Annual output of 24 million tons of stainless steel, but can’t make a good kitchen knife
The government work report of the two sessions this year proposed: Encourage enterprises to develop personalized customization and flexible production, cultivate the spirit of craftsmanship for excellence, increase varieties, improve quality, and create brands. At present, my country’s manufacturing industry still has problems such as being large but not strong, the overall product grade is not high, and the ability of independent innovation is weak. To change from a “manufacturing country” to a “manufacturing power” and from “Made in China” to “Intelligent Manufacturing in China”, it is especially necessary to cultivate and promote the “craftsman spirit.”
The annual output of crude steel exceeds 800 million tons, but the free-cutting stainless steel used to produce ballpoint pen beads cannot be made; my country has a history of forging kitchen knives for thousands of years, but the market for high-end kitchen knives is dominated by foreign brands. The pen ball and the kitchen knife, “one art and one martial art”, together put forward a heavy proposition to the iron and steel power.
my country has a long history of forging kitchen knives, but when it comes to high-quality kitchen knives, Chinese people may first think of German brands such as Zwilling, Fortenburg, Sancha, and Japan’s Shun Knife. my country’s annual output of crude steel exceeds 800 million tons, but due to low quality, the high-end kitchen knife market is now basically dominated by foreign goods.
In an article discussing my country’s scientific research system, Lu Ke, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that my country’s academic papers in the field of materials rank first in the world. All rely heavily on imports.
The market price of a high-quality German-imported Zwilling kitchen knife can be as high as several thousand yuan, while ordinary domestic kitchen knives are generally only tens of yuan, which reflects the inferiority of our country’s kitchen knives in terms of quality and brand.
At present, the domestic high-end kitchen knife market has been basically occupied by foreign brands. Ma Lifeng, general manager of the German Zwilling Group in China, once introduced that in 2011, Zwilling accounted for more than 90% of products with a unit price of more than 120 yuan for Chinese stainless steel knives.
High quality brings high price returns. Li Jihui, general manager of Guangdong Yangjiang Shibazi Group Co., Ltd., once said that a set of Shibazi knives can be sold for a maximum of more than 1,000 US dollars, while a set of German Zwilling Knives can be sold for a maximum of more than 6,000 US dollars. Folding knives from Damasteel of Sweden can be sold for up to $50,000. The company’s supplier believes: “How much energy and technology you put in determines the price and level of the tool.”
Don’t underestimate kitchen knives. An engineer in the knife and scissors industry introduced to reporters that the production of kitchen knives requires 40 production processes such as material selection, cutting, forging, quenching heat treatment, grinding and polishing, balance point positioning, knife handle preparation, cutting edge, and cutting edge. , Every step requires extremely strict quality control.
He also believes that my country’s knife and scissors companies lack core technology, which is mainly manifested in five aspects, namely, industrial design, surface appearance treatment, processing accuracy, heat treatment technology and raw materials. my country’s various patented technologies are far behind the big knife production countries such as Germany and Switzerland. For example, Germany’s “ice-stained fire” technology can make the hardness and toughness of knives and scissors reach the best combination point, but there are few domestic manufacturers that have this technology.
In addition to forging technology and craftsmanship, the quality of steel directly determines the quality of kitchen knives. Japanese high-quality knives mostly use VG-10 stainless steel or blue paper steel, Germany mainly uses 1.4116 martensitic stainless steel, while my country mainly uses low-cost martensitic stainless steel such as 3Cr13 (420), 4Cr13, and low-cost steel. The knives made will certainly not sell for a good price.
Two years ago, Zwilling introduced a kitchen knife made of high-nitrogen martensitic stainless steel Cronidur 30. This is an excellent aero-engine spindle-bearing steel with good corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and good toughness. , The domestic price of each knife is close to 5,000 yuan.
my country has a long history of tool forging, and the manufacturing level was once very high. However, there are not many brands that have been inherited. The Yangjiang Shibazi, which is currently the top production and sales volume, has only a history of more than 30 years. The poor inheritance of skills also makes it difficult to achieve breakthrough innovations.