become "hidden champions"

In 1998, Zhu Genghong, Liu Bingyun, Chen Guoquan, and Zheng Qiuhui jointly founded the Changsha YiPai CNC Research Institute (hereinafter referred to as "YiPai CNC"), specializing in the research of linear servo and non-circular cross-section CNC machine tools.

That year, the application of linear motors in the manufacturing industry, was rare nationwide , but the founders of YiPai CNC saw the characteristics of linear motors such as "maintenance-free, long lifespan, and high reliability." "By incorporating linear motor technology into CNC machine tools, we will create our own unique style." said Chairman Zhu Genghong.

With the support of linear motors, YiPai CNC made major breakthroughs in piston irregular outer circle processing technology and piston irregular pinhole processing technology, ushering in the era of soft die-casting for piston processing in China.

Relying on its advanced technology in the field of linear servo and non-circular cross-section CNC YiPai CNC has undertaken numerous national major projects and technological transformation projects, and has received national honors such as the Second Prize of China Mechanical Industry Science and Technology Progress Award and the Centennial Achievement Award of China Internal Combustion Engine Industry; at the same time, the company's CNC piston irregular outer circle lathes, CNC piston irregular pinhole boring machines, and other products occupy the forefront of the domestic market segment , and are exported to developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Japan, and South Korea. Just when everyone thought that YiPai CNC would rely on piston CNC machine tool technology to "rely on it for a lifetime," the founders of YiPai CNC were very clear: "The era of internal combustion engines will eventually pass, and linear motor technology is the future."

In 2009, YiPai CNC established a subsidiary, "Hunan YiPai Industrial Drive Co., Ltd.," specializing in the research of linear motor technology. At that time, domestic machine tools rarely used linear motors, but foreign machine tool companies, such as DMG, began to use linear motors around 2000 to improve machine tool accuracy. Even now, the popularity of linear motors in China's machine tool industry is very low, while in Europe, Japan, and the United States, the application rate of linear motors in the machine tool industry is as high as 20% to 50%.

Patiently optimizing linear motors

　Shortly after the establishment of the new company, it coincided with a surge in the prices of bulk commodities in China. "Affected by the sharp rise in the prices of key raw materials for direct-drive products, our linear motor business has been losing money for years." Zheng Qiuhui recalled, "Often, the piston machine tools made money, which was almost entirely subsidized to the research of linear motors."

“If we're going to do it, we'll do linear motors, and if we're going to do it, we'll do the hardest part of linear motors.” Faced with this situation, the founders of YiPai CNC not only did not give up but also set their sights on the research of medium and large thrust linear motors above 1000N.

However, YiPai CNC's persistence and efforts did not immediately pay off. In 2012, due to the continuous losses of YiPai Drive, YiPai CNC had no choice but to absorb and merge the subsidiary.

After 3 years of painstaking research and development, YiPai CNC finally received good news: The company was approved to undertake the "Large-scale Production Project of Linear Servo Motors and Drivers" of the National Development and Reform Commission, and also received nearly 8 million yuan in project funds. "The money the state gave us is for research." Zhu Genghong poured the newly obtained funds into the research of linear motors.

In 2017, YiPai CNC had been specializing in the research and development of linear motors for 8 years, and had also lost money for 8 years on linear motors. In the same year, YiPai CNC's efforts paid off, and linear motors finally became profitable.

"Currently, there are nearly 400 companies in China engaged in the linear motor business, but those capable of independent research and development are very few." Zheng Qiuhui told reporters that the direct-drive products developed by YiPai Direct Drive with linear motor technology are comparable to international top brands such as Siemens and Kollmorgen, and the price is only 70% of overseas products.

In 2020, the sales of YiPai Direct Drive's linear drive products accounted for nearly 70% of the total sales revenue, mainly used in the PCB industry and CNC machine tools. "We started our business with CNC machine tools, and in the future, we will invest more advanced linear motor technology into the research and development of high-precision CNC machine tools, not only for internal combustion engine pistons but also to contribute 'YiPai's strength' to the take-off of the entire manufacturing industry." Zheng Qiuhui said.

Reporter's Comments

Ten years of perseverance and breakthroughs in "bottleneck" technologies

It is said that large ships are difficult to turn around. YiPai Direct Drive, a company that achieved "financial freedom" in the 1990s, resolutely transformed during its heyday, targeting the linear motor field, which was almost unpopular at the time.

In addition to confidence in linear motor technology, the determination to break through the "bottleneck" technologies in China's manufacturing industry has also supported its journey.

    支持其一路走来的除了有对直线电机技术的信心，更有突破我国制造业“卡脖子”技术的决心。

Ten years of unwavering dedication has finally paid off: Since 2017, YiPaiZhiQu's linear motor business has achieved 100% annual growth; the belief that "Wherever there is linear motion, there is an application for linear motors" has opened up a nearly limitless blue ocean of business opportunities for YiPaiZhiQu. It is worth mentioning that its extra-large linear motors (20,000-60,000 N) have provided strong basic support for the manufacturing of major equipment projects in China.

Conventional wisdom leads to conformity, while unconventional thinking leads to innovation. YiPaiZhiQu, upholding the ancient teachings of "starting from near and reaching far, ascending from low and reaching high," carries the ambition of serving the nation through science and technology and daring to be the first, continuing its exploration of key core technologies in manufacturing and its pursuit of precision and speed.