ATPnovel Chapter 171 Talent Shortage, School-Enterprise Cooperation
Chapter 171 Talent Shortage, School-Enterprise Cooperation
Just after the Mid-Autumn Festival in 1982, the heat of Zhangcheng had not yet completely subsided, and the semi-automated production line of Chenqing Hardware Factory had been running smoothly for a month. That morning, as soon as Lin Chen entered the workshop, he was blocked in front of the control panel by technician Xiao Li. The young man looked obviously tired, and the bloodshot eyes were particularly noticeable.
"Director Lin, there was another problem with the third shift last night." Xiao Li pointed to several plowshare parts on the conveyor belt that had exceeded the size limit, his voice filled with barely concealed anxiety. "Old Zhang was watching for the first half of the night but couldn't hold on any longer. When I covered for him, I wasn't paying attention, and I didn't even notice that the parameters of the photoelectric sensor had gone astray. All of these dozen or so parts are now ruined."
Lin Chen picked up the scrap part and measured it with calipers. Although the 0.05-millimeter error was not serious, it was enough to put this batch of foreign trade orders at risk of being returned. He looked up at the three technicians next to the production line. Each of them had a tired look on their face. Since the production line went into operation, these three people had taken on the workload of ten people. Even with the three-shift system, the high-intensity focus of eight hours per shift was gradually making them feel exhausted.
"First, recalibrate the parameters. Register the scrapped parts and keep them for testing." Lin Chen patted Xiao Li on the shoulder, his gaze sweeping over the job posting on the workshop bulletin board. The posting, which had been up for half a month, only had two contact methods written crookedly below it, both for inexperienced apprentices.
In the office, Su Qing was frowning at the ledger. Seeing Lin Chen enter, she immediately pushed the report towards him: "This is last month's production accounting. Output did indeed triple, but the scrap rate has started to rebound in the past week, and labor costs are 15% higher than estimated." She circled a series of numbers in red pen, "The main problem is the excessively high overtime pay. The overtime pay for each of the three technicians is almost equal to their basic salary every month. If this continues, profits will be severely diluted."
Lin Chen tapped his fingertips on the table, the scene in the workshop last night flashing through his mind: Uncle Wang was leading two young technicians to debug the newly arrived sensors, unable to understand the foreign language manuals, they could only figure it out bit by bit by referring to the blueprints; Old Chen, in charge of quality inspection, had red and swollen eyes from staying up all night, and almost missed inspecting defective products several times. The semi-automated production line was like a precision machine, but without enough skilled workers to operate it, even the best equipment could not reach its maximum efficiency.
"If the usual recruitment channels aren't working, we need to try a different approach." Lin Chen got up and walked to the window, gazing in the direction of Zhangcheng Vocational Technical School not far away. His eyes suddenly lit up. "Su Qing, do you remember that vocational school we passed by on our way to the tax bureau last time? They have a mechanical processing major; maybe they can help us solve our talent problem."
Su Qing followed his gaze and quickly realized, "You want to cooperate with the school to train skilled workers? But we are a private factory. Vocational schools usually cooperate with state-owned enterprises to train workers. Would you be willing to cooperate with us?" In Zhangcheng in 1982, private enterprises were still considered "individual businesses" by many people. It was indeed a bit of a pipe dream to want to cooperate with a public vocational school.
Lin Chen, however, was confident: "State-owned enterprises offer fixed salaries, but we can offer more flexible terms. We'll cover the tuition, provide a basic salary during the internship, and offer direct employment after graduation, along with a settling-in allowance. For the school, this solves the students' employment problem; for the students, they don't have to worry about tuition and have stable jobs—it's a win-win-win situation."
That afternoon, Lin Chen changed into his only Zhongshan suit, and Su Qing also tidied her hair. The two, carrying carefully prepared documents—copies of the factory's business license, foreign trade orders, and photos of the semi-automated production line—headed straight to Zhangcheng Vocational Technical School. In the principal's office, the elderly principal, Zhou Mingyuan, wearing reading glasses, hesitated as he flipped through the documents.
"Director Lin, Accountant Su, it's not that I don't trust you," Principal Zhou put down the documents and sighed. "Every year, our vocational school's mechanical engineering graduates are pre-booked by the county's machine tool factory and agricultural machinery station. We've never cooperated with private enterprises. If a student goes to your factory and something goes wrong, I won't be able to explain it to the parents."
Lin Chen had anticipated such concerns. He took out a draft agreement he had prepared in advance and pointed to several clauses, saying, "Principal Zhou, please look at these clauses: First, we will sign a formal agreement with each student, clearly defining their treatment during the three-year training period and the employment standards after graduation, which will be notarized by a notary public; second, we will be responsible for the students' safety during the internship, purchasing work injury insurance and arranging one-on-one guidance from experienced technicians; third, we will donate a batch of teaching equipment to the school every year, and this year we will donate five precision calipers and two small bench drills."
Su Qing added at the opportune moment, "Principal Zhou, our factory's semi-automated production line has reached the precision level of imported equipment from West Germany. Students who intern here will have access to the most advanced technologies, which is far more beneficial for developing their skills than doing repetitive labor in a state-owned factory. Moreover, we promise that graduates' starting salaries will be 20% higher than those in state-owned factories, and we also provide room and board."
Principal Zhou's gaze fell on the photos of the production line. The brand-new machine tools and tidy workshop in the photos moved him. He had been engaged in vocational education for twenty years, always wanting his students to learn real skills, but the outdated equipment in the state-owned enterprise was no longer keeping pace with technological advancements. After a long silence, he suddenly stood up: "Director Lin, I'll go with you to the factory. If it's really as well-organized as in the photos, I'll agree to cooperate."
When Principal Zhou and Mr. Li, the head teacher of the mechanical engineering class, entered Chenqing Hardware Factory, they arrived just in time for a shift change on the production line. Uncle Wang was explaining the debugging techniques of photoelectric sensors to two technicians. He held a simple diagram drawn by Lin Chen, converting complex parameters into the colloquial term "distinguishing the status by looking at the lights." The young technicians listened attentively, nodding frequently. The workshop floor was clean and tidy, with waste and finished products sorted and arranged. The "Technical Operating Procedures" hanging on the wall were neatly written, completely unlike the "small workshop" image one might have had.
"This is a modified West German CK6140 lathe, with an accuracy of 0.01 millimeters," Lin Chen said, pointing to the operating production line. "After the students arrive, they will first observe and learn in the workshop for a month, and then be taught by experienced technicians, starting with simple parts inspection and gradually getting to know how to operate the equipment. We have also prepared a special training classroom, and theoretical classes are arranged in the evenings."
Teacher Li squatted beside the production line, carefully observing the processing of the parts. When he saw the conveyor belt automatically delivering the blanks to the designated positions and the machine tools precisely cutting them, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Principal Zhou, this equipment is much more advanced than the teaching machine tools in our school. Students can practice here, and their skills will definitely improve by leaps and bounds."
Principal Zhou didn't speak. He walked to the quality inspection table, picked up a finished plowshare part, measured it with his own calipers, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face. He turned and shook Lin Chen's hand: "Director Lin, I trust you! Let's sign the cooperation agreement tomorrow. There's a batch of new students in the mechanical engineering class, so let's select thirty from them to form a 'Hardware Processing Specialized Class'."
News of the cooperation agreement quickly spread throughout the school, and the number of applicants far exceeded expectations. Ultimately, through theoretical exams and practical skills tests, thirty fifteen- and sixteen-year-old teenagers stood out and became the first batch of students in the specialized class. On the first day of school, a simple opening ceremony stage was temporarily set up in the workshop of Chenqing Hardware Factory. Lin Chen, as the company representative, spoke, and looking at the energetic faces below the stage, he recalled his own days as an apprentice in the steel rolling mill.
"I know some of you feel that working in a state-owned factory is more respectable than working in a private one," Lin Chen said firmly. "But I want to tell you, respectability isn't given by the type of workplace, it's earned through your skills. In our factory, as long as you have excellent skills, you can earn a high salary, become a key technical member, and even a research and development leader in the future."
After the opening ceremony, Lin Chen divided the thirty students into five groups, with each group led by a veteran technician. Uncle Wang was appointed as the head instructor, and he specially dug out the forging manual that Lin Chen had written years ago to supplement the teaching materials. Lin Chen, on the other hand, personally compiled theoretical textbooks, transforming the technical knowledge in the system into easy-to-understand content, explaining each knowledge point with actual cases from the workshop, from the properties of metallic materials to the basic principles of machine tools.
The teaching process was not without its challenges. During the first week of theoretical classes, a student raised a question: "Director Lin, the heat treatment process you're describing is different from what's in the textbook. Is it wrong?" Whispers immediately filled the classroom, and many students took out their textbooks to compare, their faces full of doubt.
Lin Chen wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled and took out a scrapped gear: "Look at this gear, everyone. The textbook says the process is oil quenching, which can achieve a hardness of HRC45. But the chromium-molybdenum alloy we use in our factory can't meet the requirements with that process." He led the students to the forging area and demonstrated the water quenching and oil cooling process on site. When the hardness tester showed HRC59, all the students were stunned.
"The knowledge in textbooks is fundamental, but in actual production, you need to adjust flexibly according to the materials and product requirements." Lin Chen handed the hardness tester to the student who raised the question. "This is the advantage of our specialized class; you can learn practical skills that aren't in textbooks."
The practical training encountered even more problems. A student named Chen Lei was so nervous during his first time operating a lathe that his hands trembled, and he almost broke the cutting tool. Standing to the side, his face flushed and eyes red, he said, "Uncle Wang, am I too stupid? Am I just not cut out for technical work?"
Uncle Wang patted him on the shoulder and showed him the gears he had scrapped during forging years ago: "When I first learned forging, I scrapped more than fifty gears in three months, much worse than yours. Come on, let me teach you again. Hold the handle firmly with your left hand, keep your eyes on the contact point between the blade tip and the workpiece, and take it slow."
Lin Chen also gave Chen Lei special tutoring, using the system to draw a simplified operation flowchart, breaking down the complex operation steps into four steps: "power-on inspection, workpiece clamping, parameter setting, and machining start". Chen Lei practiced repeatedly according to the flowchart, and a week later he finally successfully processed the first qualified part. He ran to Lin Chen with the part, so excited that he couldn't speak.
Su Qing was responsible for the students' living arrangements and salary calculations. She discovered that several students came from impoverished families and didn't even have decent work clothes. She immediately discussed with Lin Chen and had two sets of work clothes and a pair of safety shoes made for each student. When distributing internship wages, she made sure to make the payslips detailed and clear, listing the basic salary, performance bonus, and meal allowance clearly. She also spoke individually with students from impoverished families, telling them that they could receive an advance on their wages if they had any difficulties.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye, and the students in the specialized class were already proficient in processing simple parts. One day, leaders from the county education bureau suddenly came to the school for an inspection. When they heard that the vocational school was cooperating with a private enterprise to run the specialized class, they initially disapproved: "Principal Zhou, it won't look good if word gets out that our public vocational school is cooperating with a private enterprise."
Principal Zhou, however, was confident and led the leaders to Chenqing Hardware Factory. Inside the workshop, several students were adjusting sensors under Uncle Wang's guidance. Chen Lei skillfully operated the control panel, adjusting cutting parameters. On the nearby quality inspection table, the parts they had processed were neatly arranged. Lin Chen took out the students' skill assessment forms. Within three months, the students' parts qualification rate had increased from the initial 40% to 90%, far exceeding that of apprentices in state-owned factories during the same period.
"Boss, look at these students. They can operate semi-automatic equipment independently in just three months. This was unthinkable before," Lin Chen said, handing over a statistical report. "Moreover, our cooperation model has solved the employment problem for vocational schools, alleviated the talent shortage for enterprises, and, more importantly, enabled these children to learn real skills."
While reviewing performance evaluation forms, the education bureau leader happened to see Chen Lei finish processing a batch of parts. Upon learning that this child, who once couldn't even hold a cutting tool properly, could now precisely process parts with an error of no more than 0.03 millimeters, he couldn't help but nod in praise. Before leaving, the leader shook Lin Chen's hand and said, "Director Lin, your cooperation model is excellent and very innovative. We plan to use it as a model and promote it throughout the county's vocational schools."
After the news spread, other private enterprises in Zhangcheng approached Chenqing Hardware Factory, eager to learn from its cooperative model. Lin Chen generously shared the cooperation agreement template and teaching plan with everyone, and even organized experienced technicians to train instructors for other companies. Su Qing spearheaded the establishment of a "School-Enterprise Cooperation Alliance," formulating unified apprenticeship training standards to benefit more enterprises and schools.
Six months later, the students in the specialized training program faced their first real-world test—Mr. Chen from Hong Kong placed an urgent order for 5,000 high-precision bearing parts to be delivered within a month. The precision requirements for these parts were higher than ever before, so Lin Chen decided to involve the students in the processing, with experienced technicians overseeing the quality control.
Inside the workshop, thirty students were divided into five groups, working methodically on the processing. Chen Lei's group was responsible for the most crucial grinding process. Holding his modified grinding tool, he focused intently on grinding the inner ring of the bearing. This tool, which he modified using scrap steel and grinding wheels based on the principles explained by Lin Chen, greatly improved the grinding precision.
When the goods were delivered at the end of the month, Boss Chen personally came to inspect them. When he saw that the pass rate for these parts was 98%, and that half of them were processed by apprentices, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Manager Lin, your talent development model is amazing! I've been doing business in Hong Kong for so many years, and I've never seen such skilled apprentices."
Holding the parts he had processed, Chen Lei mustered his courage and said to Boss Chen, "Boss Chen, we've also improved our polishing process, which can shorten processing time by 20%. Next time you place an order, we can deliver faster." Boss Chen looked at the young apprentice in surprise and immediately decided to increase his order for Chenqing Hardware Factory by 30%, and also promised to introduce customers from Southeast Asia.
That evening, Lin Chen and Su Qing held a small celebration on the workshop terrace. Under the moonlight, thirty students held up the parts they had processed, their faces full of pride. Uncle Wang, holding a cup of rice wine, walked up to Lin Chen: "Director Lin, when you first said you wanted to set up a factory, I was worried about not having enough workers. Now it seems you've thought long ahead."
Lin Chen looked at the young man before him, then at Su Qing beside him, his heart filled with emotion. He raised his glass: "Our factory's success today isn't due to me alone, but to the efforts of everyone, and especially the vitality of these young people. Technology must be passed down, and talent must be cultivated; these are the true foundations of Chenqing Hardware Factory."
Su Qing added with a smile, "Next month, the county vocational school will award us a plaque calling us a 'School-Enterprise Cooperation Demonstration Base.' And I heard that the regional industrial bureau has also taken notice of us and might try to secure special funding for us to expand our R&D center."
A gentle evening breeze rustled through the workshop roof, carrying the soft hum of machine tools. Lin Chen knew that industry-university cooperation was only the first step in talent development; as the factory grew, it would require even more advanced technical personnel. Looking at the distant lights, he already had a new plan in mind—the next step was to collaborate with the regional industrial university to establish a research and development base and cultivate more specialized technical R&D talent.
After the celebration, Chen Lei stayed behind to organize the tools. He carefully placed the textbook compiled by Lin Chen into his bag, on the cover of which was written his own motto: "Establish yourself with technology, live up to your youth." This is not only his motto, but also the belief of all the young people at Chenqing Hardware Factory, and the original aspiration that Lin Chen and Su Qing have upheld. In this wave of reform and opening up, they used technology and integrity to not only support a factory, but also to support the future of a group of young people.