耗時五年 中國終於研究出2.3毫米圓珠筆頭!

China's first batch of steel wires for making 2.3-mm ballpoint pen tips recently rolled off the production line of Taiyuan Iron And Steel (Group) Co., Ltd. (TISCO), marking a breakthrough in the domestic production of stainless steel balls for ballpoint pens.

近日，中國首批用於製作2.3毫米圓珠筆頭的鋼線從太原鋼鐵公司的生產線下線，這標誌着國內圓珠筆不鏽鋼珠生產的突破。

China, a country that produces 40 million pens each year and has more than 3,000 pen manufacturers, has long relied on imported core technologies — both for the stainless steel ball and its casing — from Japan, Germany and Switzerland.

中國擁有3000多家造筆廠、每年生產4000萬支筆，但是卻長期依賴從日本、德國和瑞士進口的核心科技--不鏽鋼珠和鋼珠外的鋼殼。

In the past, China has spent 120 million RMB ($17.3 million) annually on such materials.

過去，中國每年要花費1.2億人民幣（約合1730萬美元）在這些材料上。

Both the machines and raw materials needed to produce ballpoint pens require precise technology, which has challenged the industry for years.

無論是製造圓珠筆需要的機器還是原材料，都要求精確的技術，多年來這一直是擺在這一行業面前的難題。

According to Wang Jinhui, a senior engineer at TISCO, such manufacturing techniques were a core secret in the success of foreign manufacturing enterprises. As a result, China had to develop its own original technology without any guide.

據太原鋼鐵公司一名名叫王金輝的高級工程師表示，這類製造技術是外國製造企業成功的核心祕密。因此，中國不得不在沒有指導的情況下發展自己的原創技術。

Fortunately, after five years of trial and error, the development program, which started in 2011, finally achieved success.

幸運的是，經過五年的實驗和多次失敗之後，這一始於2011年的開發項目最終取得了成功。

The new product is currently being tested at the laborotary of BEIFA, a large stationary production group in China.

這項新產品目前正在中國一家大型固定生產組BEIFA的實驗室裏進行測試。

A number of enterprises have already adopted the new technology from TISCO, and it is expected to replace imported ballpoint pen tips in the next two years.

一大批企業已經從太原鋼鐵公司那裏採用了這項新技術，有望在未來兩年內代替進口圓珠筆頭。