Haier uses Covestro's continuous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites in the smart air conditioning's Casatre series.
On March 8th, the China Home Appliances and Consumer Electronics Expo opened in Shanghai and more than 250,000 people participated. As the world’s largest home appliance company, Haier’s 'push-push smart air conditioner', as the world's first air conditioner using continuous fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites, has a huge appeal.
Haier's high-end brand Casatre, absorbed Italy's elegant design, its name originated from the Italian 'Casa' home and 'Arte' art. Although Casatre's products include refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters and many other types of home appliances, has been incorporated into one million Home users. But smart air conditioning is a strategic, high growth market.
In 2018, the new Casarte Scorpio using CFRTP composites was launched at the China Consumer Electronics and Consumer Electronics Expo. The trend of the future development of air conditioners: intelligence, sensing, and efficiency. Source: Sangbe.com
Casarte is 1.8 meters high and uses CFRTP in an air-conditioned twin-cylinder housing. It was developed in cooperation with Covestro, which won the European 2017 Plastics Innovation Award for CFRTP. The composite material combines unidirectional glass and carbon fiber with polycarbonate thermoplastic resin in a thin tape According to Covestro CEO David Hartmann: These materials will be cut and stacked to form a custom layered structure and then thermoformed with existing tools in high throughput and short cycle times.
New materials, new design freedom!
'So far we have chosen to use very limited materials, usually relying on metals to provide us with the performance and aesthetics we need.' Haier Design's color, materials, finish designer Shao Qingru said: 'CFRTP is a very Attractive material, it has a natural, unidirectional surface pattern from the very beginning, unlike aluminum, which requires some processing such as sandblasting, cleaning and anodic treatment before processing. For CFRTP, the processing is very natural, and the finished product is also beautiful. '
Yvonne Qian has published a great article on LinkedIn, which has helped develop Casarte Scorpio and uses material scientist Yilan Li of CFRTP to understand the appeal of this material:Unlike metal, CFRTP is light; unlike plastic, CFRTP is very hard; unlike thermosets, it is fast (circulating). ' she says This material is easy to mold, provides design flexibility, and has high temperature and impact resistance, as well as good strength properties.
Schmidt added: 'CFRTP composites are compatible with a wide range of coatings and surface finishes for designing unique surfaces, logos and other details. Laser-etched patterns are easily transferred from steel molds.'
Establish a value chain, unique partnership
'Although the finished products displayed at the exhibition looked easy to develop and it was natural', Yvonne Qian's article explained: 'But we have found one mold after another to find a suitable partner to share our Knowledge of materials and joint development of processing technologies. 'Yilan Li said at Covestro: 'Having experienced many trials and failures, but we believe in its market potential. Fortunately, we have found fellow travelers.'
The CFRTP team conducted an injection molding experiment at Yichangtai Plastics Co., Ltd. Source: Yvonne Qian, LinkedIn.
According to Yvonne Qian introduction: Casarte is made by Suzhou's Yichangtai Plastics Co., Ltd. The company has more than two years of experience in plastics processing. General Manager Chen Jinming has always been passionate about carbon fiber. His company has been producing 3K carbon fiber composite materials for notebook computer makers. He said: 'I have seen tremendous potential for unidirectional carbon fiber composite materials. Allows designers and engineers to adjust the basic properties of the material according to the direction of the fiber. Makes it look beautiful, natural and coordinated, not over-designed. '
Chen added: 'As a thermoplastic material, it has reduced cycle time and reduced costs compared to thermosetting plastics. I think the era of thermoplastics has arrived, and whoever invests, whoever may have a competitive advantage in the future . '
Despite this, Covestro and Suzhou Yichangtai Plastics have been working together for almost a year to promote Casatre's production of applicable products. From the article of Yvonne Qian, we can see: 'Sometimes the experiment does not progress as we expected, and sometimes logistics is not In line with our interests, sometimes partners will give up, but we can only insist. Mike Shi, industrial marketing manager of the CFRTP team said: 'The application of this new material is not entirely surprising, but we must witness our team Responding to all the challenges, and seeing hope outside the horizon, although sometimes hopes to become embarrassed, this is a very powerful experience.
'As raw material suppliers, we are not just sitting behind the screen watching the sale of our materials,' Yilan said: 'To bring new materials to the market, we need to find and use the value chain and if it does not exist, We want to rebuild it.'
The first cooperation between Covestro and Haier can be traced back several decades. In 1984, the Department of Home Appliances and the raw material (Polyurethane) supplied by Covestro were used for refrigerator insulation. In October 2017, Covestro and Haier signed a global agreement. The strategic agreement extends its partnership to a global scope and aims to continuously develop advanced products with the latest material solutions to meet the needs of the global home appliance market.
The future model?
This unique partnership is an understatement not only because of Haier’s highest position in the market, but also because of the company’s non-traditional but successful business approach. When you see its characteristics and how it works, you will Found that this is a company that pushes composite materials to household appliances.
First of all, Haier is very strong in the market and firmly holds the top of the market, where he provides value by providing high-performance products. It has six major brands, including Panasonic’s subsidiary Sanyo, which passed through Japan in 2012. Motors acquired AQUA, Fisher Paykel of New Zealand, acquired in 2012, General Electric Company of the United States, which was shut down in June 2017. China’s Casate and other leading brands and Haier’s worldwide products revenue of 119.07 billion yuan in 2016 , an increase of 33%, the stock price rose 5.04 billion yuan, rose 17%.
Second, Haier was smart. It predicted the potential threat of tariffs a few years ago and identified seven 'economically protected areas' including North America and the European Union, with factories established in each of the protected areas'. Haier’s Chairman Zhang Ruimin Said: 'Our factory has been established in more than 20 countries, so we have become a local brand.' US News and World Report: 'The image of Haier's chairman has far exceeded the home appliance field.'
Finally, under the leadership of Mr. Zhang, the company has 60,000 employees in 25 countries, including 12,000 from GE Electric. They see the risk of stagnation with size and highest market position. Therefore, Zhang has already Haier is decomposed into the 'networking companies' of hundreds of independent business units, their customer-centric start-ups.
According to U.S. News and World Report, one of their senior managers asked: 'How do you control us?' Mr. Zhang replied in an interview: 'I'm not your boss, I'm not your leader, there is only one leader: the user.' In 2005, Mr. Zhang undertook a major reorganization of Haier, reorganizing the structure, dividing thousands of employees into several units, sometimes as small as several people, focusing on a single appliance or service. The headquarters acted like The venture capitalists, the employees put forward new business, and if Zhang and other senior executives accept this business, they will get financial support. They must fight against financial targets, but they must manage this risk. This network is expanded to include with external companies. Home-run companies, they have Haier's funds and other support.
Mr. Zhang said: 'We don't just produce products, we want to be called innovators!'
Haier also tried to provide suggestions and feedback to potential customers through the Internet, which accelerated the development of products. This is a method used by Chinese smart phone brands. The company said that the shortening of a home appliance from the layout to the market has been shortened from the past three years or more. Until one year.
Therefore, if the composite company wants to follow this model, then obviously this is an act of breaking the rules, and the companies that change the rules of the game are the companies that align with them. It is worth noting that the U.S. News and World Report The article also mentions two other Chinese companies active in the composites industry, the latter being achieved through automated fiber placement and 3D printing.
After the acquisition of Volvo Cars in 2012, Geely Automobile Holdings left the Swedish managers and they also collaborated on the development of Chinese brands that may be exported.
Midea Group, another Chinese home appliance manufacturer, last year acquired Germany's KUKA Robotics, one of the world's leading manufacturers.