What is the role of "Made in China 2025" and chips in the automotive industry?

Automobiles, as important national large-scale industrial products, use integrated circuit chips, such as SOC (System on chip), which consists of multi-core CPUs and GPUs, digital combination meters, vehicle multimedia and navigation systems, and automatic driving paths. Computation, or application-specific integrated circuit chip ASIC (ApplicaTIon specified integrated circuit) for signal processing, algorithm operation and control execution components of electronic control modules, such as automatic parking, starting airbags, radar signal analysis for autonomous driving, etc. New chips, even intelligent chips that integrate AI (arTIficial intelligence) functions such as neuron network and deep learning, will soon be used in automobiles. When the EE architecture of the car changed from CAN network to Ethernet network in 2021, when dozens of electronic control modules were replaced by multiple large-scale vehicle servers, the car was a mobile server or a super computer room.

There are also automobile production lines, whether it is stamping, welding, painting, or assembly line, there are corresponding stamping machine tools, welding robots, spraying robots or robots, unmanned material distribution vehicles, sensors for inspection stations, and production control. Servers, RFID scanners, all of which are inseparable from the chip. If you say "Made in China 2025" vision, there is no chip, all of which are mirages.

When I was shocked that one of China's high-tech benchmarking companies, ZTE, was banned from supplying core chips, it made me sad. Here to share my experiences and ideas:

In the summer of 2004, I was also responsible for vehicle planning and cost engineering at the Daimler Group Commercial Vehicle Technology Center in Germany. A colleague from the car department sent a meeting invitation: ST Microelectronics (the largest chip company in Europe) The Daimler Group introduces ST Microelectronics' future major chip development direction and product line roadmap. My colleagues and I were very interested in listening to the introduction of ST. Since then, I have known that Daimler Group has a department called CriTIcal Parts Management (CPM), which is mainly managed. The chip, its development direction, innovative products, especially the guarantee of the chip supply chain, and the world's major chip manufacturers have such exchanges, forming a good cooperative relationship. Gradually, I contacted major European and American chip manufacturers: Infineon, Freescale and Philips (NXP), Renesas, Microchip, Elmos, etc., visited many Fabs (chip factories), and learned the main process of chip design and manufacturing.

At the International Electronics Show in Munich, I met BMW's peers and learned that they also have a CPM department. Although the German mainstream auto OEM does not produce chips, it has been deeply aware that the chip is the core component of automotive products, and the guarantee of the chip supply chain is very important. After the earthquake in Fukushima, Japan, how many system suppliers sent helicopters to transport chips, only to prevent the main assembly line from being shut down; how many chip traders were busy at this time. Even some OEMs purchase large quantities of core chips as strategic reserves.

The chip is a strategic substance, just like oil. The chip manufacturing industry is a strategic industry and needs a strategic path.

Figure 2 Schematic diagram of chip manufacturing equipment and process flow

1. Strategic planning

Chips are strategic materials, and chip manufacturing is a strategic industry. Then, a strategic plan is needed for chip products and manufacturing. Planning requires a 10- to 15-year cycle, and every five years there should be a process of updating and refining a strategic plan.

Strategic planning requires a forward-looking blueprint for products, manufacturing equipment and processes: 1) product path; 2) manufacturing equipment and process paths. In the 10 to 15 year cycle, products, manufacturing equipment and processes at different time periods are planned, and relevant implementation projects and initiatives are developed for these products, manufacturing equipment and processes.

2. Chip design

Includes circuit design (with Hardware Deion Languages ​​(HDL)), circuit simulation, testing, verification. There are many skilled and experienced designers in China who hope that chip companies will promote the innovation culture of engineers rather than the CEO's personal culture. The chips were designed and validated by engineers, not designed by the CEO. Respect engineers, advocate technology and innovation, and give them high treatment and good social recognition. Don't infinitely magnify the role of the manager, in order to have good design and innovation, in order to retain the chip design talent.

3. Chip manufacturing equipment and processes

Chip manufacturing equipment and processes are the pain points of China. Two weeks ago, I met with an old classmate (Dr. MIT) and talked about the chip equipment industry. The old classmate is the CEO of a large chip manufacturing equipment company. When I asked him about the Chinese chip equipment industry, he told me, "We are still far behind, many equipment needs to be imported, and the chip manufacturing process is even more worrying." This reminds me of the automotive industry, how many equipment, machine tools, and robots are imported, and the manufacturing process is even worse. For example, laser welding, whenever I ask engineers of ME (Manufacturing Engineering), answer Always say, "It will be long ago, it will be 7 years ago," but when I asked, "Why is the welding of the side wall and the ceiling of the body still spot welding instead of laser welding?" The answer is "Oh, this is not Yes, because the body is not accurate enough." However, this kind of technology has been popular in the European and American automobile industry. The most common Santana of the German Volkswagen uses laser to weld the side wall and the ceiling!

Chinese companies value design and despise manufacturing processes. If I say, when I worked with my colleagues in Germany, the Daimler Group and the colleagues spent three years working on the development of a metalworking process called "Hard Turning" (including experimenting with different tool geometries, tooling Layer, cutting parameters, SPC (StaTIstical Process Control), results verification), how many people have this patience and persistence? The development of the chip manufacturing process requires an enterprise culture enterprise, rather than a one-person (CEO) rescue company, one person can not develop the chip manufacturing process. Many media are keen to report the whereabouts of a certain chairman or CEO, all kinds of rumors, real estate, earning fast money, everyone is very impetuous, but forget that high-tech and industrial development is the core of the national strategy, more reports a little ordinary The achievements of engineers, their innovative patents, and their stories are the respect that society gives them.

4. Localization rate
The chip industry needs to be scaled up, and it needs a market, not just a few samples. If the users of the chip still use chips from Intel, Qualcomm, Infineon, Samsung, etc., how can China's own chip companies survive? Here is a suggestion that enterprises selling computers, mobile phones, automobiles and other products sold in China are forced to use a certain percentage of Chinese chips on the main chips (the definition of Chinese chips is chips designed and manufactured in China), such as more than 45%. As with joint venture auto companies, define core components and their localization rate. At present, the localization rate of Chinese chips is below 15%, and they are all low-end and mid-range chips. Most of the high-end chips are imported.

Figure 3 Huawei Kirin 970 SOC (System on chip) for Huawei Mate 9 smartphone

The chip manufacturing industry is a strategic industry, and chips are strategic materials. Like oil and national security, it needs the government to look at it strategically and requires strategic reserves and strategic planning. Chip companies need an engineer culture, retain talents, let them play their creativity, have a very professional spirit, the media must be positively oriented, borrowing this ZTE’s dozens of incidents, and alerting China must independently develop and manufacture chips. , firmly hold the fate in your own hands. For Chinese chip companies to be sustainable, the Chinese government's strong support (localization rate) is needed during this transition period, because the chip is the key to achieving "Made in China 2025".

Dr. Liu Xiaoyi (founder of Guankey-Solutions.com), 21 years of senior automotive technology experience of German Daimler Group (Mercedes-Benz) (powertrain electronic control system series development, vehicle planning, cost Senior manager of engineering, new process development, gearbox production, etc., led the development of the Mercedes-Benz heavy-duty 16-speed automatic transmission series, the development of powertrain components and the new process of Airbus large-scale structural parts, electric commercial vehicles and A number of cost reduction projects for cost planning, commercial vehicles and cars (PKO/OPTIMA, CTX, CORE). The Great Wall Automotive Technology Center is a high-level technical management, which has established the first fully-built cost engineering system, method and process for the Chinese car companies for the Great Wall Motor Group, and integrated it into the entire product process of the group.