Shaking it up in China!

Publish Date: 16 , June 2009 | Contact Info: Harold Myers | Low-Res: Download

China Becomes Leading Innovator in the Design, Manufacture and Marketing of Electro-Dynamic Vibration Test Equipment

For the past 10 to 15 years, China has been the largest active and lucrative market for foreign producers of Vibration Equipment. In particular higher force shakers, in the range of 5000 to 40,000 lbf used to test satellites, rail stock and aerospace components represented the major portion of sales. For many years, established European and American manufacturers had dominated the Chinese market.

Now, the import value into China for shakers produced by foreign companies has steadily decreased to an insignificant value. The domestic market in fact is still growing significantly and the decrease in imports is related to Chinese based manufacturers offering improved designs with specifications equal to or exceeding imported products. Additionally, the quality of shakers manufactured in China also has improved dramatically meeting international standards to a level at least equal to or in some cases better than most global competitors. Hence users, domestically and internationally are now comfortable buying from Chinese manufacturers.

Currently, three large companies dominate the domestic market and are actively designing, manufacturing and marketing Vibration Equipment within China and exporting to a global market. The number two domestic manufacturer and market-leading exporter is ETS Solutions, who offers a broader range of products than all of its Chinese competitors. In fact, the product range exceeds the scope of the product lines offered by most foreign competitors. Clearly, China manufacturers have quickly moved into the global shaker market as alternative reliable suppliers with the additional benefit of low cost manufacturing in China.

But, it is not only low cost manufacturing driving sales to Chinese manufacturers. Technology improvements in shaker design and significant improvements in amplifier design have moved some of the Chinese manufacturers ahead of foreign competitors.

For example, ETS Solutions design for its 13,000 lbf system exceeds the capability and specifications of competitive specifications in three specific functional areas.

1. Reduced armature mass.
2. Higher armature resonance frequency.
3. Greater load support.

Table 1 shows the comparison between competitive designs.

TABLE 1

	ETS M544A	LE 1216	LDS 895	UD R-16
Armature Mass	50 kg	56 kg	55 kg	47.7 kg
Armature Resonance	2100 Hz	2150 Hz	2000 Hz	1850 Hz
Load Support	800 kg	454 kg	700 kg	680 kg

Additional design improvements within the amplifier including creating standard 12 kVA modules incorporating the latest MOSFET technology to improve amplifier efficiency and reduce input power usage. An entirely new class of amplifiers are available that are usable for a broad product range.

The amplifier was designed to offer power saving benefits to heavy users of shakers, such as testing laboratories and organizations doing extensive duration testing. ETS Solutions amplifiers use almost 20 percent less input power when compared against older competitive FET designs. This results in significant dollar savings in power usage.

Another factor in the success of Chinese manufacturers is the speed of product development. Chinese factories have the advantage of an abundance of experienced and knowledgeable engineers at costs far lower than foreign competitors. Products are developed quickly to meet user specific requirements at costs far less than in the West. This competitive advantage is often recognized by international users.

With significant product introductions, the Chinese manufacturers continue to increase market share in China and internationally. Products are being exported to Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, India, United States and Europe. For example, ETS Solutions has experienced distributors and representative companies with sales and service capabilities in all major markets and has installations in more than 30 countries.

A large number of systems are installed and operating successfully in Europe and North America in laboratories, aerospace, government and industrial test sites. Customers are happy with all aspects of their purchases. The lower cost might have assisted in securing the sale but the units have performed to all specifications and in all instances have exceeded customer expectations.

The decision to begin an active export program was not easy for any of China’s manufacturers. Each company had to initiate an aggressive design, development and manufacturing program to comply with the demands of a global market. Specifications, drawings and manuals required revision to global test and measurement standards and had to be translated into major world languages. Quality inspection and testing procedures needed to be upgraded to ISO standards and safety agency certifications such as CE and UL had to be met.

ETS Solutions is the only Chinese manufacturer to have all amplifiers certified by TUV in Germany for safety and emissions. ETS Solutions performs all of its design and manufacturing in a modern 65,000 ft2 (6,000 m2) facility in the Suzhou High Technology Zone, about 1.5 hours North of Shanghai. Today, the company can claim of having the largest most modern design and manufacturing facility for Vibration Equipment in the world.

A number of factors have lead to the success of China’s manufacturers within the domestic market and now in the international market. First, they realized cost alone would not propel them forward into the international market. To successfully and effectively compete against the strengths of the major foreign manufacturers, all companies had to design and manufacture their products to specifications equal to or better than the international competitors. Secondarily, they had to quickly adapt to standards recognizable to the international community and they had to demonstrate conformance to those standards. Having accomplished those two challenges, they then had to rely on experienced international marketers to guide them into a culturally diverse selling environment.

What’s in the future for China’s shaker manufacturers? All the manufacturers have experienced design and manufacturing teams, modern facilities and some international marketing alliances. Their quality and specifications meet international standards and all manufacturers continue to actively upgrade their product lines. This should advance the manufacture of reliable and more innovative products in China and should allow all manufacturers to compete on a global scale. The gains made over the past few years could very well position China as the major source of advanced innovative Vibration Systems.