Discussion on the mastery of core technologies by engineering companies
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Engineering companies should primarily focus on the engineering of project process technologies as their core business. Collaborating with research institutions such as process developers to engineer process technologies is the main task of engineering companies. However, mastering core technologies is undoubtedly crucial for engineering companies to enhance their competitiveness; those without such technologies are nothing but second-rate companies. What are the main ways domestic engineering companies acquire core technologies?
This is the same as making tofu and fishing.
A company with core technologies is not necessarily a first-class engineering firm; after all, it’s difficult to rely on just one technology to sustain the entire company – such companies are usually small and not considered first-class. What’s more important is securing large projects and completing them successfully; only after gaining sufficient capability can they work with research institutions or companies to develop one or two new technologies. In fact, this too is very difficult, and the process is extremely lengthy.
Most of them are stolen, and then they try to make a smaller one; after getting the data, they go ahead and create a larger one
For the process industry, the core is of course the process package! However, the vast majority of design institutes and engineering companies in China do not possess the capability to develop process packages. Most of it is obtained by “stealing”. Relying on theft isn’t a sustainable solution after all. Domestically, it is necessary to strengthen the R&D capabilities for process packages; this is the key factor for China’s process industry to move from \"Made in China\" to \"Created in China\". The core is talent!
The main ways for domestic engineering companies to acquire core technologies include: collaborating with universities and research institutions, partnering with manufacturing enterprises, developing technologies independently, introducing foreign technologies and then adapting, absorbing, and re-innovating them, reverse engineering, and dealing with infringement issues
Domestic engineering companies indeed have weaknesses in this area, but some large-scale engineering companies are already engaged in related activities. For example, Tiantchen Corporation has R&D and pilot production departments; the adiponitrile technology it has developed is currently being tested on an industrial scale, with the potential to break foreign monopolies. Huisheng Corporation is also collaborating with various research institutions to develop process packages, while Donghua Corporation has established a high-level R&D center. Some research institutes have also established their own separate engineering departments. It involves process package and core reactor development, and it is no longer merely a design-related matter; it requires integration with research and development as well as capital investment, with the latter two being even more important. Research and development efforts need strong support in terms of talent and funding, and few domestic companies that are looking to make quick profits are willing to provide such support. However, in the long run, with the trend toward greater sophistication in the chemical industry, chemical companies need to engage in research and development; otherwise, they will be eliminated by the market. This is also a hurdle in the industrial transformation and upgrading of domestic chemical enterprises, and it is very difficult. . . .
On January 28, 2019, it was reported that China Tianchen Engineering Co., Ltd. signed an engineering design contract for a 300,000 tons per year propylene oxide (HPPO) plant produced using the hydrogen peroxide method, along with three 300,000 tons per year hydrogen peroxide production units, with Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group’s Shandong Qinghe Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. The hydrogen peroxide-based propylene oxide (HPPO) technology is an innovative technique jointly developed primarily by Tianchen Company; it took 8 years to progress from pilot tests and pilot-scale trials to successful industrial implementation. Therefore, the development of process packages truly takes time; only state-owned design institutes have the capability to do this
As for private enterprises, they basically rely on theft; there’s hardly any core substance to them. There are plenty of companies where a computing software tool supports an idle person
There are many reverse developments in core technologies; however, in recent years there have also been many independent efforts through collaborations with universities and research institutions