On March 6, the annual Xiamen International Stone Fair opened as scheduled. Despite the gloomy and rainy weather during the fair, exhibitors' enthusiasm showed no sign of waning; the showrooms of companies such as Yingliang Stone and Dongsheng Stone could even be described as packed to bursting. So, what about the stone machinery and equipment industry that this writer has been following—was there a similarly bustling scene?

 

　　At the Heshneg Machinery showroom, the faces we saw most were those of foreign buyers, and several negotiation tables were fully occupied. Su Jinheng, general manager of Hesheng Machinery, was also seated among them, personally taking part in sales. He said that most of the customers attracted by the Xiamen Stone Fair are foreign buyers, and the number of visitors increases every year, which is a good signal for Hesheng. Regarding the forecast for the company's development this year, Su Jinheng said that seeking progress while maintaining stability remains the main theme.

　

　　After years of development, Hesheng's overseas agents have also been increasing. In the showroom, the reporter interviewed Huazhenda, an Indian agent who has represented the Hesheng brand for more than two years. In his view, Hesheng Machinery is one of the most expensive stone machinery brands in China, but its quality is also the best. In terms of supporting services, Huazhenda sends people to China for training and then returns to India to provide localized services.

 

　　This writer learned that in recent years the share of Hesheng Machinery's exports to Southeast Asia, Africa and other regions has been continuously rising. As for the reasons, Su Jinheng believes that, on the one hand, the quality of domestic stone machinery is constantly improving; on the other hand, compared with countries such as Italy and Japan, Chinese stone machinery is more suitable for these countries and offers better cost performance. Take the bridge cutting machine HSGJ-1600-D12 that Hesheng highlighted at the fair: it had just obtained a national invention patent last year, and many foreign buyers inquired about it.

 

　　Also crowded with guests, and also a leader in the stone machinery and equipment industry, was the showroom of Julun Machinery, right next to Hesheng's. Whenever there is a major domestic stone exhibition, Cai Jianhua, deputy general manager of Julun, can be seen there. Cai Jianhua said that although the fair was bustling, the industry as a whole was not particularly good; for example, the beginning of the year was originally the peak season for stone machinery, but it was not as good as expected.

 

　　In the face of the sluggish market, at the end of last year Julun Machinery put forward the development slogan "Create a New Stone Age," and these words were prominently displayed in a corner of the showroom. Cai Jianhua explained that the focus of this slogan lies mainly in the word "new," covering four major aspects: product innovation, management innovation, cultural innovation and conceptual innovation, which are currently being gradually implemented.

 

　　Taking product innovation as an example, Julun has made detailed improvements in both technology and craftsmanship. As far as the exterior paint of the exhibited models is concerned, one can see what makes Julun different: the paint is carefully chosen, and in many places automotive baking paint technology is even used, with very exquisite workmanship. Cai Jianhua said that improvements in technology and craftsmanship cannot be made in great leaps; they are often completed through the accumulation of improvements in small devices and details.

 

　　Compared with technology innovation as a driver, concept is the direction marker for a company's development. In the face of new challenges, Julun has proposed a new direction of building itself into a comprehensive enterprise, transforming from a single-machine equipment manufacturer into a provider of overall solutions.

 

　　"Competition in single-machine equipment is too fierce; imitation is fast, and price wars are fought very hard. On the one hand, this leads to overcapacity in the industry and a waste of resources; on the other hand, it disrupts market order, leaving companies with very low profit margins and making it difficult to maintain basic operations," Cai Jianhua said. After comprehensively considering multiple factors, Julun decided to extend from factory equipment to upstream mining and downstream processing stone production line equipment to enhance its competitive advantage.

 

　　During the interview, Zou Chuansheng, chairman of the China Stone Industry Association, also came to the Julun Machinery showroom to visit and offer guidance. He pointed out that although the overall industry environment was not very good, there were still great business opportunities to be found in industrial transformation and upgrading.

 

　　The first is industrial transfer. With the development and growth of the central and western regions, the market is gradually shifting from east to west, and industrial transfer will generate new demand—this is the business opportunity.

 

　　The second is industrial transformation. In the past, the stone industry was mainly investment-oriented and export-oriented, with very little consumption-oriented business. At present, the state is guiding the industry into the consumer market, which will be a huge business opportunity for machinery and equipment enterprises such as Julun. Because in the consumer market, stone processing enterprises must rebuild their production lines and need standardized and specification-based production lines—this is new demand.

 

　　The third is industrial upgrading. The development of the stone industry is paying increasing attention to environmental protection and green practices, so there is also an urgent need for environmental protection equipment and machinery. Stone machinery and equipment enterprises can conduct research at stone carving and stone processing enterprises to understand demand and then develop new products. On the other hand, domestic stone machinery enterprises currently focus mainly on several major areas such as sawing, polishing and cutting, and there is basically no machinery and equipment for auxiliary production processes. However, in Taiwan and other regions there are many machines and equipment for auxiliary production that solve problems such as labor and environmental protection—this is also a new development direction.

 

　　In summary of the above points, Zou Chuansheng encouraged Cai Jianhua to lead his team to settle down and study market demand, deeply participate in the process of transformation and upgrading, and use existing technological and market advantages to open up new development areas and prospects.