Knowledge Empowers, Innovation Drives—Pengfei’s “Three‑Type” Industrial Workforce Development Yields Significant Results

Release Date:

2023-11-04

On October 29, the fourth Lüliang Vocational Skills Competition, jointly hosted by the Lüliang Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Education Bureau, the Finance Bureau, the Trade Union Federation, and the Municipal Communist Youth League Committee, came to a close. A total of 1,230 contestants from 13 counties (cities, districts) across the city, along with teams representing municipal government departments, competed on the same stage. Representatives from Pengfei Industrial Group achieved outstanding results: Shang Yangjian, an employee of the Methanol-to-Hydrogen Heat Source Plant, and Zhao Luyu, an employee of the Pengfei Guobin Hotel, took first and second place, respectively, in the industrial control and hotel reception events. They were also awarded the honorary titles of “Lüliang Technical Champion” and “Lüliang Technical Expert,” conferred by the Lüliang Municipal Labor Competition Committee.

In the golden autumn of October, it is the season of harvest.

On October 29, the fourth Lüliang Vocational Skills Competition, jointly hosted by the Lüliang Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Education Bureau, the Finance Bureau, the Trade Union Federation, and the Municipal Communist Youth League Committee, came to a close. A total of 1,230 contestants from 13 counties (cities, districts) across the city, along with teams representing municipal departments, competed on the same stage. Representatives from Pengfei Industrial Group achieved outstanding results: Shang Yangjian, an employee of the Methanol-to-Hydrogen Heat Source Plant, and Zhao Luyu, an employee of the Pengfei Guobin Hotel, took first and second place, respectively, in the industrial control and hotel reception events. They were also awarded the honorary titles of “Lüliang Technical Champion” and “Lüliang Technical Expert,” conferred by the Lüliang Municipal Labor Competition Committee.

— Recently, the “Notice on the Results of the 2023 Provincial ‘Five Small’ Innovation Competition” was issued. Shanxi Pengfei Group and Pengfei Qinhé Houcun Coal Mine were recognized as outstanding units in the 2023 Shanxi Province “Five Small” Innovation Competition; two of Pengfei Qinhé’s entries, including “An Automatic Belt Alignment Device,” were awarded second prize, while six others, such as “An Alarm Device for the Explosion‑Proof Cover of the Main Ventilator,” received third prize.

From October 31 to November 2, at the 2023 Shanxi Province “Five Small” Innovation Competition Outstanding Achievements Exhibition—hosted by the Shanxi Provincial Federation of Trade Unions, the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Youth League, and the Shanxi Provincial Association for Science and Technology—Pengfei Group showcased nine innovative projects, including the “Container Automatic Coke‑Leveling Device,” the “Gantry Hydraulic Press,” and the “Explosion‑Proof Cover Alarm System for Main Fans,” which were prominently displayed in the Lüliang and Jincheng exhibition areas. Among them, the Pengfei Coking Plant’s “Container Automatic Coke‑Leveling Device” drew widespread attention as a highlight of this year’s exhibit. According to reports, the project is currently in the trial‑operation phase, expected to cut labor costs by more than RMB 6 million annually while significantly reducing safety risks for workers; in the future, with further improvements, it could also be adapted for use in coal‑mining operations.

The attainment of this honor is a microcosm and embodiment of Pengfei’s reforms in building its industrial workforce in recent years. Since the launch of these reform initiatives in 2017, under the guidance and support of Party committees and governments at provincial and municipal levels, as well as trade unions, Pengfei has leveraged “Five‑Small” innovation competitions and on‑the‑job skill‑competition events to steadily advance the establishment of employee innovation studios and skills‑training bases. These efforts have fully mobilized the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of industrial workers, fostering a workforce that is knowledgeable, skilled, and innovative.

Innovation is the primary driving force behind development and the key enabler of leapfrog growth for enterprises. Pengfei integrates its innovation initiatives with industrial reform policies, leveraging the transformation of industrial workers to propel corporate transformation. The company has partnered with leading universities to establish science and technology associations, doctoral workstations, and postdoctoral research stations, fostering close collaboration between industrial workers and top technical experts. Furthermore, it has formed an Innovation Studio Alliance in coordination with the innovation studios of its group’s subsidiaries, creating a robust platform for industrial workers and facilitating deep integration among industry, academia, and research.

To date, Pengfei has established 12 employee innovation studios, one innovation incubation base, and one innovation studio alliance. Through these platforms, 2,921 employees have upgraded their skills, and more than 500 have been promoted to higher positions. In recent years, the “Five Smalls” innovation initiative has engaged a cumulative total of 90,000 employee participants, yielding over 12,000 innovative outcomes—20 at the provincial level, 34 at the municipal level, and 39 at the county level—and generating cumulative revenues exceeding RMB 800 million.

“Change is innovation, and even incremental improvements tailored to specific roles constitute innovation—so long as you’re willing, anything is possible,” stated Zheng Peng, Chairman of the Board and President of Pengfei Group, who emphasized that “innovation is productivity.” The company evaluates and assesses each unit across four dimensions: technological innovation, information innovation, management innovation, and service innovation. Since 2022, Pengfei has generated cumulative benefits of RMB 920 million from technological innovation, RMB 288 million from information innovation, implemented more than 70 management‑innovation initiatives, and achieved notable results in service innovation.

Going forward, Pengfei will take its innovation studios as the driving force and industrial workers as its core workforce, continuing to organize “Five‑Small Competitions” and skills‑competition events, building clusters of innovation studios, and transforming innovation into productive capacity, thereby making new and even greater contributions to Pengfei’s comprehensive intelligentization and industrial modernization.