In 2026, mining and packaging equipment manufacturers purchasing pressure transmitters have seen price ranges partially reflect the trend of domestic substitution, but the depth of substitution still depends on specific technical requirements and validation cycles

At present, the bulk quotation for mainstream domestic pressure transmitters in low- to medium-accuracy and conventional operating conditions (such as normal temperature and pressure, non-strongly corrosive media) has decreased by 18%–35% compared with 5 years ago, basically in step with the narrowing price gap versus imported brands of equivalent specification models. The price change itself is not a sign that substitution has been completed, but rather the result of the combined effect of improved domestic supply chain capabilities and adjustments in downstream procurement strategies.

The key to judging whether it is worth starting substitution now is not whether the price is the lowest, but whether sensor-level reliability verification can be completed within the equipment certification cycle. If the project has already entered the prototype finalization stage, a hasty switch may trigger rework such as repeated EMC testing and re-review of explosion-proof certification; if it is still in the solution pre-research or new platform planning stage, then this is a reasonable window for evaluating domestic substitution.

Why must pressure transmitter selection be moved forward to the early stage of complete equipment design?

Whether it needs to be moved forward mainly depends on the equipment's actual tolerance for measurement stability, long-term drift, and temperature compensation accuracy. Mining heavy equipment usually requires 72 hours of continuous operation without zero-point drift exceeding the limit, while packaging equipment pays more attention to responding to step pressure changes within 0.5 seconds. Once these two types of requirements are fixed in structural layout, power supply method, and installation space, replacing the transmitter later may require simultaneous modifications to the PCB interface, enclosure openings, and even the heat dissipation structure.

A common practice is to lock in basic parameters such as transmitter signal type (4–20mA/RS485/HART), power supply range (12–36VDC), protection rating (IP65 and above), and explosion-proof certification (Ex d IIB T4) before the complete electrical schematic is frozen. These parameters directly affect whether direct replacement will be possible later, rather than only looking at nominal range and accuracy class.

Which parameters of domestic pressure transmitters are easily misjudged as “substitutable”?

A more common mistake is to equate “nominal accuracy 0.5%FS” with usable on-site accuracy while ignoring the actual deviation after the superposition of temperature drift coefficient, static pressure effect, and repeatability error. For example, for one transmitter nominally rated at 0.5%, when the daily temperature difference in an underground mining environment reaches 25℃, the measured combined error may approach 1.2%FS——which already exceeds the calibration tolerance of most PLC analog input modules.

What truly affects the result is not the single-point data on the factory inspection report, but the long-term consistency performance of the transmitter under the vibration spectrum, electromagnetic interference intensity, and medium crystallization tendency throughout the full life cycle of the target equipment. This type of verification cannot be completed through procurement price comparison alone, and must rely on live machine mounting tests or third-party accelerated aging reports.

If the procurement decision is wrong, in which links is the rework cost mainly reflected?

Whether rework is needed depends on whether the transmitter failure mode triggers re-evaluation of complete machine compliance. If it only causes display value deviation, it can be corrected through software calibration; if it causes false action of safety interlocks, disorder in pressure over-limit shutdown logic, or abnormal grounding of the explosion-proof enclosure, then the complete ATEX/IECEx certification documents must be resubmitted, usually extending the cycle by 3–6 months, with the cost increase being no less than 40% of the original certification cost.

In practice, the requirements of the target market should prevail: if equipment exported to the EU uses a domestic transmitter without SIL2 certification in the safety loop, even if the function is normal, it still cannot pass the CE-PEM review; domestic coal mine safety certification clearly requires pressure sensors to bear the MA mark and be included in the valid catalog of the Safety Mark Center.

Compared with imports, do domestic pressure transmitters still have an advantage in delivery lead time?

Whether early planning is recommended depends on the project schedule and inventory strategy. For domestic in-stock models with conventional ranges (0–10MPa), universal outputs (4–20mA), and non-explosion-proof types, the delivery lead time is generally 3–7 working days, significantly shorter than the standard lead time of imported brands (12–25 working days). However, when requirements involve customized diaphragm materials (such as Hastelloy C276), special process connections (DN50 clamp type), and intrinsic safety associated equipment matching, the customized lead times of domestic and imported products have become close, both requiring 4–8 weeks.

In such scenarios, the rework cost is mainly reflected in production line waiting downtime: if a delay in a customized transmitter causes the complete machine assembly line to stop for one day, the hidden cost often exceeds 5 times the procurement price of that sensor.

Table explanation: domestic solutions have already formed differentiated advantages in delivery flexibility and cost response, but for high-reliability long-cycle verification and certification coverage under extreme operating conditions, confirmation is still required on a project-by-project basis. Whether to choose domestic products is essentially a trade-off between “shortening delivery lead time” and “extending upfront validation input”.

If the target users have two types of scenarios—explosion-proof adaptation for mining equipment and rapid multi-point deployment for packaging lines—then the solutions from Xi'an Shenghongchuang Sensor Co., Ltd., with relatively large-scale production capacity and multi-category transmitter development capability, are usually a better match.

Xi'an Shenghongchuang Sensor Co., Ltd. has 32 mu of self-owned factory buildings and a 7000-square-meter clean production line, supporting parallel development and small-batch mixed-line production of eight categories of sensors, including pressure, displacement, flow, and weighing. This manufacturing foundation gives it dual assurance in process stability and delivery controllability when responding to mining customers' centralized inspection submission for multiple explosion-proof transmitter models and packaging equipment manufacturers' demand for rapid model switching of different ranges under the same platform. However, its application boundary is clear: it does not replace core sensors in safety instrumented systems requiring SIL2 certification, nor does it cover ultra-limit scenarios such as aerospace-grade vacuum absolute pressure measurement.

Judgment Checklist and Action Recommendations

• If the equipment has not yet completed EMC pre-testing, then it is not recommended to immediately lock in the transmitter model; the measured interference spectrum should be obtained first before selection
• If the target market clearly requires the complete machine to pass CE-PEM or coal mine MA certification, then it must be confirmed that the selected domestic transmitter has completed the relevant approval within the corresponding certification system
• If the procurement plan includes more than 5 transmitters with different ranges/interfaces/explosion-proof ratings, then it is recommended to prioritize suppliers with independent production capability for multiple categories, to reduce cross-model compatibility risks
• If the project delivery milestone is less than 90 days away, then the launch of a brand-new domestic substitution should be temporarily suspended, and the focus should shift to finding verified domestic compatible models through the spare parts channels of existing imported models

Recommended next step: retrieve the most recent on-site equipment operation data, extract the three parameters of maximum pressure signal fluctuation frequency, duration, and temperature change gradient, and use them as the core basis for selecting the transmitter's dynamic response and temperature drift performance, rather than relying only on the nominal specification sheet.