1 Introduction
National quality infrastructure (NQI) is the cornerstone of national development and public well-being and embodiment of comprehensive national strength and international competitiveness
[1]. The foundation of quality infrastructure includes three elements, assessment, characterization, and standards, which correspond to the three core elements of NQI. Mutual integration of these elements can produce a comprehensive effect on economic development, reflecting the fundamental and supporting role of industrial development [2,3]. Advanced basic materials, cutting-edge new materials, and key strategic materials play an important supporting role in the development of emerging industries, while the development of the material industry requires NQI foundations such as standards, characterization, and assessment. With the accelerated integration of new materials and advanced technologies related to information, energy, and biology, new technologies and models such as Internet Plus, Materials Genome Initiative, and additive manufacturing are flourishing. The increase in the variety and supply of materials has led to new requirements for quality infrastructure.
Quality infrastructure is the general term that refers to the quality management framework for establishing and implementing standards, inspection and testing, certification, and accreditation based on the requirements of industrial quality development. The application of NQI in the industrial field provides standards, inspections, and certifications for the industrial value chain service
[4]. Quality infrastructure plays a key role in supporting industrial development. Countries worldwide have improved their management structure for industrial quality infrastructure
[5]; increased investment in scientific research; and improved laws and regulations to support the development of quality infrastructure
[6], optimize the technical support role of the NQI on which the business environment relies
[7], and promote synergy among various factors
[8]. The quality infrastructure in China has yield positive initial results
[9]. However, with regard to the development trend of the new material industry in China, the quality infrastructure remains underdeveloped in terms of overall construction level and core technology innovation capabilities in key areas and internationalization. Problems such as incompatibility of the industrial demand with the quality infrastructure also exist
[4]. For example, in terms of energy conservation and emission reduction, 44 mandatory performance efficiency standards and 27 mandatory energy consumption limits were issued; this raised the barrier for market entry and encouraged a large number of companies, including those in the new material industry, to accelerate technological research and development and product innovation. This can lead to a significant improvement in the level of industrial technology. Inspection, testing, and certification agencies can start to assess the entire lifecycle of products, covering product design and development, process management, finished product testing, and marketing, and can enable the development of new material companies and industrial technology innovation.
3.3 Continuous expansion of the internationalization of assessment, characterization, and standards
In the field of standardization, China has become a permanent member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Moreover, Chinese experts have been elected as the ISO Chairman, IEC Vice-Chairman, and Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union. In addition, 310 international standard proposals have been submitted, and 147 have been officially released. Through previous efforts, breakthroughs have been achieved in the development of international standards in the fields of high-end equipment manufacturing, fourth-generation mobile communications, and digital television, which has helped Chinese equipment to be exported worldwide.
In the field of inspection and testing, the establishment and application of methods and standards, such as special equipment material testing, structural analysis, inspection and evaluation methods, instruments and equipment, and regulations and standards, have ensured continuous improvement in inspection and testing capabilities. The product provided a good foundation for the recognition of international users.
In the field of certification and accreditation, numerous internationally leading certification and accreditation systems have been created. A part of the testing proficiency testing plan of the Asia-Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation Organization (32%) has been undertaken, which reflects the basic status of the proficiency testing field, conducive to the globalization of the new material industry and products.
4 Problems with quality infrastructure development in the new material industry
4.1 Insufficient overall construction level
In terms of standards, a single material category lacks a unified material standard. The coexistence of multiple standards at different levels makes multiple versions and standards parallel in practical applications. In addition, there are overlaps and contradictions in the technical elements between different versions and different levels of material standards. This jeopardizes the production and management of materials. Moreover, research and test verification are insufficient for international and foreign standards; this leads to passive adoption and inhibits independent formulation of standards.
In terms of characterization, with the insufficient matching between institutional and industrial layouts, unbalanced spatial layouts, and lack of interinstitutional linkage and cooperation mechanisms, it is difficult to create synergy among diverse technologies and disciplines. The core testing technologies with independent intellectual property rights are weak and high-quality brands are lacking for external services. For some emerging industries related to new materials, there is a severe lack of comprehensive inspection and testing institutions. In addition, state-owned inspection and testing institutions have insufficient motivation, a weak foundation, and inadequate ability to participate in market competition.
In terms of evaluation, material standards are still mainly based on product standards and test method standards. The lack of relevant product evaluation standards, process evaluation standards, and evaluation implementation standards has led to insufficient material evaluation systems. In addition, the evaluation and certification of materials primarily follow existing certification systems and evaluation standards outside China.
4.2 Insufficient core technology innovation capabilities in key areas
The rate of technological innovation considerably exceeds the rate at which traditional organizations can formulate standards. In addition, the transformation of the new material industry is resulting in increasingly stringent requirements for the adaptability and timeliness of standards. However, the ability of China to formulate new standards in the field of materials is insufficient. The development of standards lags behind the development of materials, and standard updates cannot be synchronized with the development of new materials. Most of the published standards are basic and depend on chemical analysis, which leads to the lack of preresearch momentum for new material standards; the speed of standard formulation and revision of most new materials cannot follow the speed of product development.
In China, existing inspection and testing service capabilities cannot satisfy the overall requirements of the new material industry. For example, the shipbuilding industry has not yet established a complete data resource-sharing platform and lacks effective statistical methods and virtual simulation capabilities; this has led to a lack of ballast tanks, special functional coatings, nonmetallic materials, fouling protection materials, and other online monitoring and testing technologies and evaluation methods. In the field of aviation materials, although the existing characterization technology are adequate, efforts for exploring cutting-edge material detection and characterization technology remain insufficient.
4.3 Incompatible internationalization process considering industry needs
Outside China, general assessment, characterization, and standards promotes as well as restricts each other. Income is generated from assessment and characterization. The income from certification and testing is then invested to improve the level of standards. In China, standards, certification, and testing institutions are independent, which hinders the acquisition of funds for standard research; this considerably restricts research on standards. The division of administrative departments has also hindered smooth information exchange. Thus, it is not possible to combine the respective advantages of assessment, characterization, and standards.
The standards, certification, and testing of the new material industry suffer from the same problem, i.e., the “three-in-one” model is difficult to implement. The standards system in China is not recognized in several countries worldwide; this increases the cost of international trade and is not conducive to international competition for new material products. The level of inspection and testing technologies and service capabilities cannot satisfy the requirements of internationalization. In addition, the certification and accreditation agencies do not support the globalization of Chinese products, which affects the international competitiveness of these products.
5 New material evaluation, characterization, standard platform construction plan
5.1 Target of platform construction
We should improve its quality of evaluation, characterization, and standards, enable coordination and interaction between different elements, and build an advanced, coordinated, and linked platform for new material evaluation, test characterization, and standards. It should also focus on building an independent evaluation– characterization–standard interaction mechanism that is organically related to the quality infrastructure. Such a system should adapt to the development and production of new materials and should enable “one material for multiple uses, one use for multiple selection” applications to support the development of the China’s new material industry.
5.1.1 Assessment platform
China should establish a unified evaluation platform to summarize various evaluation and certification resources, particularly professional material resources, such as implementation areas, agencies, agency capabilities, systems, projects, and laboratory capabilities for evaluation and certification. We should verify comparison data and collect, organize, and structure data resources to provide users with value-added services, such as agency recommendation and consulting. Through capacity comparison, historical evaluation, and implementation analysis for certification projects, we can identify the shortcomings of evaluation institutions and promote improvements in evaluation capabilities. We should also determine evaluation and certification requirements, undertake new evaluation and certification projects in a timely manner, improve evaluation capabilities, and match the platform with new material evaluation and certification requirements.
5.1.2 Characterization platform
We should establish a unified test characterization platform, collect scattered and unbalanced test characterization resources, and focus on unified coordination to realize efficient and optimized use of test characterization resources to ensure the development of the new material industry. We should collect information about the testing capabilities, service areas, equipment capabilities, and personnel skills of inspection and testing institutions to support the unified coordination and efficient use of national inspection and testing resources. We should establish a certain minimum threshold for technical ability, improve the technical certification ability of warehousing inspection and testing agencies, promote standardized operation of such agencies, improve the reliability of test results, and provide reliable data for evaluation and certification.
5.1.3 Standard platform
We should collect information on international standards, national standards, industry standards, group standards, corporate standards, measurement procedures, and general methods in the field of and build a multi-party, efficient, and integrated resource database for material standards. For fragmentation classification of the material standard database, the corresponding dimensions include materials and test expertise, material types, test methods, chemical composition, mechanical properties, and service performance. In response to the different reasons for database use, a material database sharing the service ecosystem should be created to provide industry users with professional standard data services such as standard information query, standard comparison, material performance query, and material selection. We should devote attention to the missing elements in the standard system, perform targeted formulation of new standards, continue to improve the standard system, and satisfy the dynamic development needs of the new material industry.
5.2 Key tasks in platform construction
5.2.1 Construction and improvement of basic platform elements
We should optimize the standard system and supply structure of the new material industry for future material technologies and to adapt to the rapid changes in the industry. Considering the different characteristics of advanced basic materials, key strategic materials, and cutting-edge new materials, we should accelerate the establishment of a standard system that supports the upgrading of advanced basic materials, provides a guarantee for key strategic materials, and presents the layout for cutting-edge new material standards. We should optimize the standard supply structure and actively develop group standards in accordance with new material technology.
We should also establish a maturity classification system and quality evaluation system for new material technology. In view of the construction goal of China’s material and test evaluation standard system, starting from the application dimension, the standardization of material performance indicators, characterization methods, and evaluation will be conducted. Focusing on the requirements for the quality control of the entire production process and the full lifecycle of materials, a new material quality evaluation standard system has been established to ensure product quality compliance, production process stability, and service performance applicability. We should promote performance compliance, production stability, service applicability, and reliability evaluation of test results for the new material industry.
5.2.2 Mechanism construction and improvement
We should establish a mechanism to coordinate the formulation of new material standards with technological innovation and industrial development and promote the development of technology, standards, and industries in an integrated manner. List standardization is one of the assessment and acceptance indicators for key projects in the new material industry. For key research and development materials, pilot and innovative technical standards should be developed to promote the transformation and application of innovative results in pilot demonstrations. Relying on key enterprises, colleges, universities, and industrial clusters, we should build a base for national technological standard innovation for the new material industry.
We should also establish a coordination and interaction mechanism to provide a solid quality technology infrastructure for the development of the new material industry. We should promote research on the transmission mechanism between the elements of the quality technology infrastructure and provide a one-stop service for “Measurement–Standard–Inspection and Testing–Certification and Accreditation.” We should ensure in-depth integration of standards, metrology, certification and accreditation, and inspection and testing to enhance quality, improve services, and establish trustable quality. Thus, high-standard and high-quality production and services will ensure market recognition and competitiveness.
We should also innovate the standard formulation mechanism for new materials. We should use platform big data to establish a standard library of new materials and build a new material index database suitable for Chinese conditions. We should formulate new standards, such as technical documents and database standards, while focusing on the technical adaptability of the standards. Material genome engineering methods are used to promote the standardization of high-throughput material calculation and design as well as high-throughput material preparation and characterization. We should build a new standard demonstration platform for material genome technology, explore and formulate theoretical standards in the gene map, and guide the creation of new materials.
6 Suggestions
6.1 Strengthening top-level design of quality infrastructure
We should formulate a development strategy for quality infrastructure, strengthen the top-level design, and exert a synergistic effect of government agencies, enterprises, and scientific research institutions. By combining the country’s major strategic deployments and industrial development needs, the layout of quality infrastructure should be optimized to provide collaborative, efficient, and systematic integrated support for quality infrastructure. We should strengthen the supervision and evaluation of quality and technology and establish a linking mechanism between standardization, scientific research, and industrialization. We should encourage standardization agencies to provide consultations and support services for national scientific research and industrialization projects, covering the project establishment, implementation, promotion and application, and pilot demonstration stages. The reliance on standardization will promote rapid industrialization and synergy between scientific research, standardization, and industrialization.
6.2 Consolidating quality infrastructure and implementing one-stop service
We should enhance public awareness regarding quality infrastructure and create a social environment that supports the implementation of quality infrastructure. We should conduct special training through higher education to provide a standardized education system for the entire society. We should improve the training of quality professionals and explore the establishment of a joint education system for institutions of higher learning, vocational schools, scientific research institutions, and enterprises to provide high-quality intellectual resources for measurement, standards, certification, and inspection. We should accelerate the research on key and frontier technologies related to quality, improve the quality of technical support systems, and implement key special projects on the basis of quality. In line with the development needs of the new material industry, we will implement an assessment–characterization–standard one-stop service model and ensure comprehensive service for the entire chain of standards–measurement–testing–certification as soon as possible.
6.3 Developing certification, testing, and standard brands
In the field of professional certification of new materials, the focus is on the construction of a quality certification evaluation system. Pilot demonstration work should be conducted to construct a quality certification and evaluation system for key new materials and establish an international and professional quality certification and evaluation agency. The national new material testing and evaluation platform, in view of the development needs and particularities of the new material industry, can enable organization of existing testing resources, research on testing methods, optimization of testing capabilities, availability of credible data support, and establishment of an internationally renowned testing brand. We should focus on promoting the construction of group standards and fostering the establishment of group standardization organizations that satisfy the development needs of the new material industry. We should use methods such as group standard good practice evaluation and training programs to accelerate the internationalization of the group standardization organizations.
6.4 Encourage government agencies to adopt platform certification evaluation and inspection results
We should strengthen the coordination and overall planning, fully utilize existing resources and incremental investment in the new material industry, accelerate the construction of a new material evaluation–characterization– standards platform, and incorporate it into the government information platform. The evaluation–characterization– standards platform will provide comprehensive and accurate data retrieval and consultation services, evaluation and testing services for relevant scientific research institutions, production enterprises, and user units, and will encourage government agencies to adopt the platform’s evaluation and test results. We should promote the branding of the evaluation–characterization–standard platform, guide evaluation and test results of the market recognition and approving platform, focus social attention on the platform, increase the business traffic in the platform, and accelerate the growth of the platform.
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