The logic behind the domestic substitution of Estun Robot's sales growth of 50%

So far, Estun has a total of 57 industrial robot products , including six-axis general-purpose robots, four-axis palletizing robots, SCARA robots and industry-specific customized robots, with workloads ranging from 3kg to 600kg. There are more than 20 categories of robot standardized work unit products , mainly used in photovoltaics, lithium batteries, welding, sheet metal bending, stamping, die-casting, woodworking drilling, assembly, sorting, grinding, deburring, gluing, etc.

The epidemic accelerates domestic substitution

Against the backdrop of industrial structure upgrading and Sino-US trade frictions, domestic enterprises have begun to replace foreign brands in key areas. At the same time, the epidemic has significantly accelerated domestic substitution, especially bringing more market opportunities to leading domestic robot companies.

Estun analyzed that, on the one hand, foreign-funded enterprises have been affected by the global epidemic in many aspects such as production, delivery, and after-sales service. Domestic robot manufacturers have quickly seized the market with a relatively complete domestic supply chain system, strong technical service capabilities and flexible market strategies. The share of domestic chemical control products is expected to continue to accelerate; on the other hand , domestic leading robot manufacturers have a good development momentum.

Estun pointed out that during the reporting period, affected by the epidemic control in Shanghai, coupled with factors such as upstream inflation and reduced new export orders, the industry prosperity of general automation continued to decline. The blockage of logistics and personnel business exchanges caused by epidemic prevention and control also delayed the effective implementation and delivery of the company's automation solution products. The company's automation core components business was affected by this, and its business revenue was basically the same as the same period last year.

As of now, the industry is still in the bottoming out stage, but we have seen signs of marginal improvement in the industry. With the easing of supply chain disruption risks in the Yangtze River Delta starting in May, the growth rate of social financing has improved significantly, and the industry is expected to enter an upward cycle.

In terms of gross profit, Estun 's overall gross profit margin in the first half of the year was 33.14%, which was basically the same as the same period last year. Among them, the gross profit margin of industrial robots and intelligent manufacturing business was 34.05%, a year-on-year decrease of 0.46 percentage points; the gross profit margin of automation core components business was 30.88%, an increase of 0.62 percentage points year-on-year.

In the first half of the year, important raw materials such as chips were still on an upward trend, which put pressure on Estun's cost reduction. Estun stated in its semi-annual report that by optimizing the supply chain, increasing domestic substitution, implementing lean manufacturing management and cost reduction and efficiency improvement measures, the company's costs have been effectively controlled. Since the fourth quarter of 2021, the company's quarterly gross profit margin has been gradually increasing month-on-month.

In order to deal with short-term supply chain problems such as chips, Estun has increased its reserves of important raw materials to ensure stable production and business growth. Based on this, Estun's net operating cash flow in the first half of the year was a net outflow of approximately 100 million yuan, a decrease compared with the same period last year.

At the same time, Estun continued to increase its R&D investment, with R&D investment of 184 million yuan in the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 36.44%. R&D investment continued to account for approximately 10% of sales revenue.

Supply chain problems caused by external factors such as the poor international logistics caused by the epidemic, rising commodity prices, and chip shortages have had a certain impact on the development of overseas business. Estun continues to adhere to the "general + segmented" market strategy, increase investment in strategic emerging industries, and carry out customized development to ensure the company's continued growth in orders.

“Dual carbon” defines a new track with “long slope and thick snow”

The proposal of the "dual carbon" goal can be said to have delineated a new track with a long slope and thick snow for the application of industrial automation. Energy transformation will be the main proposition and main tone for the next 30 years, which will inevitably be accompanied by the development and application of intelligent technology.

Benefiting from the development opportunities of new energy industries such as new energy vehicle power batteries and photovoltaics, Estun's industrial robots and intelligent manufacturing businesses have maintained growth and currently account for more than 70%.

In 2022, Estun established a new energy business department to deeply explore how robots and motion control products can meet the ever-changing needs and increasing requirements of the lithium battery industry. Estun has created a full chain of six-joint robots covering the lithium battery industry from the front, middle and back ends, including baking, capacity division, inspection/sorting, battery cell stacking, side panel welding, heating and standing, BusBar welding, module PACK and other processes. So far, Estun robots have been mass-produced in many leading lithium battery companies.

At the same time, Estun provides core motion control solutions for lithium battery coating machines, winding machines, stacking machines, die-cutting machines and other production equipment based on the TRIO+ESTUN high-performance motion control solution.

In addition, Estun has in-depth cooperation with hundreds of companies in the photovoltaic industry. Its photovoltaic typesetting workstation is fully compatible with intelligent manufacturing management systems such as MES and ERP, and strives to build a photovoltaic intelligent manufacturing factory. Currently, Estun's robots have been used in the fields of components, flower basket handling, wafer insertion and silicon wafer production.

Estun analyzed that with the explosive growth of the new energy vehicle industry in the past two years, the demand for robots in lithium battery manufacturing has surged, and this is just one of the extremely niche application scenarios. With the implementation of the "Made in China 2025" plan, industrial robots are clearly listed as one of the ten key areas for vigorously promoting breakthrough development. In the future, robots will have more and more extensive applications in key industries such as new energy, automobiles, aerospace, rail transportation, and semiconductors .