Exclusive Interview with Yang Xiaoyan of INFOR : The Essence of High-End Grinding Is Not "Building Larger Machines", But Understanding Materials Better
Against the backdrop of accelerated nano-scaling and refinement in industries including new energy, electronic materials and fine chemicals, grinding and dispersion equipment has gradually evolved from conventional "production machinery" into a critical process segment that affects material performance, production efficiency and even project costs. Within this technology-intensive sector with high technical barriers, Guangdong Yifu Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yifu Intelligent) has forged a development path from following international players to catching up, and achieving partial leadership. Recently, Huicong Chemical Network visited Guangdong Yifu Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. and held an in-depth conversation with Yang Xiaoyan, General Manager of the company. During the discussion, Yang Xiaoyan reviewed the company’s deep dive into the high-end grinding sector. She stated that the pivotal turning point that drove the enterprise into this track came around 2014, when the trend of domestic substitution for high-end domestic materials began to emerge. “At that time, the R&D and mass production of various high-end materials raised new requirements for dispersion and grinding processes and equipment. It was at this stage that we secured resources and support from industry veterans to kick off relevant R&D and industrialization work.” Photo: Yang Xiaoyan, General Manager of Guangdong Yifu Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. Looking back today, this strategic decision closely aligned with the development rhythm of China’s new materials industry. Fields such as new energy materials, electronic materials and fine chemicals keep raising standards for particle size, consistency, efficiency and energy consumption. The evaluation of grinding equipment has also shifted from “whether it can grind materials” to “whether it can grind materials stably, continuously and cost-effectively down to the target particle size”. Yang Xiaoyan summed up Yifu Intelligent’s understanding of "high-end grinding" concisely: “We mainly solve nano dispersion and grinding challenges under different material systems.” From her perspective, the value of grinding equipment should not be judged merely by the machinery itself. Instead, it should address the material problems that customers ultimately need to resolve, including fineness, particle size distribution, energy consumption, continuous stable operation and production line efficiency. Yifu Intelligent’s product portfolio covers vertical, horizontal, nano ceramic turbine, pin-type and other types of sand mills. Among them, the NCP series nano pin-type sand mills are available in specifications ranging from 6L to 1000L, applied in new energy materials such as lithium iron phosphate, lithium manganese iron phosphate, carbon nanotubes, graphene composite slurries, separator coating slurries and silicon-carbon composites. This means Yifu Intelligent’s "high-end grinding" is not a simple upgrade of standalone equipment, but the matching of machinery, processes and control systems tailored to diverse material systems. Competition in High-End Grinding Is Not Merely About "Bigger Size" It Is About Deeper Understanding of Materials Most sand mill manufacturers in the industry have long focused on standalone equipment sales. However, as downstream new materials industries move toward large-scale and continuous production, single machines can no longer satisfy the overall production line demands of leading enterprises. Yifu Intelligent has taken a more challenging route — transforming into a one-stop EPC service provider for grinding systems. “Standalone machines are relatively straightforward, while systems are far more complex. To adopt this model, we first need to understand our customers’ products and processes. EPC general contracting means full-chain delivery covering process design, equipment selection, production line integration, installation & commissioning, after-sales operation and maintenance,” Yang Xiaoyan pointed out the essential difference between the two business models. “Backed by our professional technical team and decades of accumulated industry experience, we are capable of developing and delivering complete customized solutions,” Yang Xiaoyan remarked. Up to now, Yifu Intelligent has served hundreds of leading enterprises, state-owned enterprises and listed companies. Its full range of sand mill products spans from laboratory-scale equipment to large-scale industrial production lines. Nevertheless, the EPC transformation did not happen overnight. Yang Xiaoyan candidly recalled the challenges in the early phase: “When we first started this business, insufficient experience, talent shortage, and incomplete understanding of some suppliers and supporting vendors brought about certain problems.” These issues spanned production line design, technological workflows, PID data submission, project coordination and construction, among other links. “But with continuous accumulation over time, we now have mature, professional solutions.” Such capability buildup stems from in-depth penetration into various segmented industries. New energy materials, fine chemicals, coatings & inks and electronic materials all have distinct requirements for grinding and dispersion. “We have customized products for each sector, offering a full spectrum of dispersion and grinding equipment, including sand mills of high, medium and low grades, diverse materials and structural types,” Yang Xiaoyan introduced. “Different material systems call for matching product designs and combinations. With over one or two decades of project experience, we are fully equipped to deliver services across all these market segments.” Production capacity support is equally critical. In Gucheng County, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, Yifu Intelligent operates a 104-mu modern manufacturing base. The base houses several production lines for high-end intelligent nano-material grinding equipment, with an annual output value of RMB 1 billion. It integrates an R&D center, intelligent manufacturing workshops, testing laboratories and an exhibition hall. From Domestic Substitution to Global Service How Does Yifu Intelligent Compete in the Next Phase? If domestic substitution for high-end grinding equipment was one of the core themes of the Chinese market over the past decade, Yifu Intelligent is now facing an expanded challenge: competing in the global marketplace. At present, Yifu Intelligent’s business network covers more than 30 countries and regions worldwide. It has set up subsidiaries in South Korea and India, as well as offices in markets including Japan and the United States. Since 2026, Yifu Intelligent’s overseas business in new energy materials has attracted continuous attention. Its equipment and processes are developed for lithium iron phosphate, silicon-based anodes, sodium-ion batteries, solid electrolytes and carbon materials. When talking about Chinese grinding equipment going global, Yang Xiaoyan does not regard price advantage as the core competitiveness. She believes overseas customers first evaluate whether an enterprise is professional and has long-term dedication to the industry, followed by the ability to deliver localized services. Price is not the sole decisive factor. This viewpoint reflects the shifting landscape for equipment enterprises expanding overseas. In the early stage, “selling equipment abroad” only solved the problem of market entry. To build a sustainable global market, companies must tackle installation & commissioning, spare parts supply, technical support and after-sales response. Especially when customers operate under different regulatory frameworks, engineering capabilities and material systems, simply replicating the domestic sales model will not work easily. Therefore, Yifu Intelligent has adopted a differentiated strategy: for markets with mature engineering capabilities and well-established material industries, the company mainly exports high-end standalone equipment. For markets with weaker local engineering design and project implementation capacity, it combines standalone machinery with systematic solutions tailored to different countries and industries. This also defines the company’s development priorities for the next stage. Yang Xiaoyan stated that over the next 3–5 years, Yifu Intelligent will continue to prioritize R&D. It will keep developing products for dispersion and grinding applicable to diverse material systems, expand its capacity for EPC systematic solutions, and further globalize its brand. “We hope to bring Yifu Intelligent’s brand and products to places around the world where there is genuine demand. We aim to let Yifu sand mills be seen globally and enable China’s new energy equipment to shine on the world stage.” Summary Since 1999, the industrial landscape for Yifu Intelligent has changed dramatically. Customers’ focus has shifted from equipment hardware itself to material processes and whole-line efficiency; the market has expanded from domestic applications to overseas new energy and new materials industrial chains. For equipment manufacturers, this means competition is no longer merely a contest over sand mill technical parameters. It has evolved into an all-round competition covering R&D, process technology, manufacturing, delivery and global service capabilities. Translating domestic experience in material processes into replicable solutions for global clients will be the key question Yifu Intelligent needs to address in its next chapter. From Yang Xiaoyan’s perspective, the company’s direction remains clear: keep developing products, stay deeply rooted in the grinding industry, and extend service coverage to more countries and regions. For China’s rapidly globalizing new energy materials sector, grinding equipment is just one link in the industrial chain. Yet the global success of such equipment also mirrors the journey of China’s new materials machinery — moving from domestic substitution toward worldwide competition.
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Sep 21, 2026
