In just one month or so, China's daily output of masks increased from 8 million to 116 million
Large combined force in a small mask (depth observation)
Our reporter Lu Yanan Wang Zheng Li Xinping
On January 25th, 8 million pieces; on February 29th, 116 million pieces ... In only 35 days, China's daily output of masks increased by about 13.5 times.
From March 1st to April 4th, 3.86 billion pieces; from April 5th to April 30th, 23.94 billion pieces ... In just two months, China ’s export inspection masks reached 27.8 billion pieces, which is about the same as last year. Three times the total output of masks.
Why can China's mask production grow so fast? Let's take a look at 4 stories and uncover the big synergy behind the small mask.
Small mask refraction big ability
China has strong manufacturing capabilities. Sufficient production space, perfect quality control system, massive high-quality talents, strong R & D and production system ... provide a solid foundation for mask production
2nd Floor, Building B4, BYD Baolong Modern Industrial Park, Longgang District, Shenzhen, equivalent to 36 standard basketball courts, 100 mask production lines are running at high speed, and blue and white non-woven fabrics are laminated, curled, and folded , Flattening, seaming, welding ... It takes only 0.6 seconds to transform into a disposable medical mask.
This was once the 100,000-class dust-free workshop of BYD engaged in the production of mobile phone parts, but now it is the main workshop of the world's largest mask manufacturer.
BYD's "face mask diary" is amazing: the decision to switch production on January 31, the relocation started on February 10, the mass production of masks on February 17, the daily output reached 5 million on March 12, and increased to 10 million after 12 days , Climbed to 20 million in late April, ranking first in global production capacity!
Not only BYD, but also many manufacturing companies such as GAC, SAIC-GM-Wuling, Gree Electric, Youngor, etc. have been trans-bordered and become the backbone of China's mask production.
"So many companies that had nothing to do with masks can quickly switch to masks, showing China's strong manufacturing capabilities." Zeng Qinghong, chairman of Guangzhou Automobile Group, said that China's manufacturing industry is rich in technology, management, quality control and supply chain management. Experience, sufficient talent reserve, and wide workshops provide a solid foundation for mask production.
The production of masks requires a wide dust-free workshop and a perfect quality control system. "It takes 30 days to build a new 100,000-class dust-free workshop that meets the mask production standards, and BYD took only 7 days from the start of relocation to formal mass production." Liu Xiaoliang, BYD's production leader in charge of the relocation of the mask workshop.
In order to ensure the quality of raw materials for masks, BYD has specially built a particle filtration efficiency laboratory and incoming material inspection and control system. All materials are added with ultraviolet disinfection and sterilization procedures before entering the workshop.
The production of masks requires highly qualified personnel. A mask production line includes 1,300 parts such as gears, chains, rollers, and rollers. BYD's automotive industry group, in addition to glass and tires, can develop almost all parts of automobiles. To switch to a mask machine, more than 3,000 technicians of BYD worked in a 24-hour shift. More than 400 mask machine drawings were drawn in 3 days, and the first equipment was produced in 7 days!
The production of masks also requires a strong R & D and production system. China's equipment manufacturing industry has a large number of high-precision equipment such as CNC machine tools, grinders, and molds, and has carried out large-scale precision manufacturing with confidence.
Fan Weijian, an engineer of the Guangzhou Automotive Parts Process Engineering Department, clearly remembered that when assembling the first mask machine, the obscure mask ear straps were welded to become a "barrier." Only two or three pieces were welded, the welding head was stuck to the mask, and the entire production line had to be shut down immediately.
The key to ultrasonic welding is the welding head. Should we use 6 teeth or 7 teeth for the saw teeth on the weldable head? Should it be sharpened or slightly rounded? How much should the hardness of steel be controlled? There is no one to guide, but it can be explored based on professional experience. The research team was quickly established, and moved out of high-precision CNC machine tools for experiment. After four days and four nights of continuous shaft rotation, the best solution was finally found-0.4 mm by 1 mm diamond teeth, a slope of about 15 degrees, and the tip of the tooth must have a curvature , Tooth pin should be finely polished, forged and fired, and the hardness should be between 58 degrees and 60 degrees!
Reporter's comment
Compared with chips and automobiles, a medical mask composed of two pieces of non-woven fabric, one piece of melt-blown cloth, one metal nose clip, and two ear straps does not seem to be complicated. But this is really not simple.
Among the world's more than 500 major industrial products, China's output of more than 220 products ranks first in the world. We have accumulated rich management experience and a perfect quality control system, and can quickly adjust and expand the pipeline according to market needs; we also have more than 170 million highly educated or professionally skilled personnel, and so on. All of these converge into a strong manufacturing capacity of the "first manufacturing power".
Small masks reflect the big system
China has a complete industrial system. As small as a screw, an ear cord, a nose clip, as large as a melt-blown cloth, ultrasonic welding machine, not found in China, can not be made
"The task of researching and developing a mask machine has been received, and it will be delivered within a week!" On February 5, he hurriedly left the government office building in Huangpu District, Guangzhou. Peng Bing, general manager of a central enterprise, quickly issued a "hero post" on WeChat: "Who has a mask machine Drawings, invite to fight side by side! "
Peng Bing, 57, spent most of his life with mechanical equipment, but when he opened the mask machine drawing, he couldn't help but take a breath: more than 300 parts of a plane mask machine, in addition to motors, circuits, cylinders and other standards There are various types of non-standard parts such as base frame, frame of punching machine, frame of main body, tray, etc., only three frequency models are needed for the core component ultrasonic welding machine.
300 kinds, more than 800 parts, production, assembly, debugging from scratch, how can only one company complete?
One hero and three gangs, the production area gathers together. Peng Bing shouted in the "Guangzhou Robot Industry Alliance" WeChat group, and within a day, more than 20 parts and components companies in Yangcheng "aggregated".
"We are self-made automation equipment, all kinds of processing machine tools are available, we come to process non-standard parts!" Mingluo Automobile Equipment Co., Ltd. in Huangpu District took the initiative to fight for the production of machined parts. Chairman Yao Weibing ordered that 50 reinstatement workers give priority to the production of mask machine parts. At the same time, Mingluo also used its own industrial Internet to mobilize 25 upstream suppliers and 500 employees to work overtime and make non-standard parts for mask machines.
In addition to Mingluo, manufacturing of transmission mechanisms such as the sprockets of Hengtian Jingwei, which produces textile machinery; the agricultural equipment "Da Niu" China Yituo, Jiangsu Fuma Qianli, dispatched 8 technical experts to Guangzhou to participate in the research and development ... The more than 5,000 square meters workshop was transformed into the mask machine business department, where various parts and technicians gathered here, and various shortcomings and gaps were solved here, and all the advantages of the industrial cluster were maximized.
The drawings need to be changed, and there is a "mentor" next door. Dongguan, Guangdong is the main producer of mask machines worldwide. Under the tutelage of Dongguan enterprises, it took only 3 working days to send people to the mask machine company to learn design ideas, assembly process, and debugging difficulties, and the first version of the plane automatic mask machine design drawings passed the review.
The materials must be sufficient, and going out is the market. The mask machine needs a large number of standard parts, whether it is a hexagon nut or various types of aluminum profiles and plastic bars, which can be found in the steel market in southern China in Guangzhou.
The components are ready, assembled carefully, and carefully debugged ... 24 hours and minutes, all technicians take the workshop as their home, and squint for a while on the steel bed at the corner of the workshop. On February 15th, the first prototype of plane mask machine went offline; on February 19th, the first batch of 3 mask machines were successfully sent to Sinopec. Up to now, the central enterprise where Peng Bing is located has produced and shipped more than 700 mask machines of various types, and new orders are still coming in.
"The rapid growth of mask production capacity can be achieved so quickly, and it is inseparable from China's complete industrial system. It is as small as a screw, an ear strap, a nose clip, as large as a melt-blown cloth, and an ultrasonic welding machine. , Can't make it! "Peng Bing was quite emotional.
Reporter's comment
"China's industrial chain is interlinked and has a complete industrial system", which has become the consensus of the participating mask production enterprises. Although the mask is small, it covers a complex industrial chain, involving many basic industrial categories such as chemicals, textiles, materials, machinery, metallurgy, electronics, etc. It is also related to many basic processes such as material processing, machinery manufacturing, electrical control, and ultrasonic pressure welding. Masks cannot be made by "dropping the chain" at any link.
China has 41 industrial categories, 207 industrial intermediate categories, and 666 industrial subcategories, forming an independent and complete modern industrial system. It is the only country in the world that has all industrial categories in the United Nations industrial classification. During the epidemic prevention and control period, in the case of poor global logistics, various materials required for mask production and various parts required for mask machine production can be produced and purchased in China within a short period of time.
A complete industrial system not only provides a solid foundation for mask expansion, but also makes a huge contribution to global anti-epidemic. At present, China has provided medical supplies to 127 countries and 4 international organizations worldwide.
The small mask highlights the big role
China has a large number of state-owned enterprises that play a "pillar" role. The "national team" can surpass and withstand, which link is strengthened when the link is weak, and which resource is produced when the resource is insufficient
At 18:18 on May 9th, huge meltblown heads continually spewed out white fibers and instantly condensed into snow-white cloths. The twelfth melt-blown cloth production line of Sinopec Yizheng Chemical Fiber with an annual output of 500 tons was put into operation successfully. So far, during the epidemic prevention and control period, Sinopec's emergency deployment of two phases of 16 meltblown cloth production lines was completed. In just 76 days, China has the world's largest production capacity of 10,000-ton meltblown cloth production base.
Meltblown cloth, the core layer of medical surgical masks, a white "shield" that blocks droplets. "For example, the production of polypropylene by Sinopec is equivalent to growing wheat. Meltblown materials are similar to flour. Meltblown cloths are noodles and masks are like flower rolls. Four processes are indispensable," said Lu Dapeng, a spokesman for China Petrochemical.
To stop the spread of the epidemic, masks are important protective equipment. However, in 2019, China's mask production is about 5 billion, most of which are used for export, and there is not much spot stock.
Rely on global sourcing? China is the world's largest producer of masks, accounting for about half of the world's output. Even purchasing masks from other countries around the world is not enough for one week for the entire Chinese population.
Revitalize existing production lines? In China's annual output of 20 million tons of polypropylene, less than 2 ‰ is used to produce the melt-blown materials required for masks. To meet the demand of 100 million masks per day across the country, the capacity gap of meltblown cloth is over 50%.
It is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice, and melt-blown cloth becomes the biggest short board for the production of masks. How to make up for this short board? At a critical moment, the "national team" shot!
"Which link is weak, we strengthen which link, and what kind of resources are insufficient, we produce what kind of resources. Now, when the country needs meltblown cloth, we will produce meltblown cloth for the country." Zhang Yuzhuo, Party Secretary and Chairman, China Petrochemical Say.
There must be "cloth" to produce enough "material", and upstream enterprises are rapidly extending downstream. On February 9th, Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical quickly organized the lean power to carry out the research, test analysis and scale-up test of melt-blown material production formula. The following day, the melt-blown base material was successfully produced and converted to a melt-blown non-woven special material on the extruder production line. On the afternoon of February 13, the first batch of meltblown materials was successfully sent to downstream manufacturers in Jiangsu and Guangdong. Since then, yellow paper bags filled with white crystals have been continuously delivered to all parts of the country.
With "material", there must be "loom". On February 24, Sinopec Corp. and SINOMACH Hengtian quickly joined hands to build the first phase of 10 meltblown fabric production lines in Beijing Yanshan Petrochemical and Jiangsu Yizheng Chemical Fiber. On the night of the same night, on the wall of an old factory building of 3,600 square meters in Yanshan Petrochemical East Plant, a banner with white text on a red background, "For the mask, let's fight" was hung high.
Site selection, design, procurement, construction ... Everything starts from scratch, and 18 batches of equipment are shipped from 7 provinces. Whenever night falls, the entire Yanshan petrochemical motor roars, and the lights are like daylight. "Complete the normal workload of 3 to 5 days in a day. Just look at the banner on the wall, everyone will be enthusiastic." From the start of the construction to the delivery of the production line on March 5, Geng, general manager of Beijing Yanhua Engineering Construction Company Huan Ran only returned home once. Many managers also work in 36-hour shifts and squint in the car for a while.
It takes half a year to complete the construction of such a melt-blown fabric production line, and the powerful “national team” will not lose its mission in only 12 days. At 23:59:56 on March 6, Yanshan Petrochemical's melt-blown cloth production line was successfully started once, 48 hours ahead of the planned time! This precious 48 hours means that more than 12 million medical plane masks can be produced.
Today, Sinopec's 16 meltblown cloth production lines have a daily capacity of 37 tons, which can help increase the output of more than 13.5 billion medical masks in a year, which is equivalent to adding 9 masks for each person in the country.
Reporter's comment
Not only Sinopec and SINOMACH, China Petroleum, Ordnance Equipment, COFCO, General Technology ... A large number of state-owned enterprises are coming, they can fight, regardless of conditions, charge ahead, and urgently deploy medical mask production lines. On February 29, the national daily output of masks reached 116 million, and the "national team" played a "top beam" role in it.
From masks to protective clothing, from disinfectants to nucleic acid detection kits ... At a critical moment and an important juncture in the prevention and control of epidemic situations, a large number of state-owned enterprises are anxious for the country's worries Courage, surpassing and withstanding, proved by practical actions that state-owned enterprises are an important force for resolutely implementing the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the most reliable relying force of the Party and the State!
Small masks reflect big advantages
China has the institutional advantage of concentrating on major affairs. In order to ensure the production and supply of masks, government departments at all levels and all walks of life are fighting in the first place, a game of chess across the country, and opening up the supply chain
"Overseas orders have been arranged in October, and we have assisted in exporting to many countries." Jiao Na, Deputy Manager of the Export Business Department of Shandong Rizhao Sanqi Medical and Hygiene Products Co., Ltd., said that since the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, the lights on the factory floor have never been turned off. However, the cumulative production of about 300 million masks.
On January 22, the day before the "Fengcheng" in Wuhan, Wang Changshen, the chairman of Rizhao Sanqi Company, received a call from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the company was identified as a key production and supply unit for medical supplies in Hubei. Subsequently, I received the Shandong Provincial Government's mission statement: to provide 500,000 masks every day as an emergency security reserve.
Without saying anything, Wang Changshen quickly started the emergency mechanism, summoned employees to return to work quickly, and resumed production the next day. In only three days, Sanqi Company rushed out nearly 3 million masks, of which 2.4 million were sent to Wuhan before New Year's Eve, becoming the first mask production enterprise outside Hubei Province to assist Wuhan.
In this race against time, Sanqi is not fighting alone. In order to help Sanqi to resume production and expand production, Rizhao City set up a "work class" to settle in the company's on-site office, and the relevant departments also sent two special staff in the enterprise. What they lacked and helped to open up the industry chain.
Licences are missing, and there are “green channel” approvals. Sanqi was mainly export-oriented. In order to obtain the registration certificate of domestic non-sterile medical protective masks as soon as possible, the National Development and Reform Commission formed a special working group with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Health and Health Commission, the General Administration of Market Supervision and the State Food and Drug Administration , Went to Shandong Rizhao to promote enterprises to obtain corresponding production qualifications. Under the premise of ensuring quality and safety, Shandong Provincial Drug Supervision Department fully cooperated, through optimizing the inspection process, working in parallel, and preparing all procedural documents in advance, from sample inspection to the issuance of "Medical Device Registration Certificate" only 57 Hours, which is nearly 1 month shorter than conventional procedures. On the morning of February 6, all the test results passed, and the first batch of 30,000 masks was shipped to Hubei that night, accounting for 21.4% of the total number of N95 masks sent to Hubei Medical across the country that day.
There is a shortage of people, and there is a "work class". The Rizhao High-tech Zone Party Working Committee and the Heshan Town Party Committee mobilized village party organizations to “hunt for people” urgently, from party cadres and party activists to returning college students, school-age women, and retired textile workers. So there was such a scene in the workshop: On the morning of the New Year's Day, the workshop leader Yan Yunxia took overtime with his son, cousin, cousin and cousin. The number of factory employees has rapidly increased from more than 300 to more than 1,200.
Short of money and materials, government departments not only helped to apply for a loan of 55 million yuan, but also accelerated the coordinated resumption of supply chain work. The ear cord broke the supply, and the special resident in the enterprise coordinated with the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology for the first time. The Nantong Industry and Information Bureau acted swiftly. The supporting enterprise Nantong Orson Line Co., Ltd. soon resumed production. There is a “gap” in the mask sterilization capability. Rizhao Tianyi Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd. provides ethylene oxide sterilization analysis equipment free of charge. The material packaging is faced with "off supply", Rizhao Huanyu Paper Products Co., Ltd. called employees to quickly return to the factory to start the production line ...
The problems were solved one by one, and the production capacity of Sanqi Daily quickly climbed to 3.5 million, which is five or six times that of ordinary days.
Looking at the whole country, in order to ensure the production and supply of masks, government departments at all levels and all walks of life are fighting in the first place. The whole country is playing chess and opening up the supply chain. "Our country has an institutional advantage, and everyone can work together in every position to have such a good effect." Said Sun Zhicheng, a member of the material security group of the Central Steering Group and the deputy director of the Social Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission.
Reporter's comment
In the struggle for epidemic prevention and control, we adhered to the centralized leadership of the Communist Party of China, gave play to the institutional advantages of centralized power for major affairs, mobilized all social forces, and mobilized resources from all quarters, and quickly formed a strong joint force to fight the epidemic, demonstrating the strength of China Spirit, efficiency in China.
In order to quickly increase the production of masks, all regions, departments and industries have the general knowledge, the overall situation, the pace is consistent, and go all out: the market supervision department simplifies the approval registration process, the finance and taxation department fully refunds the value-added tax, and the remaining amount of the tax credit, the central bank special The re-loan is directly used to protect the production of important medical materials. The National Development and Reform Commission announced that the government will purchase more protective masks and other protective materials ... Opening the supply chain, the whole country is playing chess, everything is to produce masks faster and more.