The development of new materials is an inevitable requirement for China to transform from a manufacturing country to a manufacturing power, and it is a fundamental measure for China to get rid of the dilemma of "stuck neck" in key materials and technologies. Titanium, which looks like steel but is 45% lighter than steel, is known as an important strategic metal material in the 21st century. As a metal material with low density, high strength and corrosion resistance, the application scenarios of titanium are extending from aerospace, medical, sports equipment and other fields to automobiles, mobile phones and other fields. This brings new development opportunities to the leading enterprise in the domestic titanium industry, Baoti Group.
The picture shows the titanium products for daily life displayed in the exhibition hall of Baoti Group. Information**.
Founded in 1965, Baoji Group is the founder and leader of Shaanxi Baoji titanium industry from scratch. The titanium alloy manned capsule developed by China helps Chinese submariners dive to the 10,909-meter Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, and the titanium alloy materials developed are widely used in key projects such as the "Shenzhou" series of spacecraft, and lead the formulation of the first international standard in the field of titanium and many other titanium standard ......On the journey of building a strong country in China's titanium industry, Baoti Group continues to refresh its history.
Witness the Baoji titanium industry from scratch.
It is a cold winter, but the wire rod factory of Baoti Co., Ltd. is in full swing. After a series of processes such as heating, rolling, drawing, annealing, surface treatment, the 150 mm thick bar blank becomes a diameter of only 08 mm coiled wire. According to Liu Tao, secretary of the general party branch of Baoti wire rod factory, this is the first independent design and development of titanium and titanium alloy hot rolling production line in China, the products are not only "big country" with bars, but also in daily life with high-precision bars for surgical implants, widely used in aviation, aerospace, marine, medical, electronics and other fields.
The picture shows workers working in the production workshop of Baoti Group in Baoji, Shaanxi. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Wenbo.
Baoti Group, the parent company of Baoti Wire Rod Factory, also plays a more important role - the main enterprise of titanium and titanium alloy industry chain in Shaanxi Province.
More than 600 titanium industry chain related enterprises, the production of more than 5,000 specifications of titanium products, the annual output value of more than 60 billion yuan, 65% of the country's titanium materials are produced here ......Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, which is far away from titanium ore, why does it take the lead in the field of high-tech materials in the titanium industry?Passwords are closely related to Baoti Group.
It is understood that the application of titanium began in the 50s of the 20th century, starting from the aerospace industry in the United States, the Soviet Union and other countries. With the rapid development of China's aerospace industry, the production of lightweight, high-strength, high-temperature and corrosion-resistant titanium alloys has become an urgent task at that time. During the construction of the third line, a large number of state-owned industrial enterprises successively settled in Baoji, an important industrial town in the west, including the 902 factory invested and built by the state in Baoji in 1965, the predecessor of Baoti Group.
After the completion of Baoti Group, it immediately undertook the production, R&D and trial production of most of the domestic titanium processing materials. After nearly 60 years of development, Bao Ti Group has become China's largest specialized rare metal production and research base based on titanium and titanium alloys, forming a complete titanium industry chain from sponge titanium ore mining to smelting, processing and deep processing, and equipment manufacturing, leading the formulation of more than 90% of the standards in China's titanium field, laying the cornerstone for the vigorous development of China's titanium industry, and promoting China to become the fourth country with a complete titanium industrial system after the United States, Russia and Japan.
The leader leads, casting the "chain" into a "group". Driven by Baoti Group and cultivated by the local government, the upstream titanium material processing and downstream application production market continues to expand, and more than 600 rare metal production and processing enterprises such as titanium and titanium alloy have settled in Baoji, forming a group effect.
At present, Baoji, as a national key layout of titanium and titanium alloy R & D and production base, has formed a complete industrial chain of "titanium ingots, titanium forgings, titanium processing, titanium components, titanium equipment", with an annual production and processing capacity of nearly 70,000 tons of titanium, ranking first in the country in terms of industrial scale, and its products are exported to more than 70 countries and regions.
Fill a number of gaps in titanium alloy research.
The Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest ocean in the world. On November 10, 2020, China's self-innovated and self-developed 10,000-meter manned deep submersible "Struggler" carried three submariners to 10,909 meters in the Mariana Trench, setting a new record for China's manned deep diving and reaching the world's leading level. Among them, the titanium alloy manned capsule developed by Baoti Group, as the core component of the manned submersible, has withstood the test, filled a number of gaps in domestic titanium alloy research, and ended the dependence on imports of the manned capsule of China's deep submersible.
Dive into the deep sea for nine days. In addition to deep-sea submersibles, China's first successful hydrogen bomb, the successful launch of the first nuclear submarine, the successful return of the first soft-landing satellite to the ground, the first successful launch of a carrier rocket to the Pacific Ocean, the "Shenzhou" series of spacecraft, the "Chang'e" project, C919 and other key projects, all have titanium and titanium alloy materials provided by Bao Ti Group.
Baoti Group, which has written history, is constantly creating new history. In 2023, Baoti Group won the "China Industry Award", the highest award in China's industrial field. The reporter learned that in recent years, Baoti Group has implemented more than 190 scientific research projects, including 71 national key projects.
The 8 titanium alloy products developed by the company, such as high-precision precision profiles for aerospace and wires for aviation fasteners, have successfully achieved domestic substitution and met the material needs of key types of equipment
Successfully manufactured a single PTA (purified terephthalic acid) special material equipment weighing more than 1,200 tons, breaking through the key technical barriers of foreign countries and becoming a leader in the special non-standard equipment industry
The titanium roof of Baoji Grand Theater and the titanium landscape platform of Beijing Shilinxia have created a precedent for the large-scale application of domestic titanium in the field of construction
The vacuum creep calibration furnace developed by China has solved the problem of high-performance titanium alloy plate calibration and residual stress control that has plagued China's titanium industry for many years, and won the national patent gold medal.
Reform stimulates vitality and leads high-quality development.
As an old state-owned enterprise with more than 8,500 employees, problems such as "inflexible system and mechanism", "unreasonable salary management" and "restricted development of enterprises" are the hurdles that Baoti Group needs to overcome for its high-quality development.
In 2020, Baoti Group issued the "Three-year Action Implementation Plan for Deepening the Reform of State-owned Enterprises (2020-2022)", which established and refined 55 reform tasks. Through the reform, Baoti Group has formulated a new salary system, and the salary distribution is inclined to key employees, especially to scientific and technological personnel, high-skilled talents and front-line key employees.
After the reform of the company's salary system, the income of front-line workers has increased significantly, and the salary gap between positions at the same level has widened, becoming a 'fragrant bait' that earns more money. Cui Fei, a technician at the forging plant of Baoti Group, said that the most intuitive performance is that the annual income of front-line workers has increased significantly after the reform.
In April 2022, the international standard "Titanium and Titanium Alloy Naming System" led by Baoti Group was officially released, filling the international gap in this field. In the team of 11 people who formulated international standards, 8 scientific and technological personnel were rated as the first and second grades of the technical backbone of Baoti Group. "The first and second grades of the backbone are the new promotion channels created by Baoti Group for scientific and technological personnel. Feng Junning, deputy director of the science and technology department of Baoti Group, said, "Before the implementation of the reform, even if scientific and technological personnel were promoted, the income gap was not large. After the reform, the annual income of the backbone level is basically the same as that of the company's middle-level deputy. ”
In order to achieve the "catfish effect", from the second half of 2022, Baoti Group will explore the trial implementation of the "professional manager" system in its subordinate enterprises. In the first pilot metal composite material company, the original leadership team members re-competed for the position of head of the enterprise. After a series of fierce competition, a former deputy stood out and became the first "professional manager". Geng Aiwu, director of the enterprise management and operation department of Baoti Group, said that the purpose of the trial "professional manager" system is to enhance the "vitality value" of the enterprise through measures such as full decentralization, salary incentives, and target reversal.
Reform dividends give birth to development momentum, and innovation breaks down walls to stimulate the vitality of enterprises. Through deepening reform, the main business indicators of Baoti Group continue to improve, and the output of titanium products will exceed 30,000 tons in 2021. At the same time, in the face of difficult challenges such as declining domestic demand, industrial structure adjustment, and large fluctuations in raw materials, Baoti Group's operating performance has risen against the trend, and profits have continued to grow significantly, continuing a good momentum of development.
In the next step, Baoti Group will give full play to the role of the main enterprise of titanium and titanium alloy industry chain in Shaanxi Province, and further extend, supplement and strengthen the chain in accordance with the requirements of the implementation plan of Shaanxi Nonferrous Metals Group to build a modern industrial system in accordance with the requirements of the implementation plan of Shaanxi Nonferrous Metals Group, and promote the construction of regional industrial layout and three-dimensional support pattern of listed companies, so as to lay a more solid foundation for the high-quality development of Baoti and make greater contributions to the development of industrial economy in Shaanxi Province. Wang Jian, deputy secretary of the Party committee and general manager of Baoti Group, said. (Reporter Shen Hongbing, Zhang Jingpin, Zhang Sijie).
Editor-in-charge: Shi Li.