In China, it's commonly said that if you love something, you'll excel at it. Those who dedicate their whole lives to a craft, constantly hone their skills in one niche area, and become a leader in their field, can truly be said to have the "spirit of a craftsman". What are the key qualities of a craftsman? Skill and ingenuity. And that is something the Shanghai Boiler Works Technical Director of Equipment Maintenance Jin Dehua has in spades. His indefatigable enthusiasm for large electrical equipment and perfectionist approach to his work have enabled him to make solid progress in his craft.

Jin has been maintaining and refurbishing large electrical equipment since he joined the Shanghai Boiler Works after graduating from vocational school in 1982. Over the past 40 years, he has solved countless thorny technical problems. To him, a large piece of equipment is a work of art. "Equipment maintenance is just like art restoration," he says. Jin's goal is to gain an advanced technical proficiency in this "art form", immerse himself in the craft, master it, and never make excuses for himself. He has chosen this field, and he is going to see it through. He has decided to devote his life to it and take it as far as he can. Today, he has already become a "double master"—a senior technical expert and senior engineer. And in the niche field of maintenance and refurbishment of large-scale power station boiler manufacturing equipment, he is already worth of the name of "master craftsman".

A "double master" in Shanghai Boiler Works

Of his approach, Jin Dehua says, "I'm very happy to work with machines so that the people using them can depend on them and feel at ease. Machines might appear cold, but if you master the technologies and start to understand them, they'll obey your orders, give you the most accurate outcomes, and reciprocate your hard work." This down-to-earth explanation and Jin's general demeanor give an impression of a person that is practical, reliable, hard-working and responsible.

At the end of the 1980s, the unfolding process of reform and opening up brought an increasing amount of imported large equipment into the Shanghai Boiler Works. Jin was developing a range of maintenance skills, but he increasingly felt like his know-how was not up to the task. Faced with technical issues, his lack of a theoretical understanding acted like a cloud of fog, obscuring the root causes of the problems. He decided he had to constantly work to improve himself.

Before too long, Jin had earned himself a undergraduate degree in modern power equipment technology from Tongji University and an engineering master from Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Later, he went to Germany, the US, and Hong Kong to take part in equipment maintenance training. Gradually, his theoretical understanding and manual abilities began to align. His fault diagnosis abilities greatly improved. He could resolve complicated problems and answer advanced questions with ease. In 1998, he earned the title of senior engineer. Seven years later, he earned the qualifications to become a senior technical expert. With this, he became a legendary figure at the factory—a "double master".

Refurbishing imported equipment

"Blue collar or white collar? I can't figure out which one I am," Jin scratched his head and threw the reporter a smile. But Jin is uniquely qualified to talk about this subject.

He wears his blue work clothes, carries a screwdriver, and spends his days in a busy workshop—the picture of a top maintenance electrician and senior technician. But then he turns on his computer, writes a string of code, and flips through a pile of English language materials. Now he looks like a senior engineer, capable of performing surgical operations on a range of large power equipment. With his left hand, he uses a screwdriver to find the source of a fault in an electric circuit board, while his right hand taps away at a keyboard, searching for a software bug. In a factory as big as Shanghai Boiler Works, only Jin is ambitious enough to refurbish imported equipment.

A few years ago, a 4-meter rolling machine imported from Italy began to produce faulty sheet steel due to its aging control system. Scrapping a sheet of steel is a 100,000-yuan loss. "We had to think of a way to stop this wasteful bug," Jin explained. By analyzing the equipment's working parameters, functional requirements, and control principles, Jin re-established the mathematical model. Then he re-designed the control system. Finally, he simplified the control structure, edited the control software, and added new functionality. He solved the problem of the plates being rolled unevenly, greatly improving the reliability of the machine and saving up to a million yuan in quality control costs.

Today, the Shanghai Boiler Works has more than 20 pieces of improved or imported equipment. The value of the equipment adds up to more than 10 million yuan. They're complicated machines and difficult to control. In the past days, these equipment would be refurbished by overseas manufacturers. This not only costs a lot, but you also have to deal with foreigners. "Why don't we just do it ourselves?" Jin often thought. And so he got quietly to work. A few months later, he had succeeded in refurbishing a large piece of equipment. No one could believe their eyes when it was tried out. After Jin had "operated" on it, the equipment was more useful and more reliable than when the foreigners had refurbished it. But what impressed everyone even more was that Jin's refurbishment cost was just 20% of the foreign company's quote.

With his technical skills continually improving, Jin continued to set new standards for the maintenance and refurbishment of foreign equipment. He started on a process of studying, assimilating, innovating and creating. He remembers a time when the company was manufacturing a 1,000 MW supercritical thermal generator, and the S-shaped tube production line became a technical bottleneck. Jin was called in at the critical moment in the mission. At that time, the company had three S-shaped tube production lines. Jin not only re-designed the power control system, but also improved related mechanisms. After repeated testing, the productivity of the lines increased by nearly 30%, increasing the output value by tens of millions of yuan a year.

Becoming a "triple-threat"

For Jin, his understanding of the "spirit of a craftsman" is something that became clearer over time. He first understood the difference between a worker and a craftsman on a training course in Germany. At first, this smart man from Shanghai did not understand the German workers. He secretly discussed how they seemed quite rigid in their work. They did everything methodically and did not take any shortcuts. Even if there was a quicker way, they stuck to the same approach. When he returned to Shanghai, he took another look at his "smarter" way of working. "I had a realization that there's something special about being rigid." Jin realized that by sticking to one set of rules and standards, the technology would stay consistent. This not only guarantees product quality, but also stops accidents from happening.

Nowadays, Jin is a "triple-threat". In 2006, thanks to his "master craftsman" status in Shanghai Electric equipment maintenance, Jin was hired as Shanghai Electric's chief technician. The same year, he established the Jin Dehua Power Technology Workshop. In 2013, his workshop was given the title of "National Master Workshop". Under his direction, the workshop has accepted a huge amount of work in the areas of equipment maintenance, high-level technical problem diagnosis, recommendations, and equipment refurbishment. The workshop has handled over 20 critical problems, both big and small. In 2012, the workshop was named a "Shanghai Model Collective".

"Today, we have no shortage of upcoming craftsmen in our shop. Unfortunately, lots of them either drift away or can't make it to the next level. After studying the cause, I realized that isn't that they're not smart enough, it's that they're not methodical enough. A true craftsman is not just willing and capable. They also have to have the ability to stay absorbed in the task and dig down deep into a problem. Years of honing and testing their skills is not enough. They also need to be able to stay consistent in the face of both successes and failures. Over the past few years, Jin has been passing on the secrets of maintenance to the younger generation in seminars and hands-on lessons using his projects at his workshop. He has now become a teacher to other young technicians. He has also written down a large number of his advanced techniques and published them in the Collection of Advanced Techniques for Technical Personnel of Shanghai Boiler Works to share his experiences and encourage dialogue. Jin has now trained more than 10 apprentices. He has also won first place in the Shanghai maintenance electrician skills competition and fifth place in the "Revitalization Cup" national young technical skills competition.

Over the past few years, Jin's leadership of his technical team has not been limited to the workshop. He has used his developing skills in factory practices and modern power control technologies to give technical seminars for the entire plant to improve the abilities of maintenance electricians across the whole factory. For a long time now, he has also been a guest teacher at the Li Bin Technician Institute and Shanghai DianJi University. During this time, he has written his own courses including "Modern Driver Systems", "Factory Technology Case Studies", and "Foundation in Applied Technologies in Mitsubishi AC Servo Drives". He has also instructed 13 Shanghai secondary vocational school teachers. Under his guidance and teaching, some of these teachers have won first place in the Shanghai Teaching Improvement Case Studies program for their case studies.

The more you know, the more you know you don't know

Reflecting on his younger years, Jin recalled that when he graduated and came to Shanghai Boiler Works, he just had one thing on his mind: don't fall behind. This focus on improvement has always guided him. He has consistently set high standards and requirements for himself, and never rested on his laurels. Even during weekends and holidays, Jin has found new ways to challenge himself. For example, when he had a little free time last month, he used it to write technology articles. When he has a longer holiday, unlike most people, he rarely goes on vacation.

Instead, he normally splits the holiday into three parts and carefully plans how to use his time. He uses the first part of the holiday to study and read technical books as well as arts and humanities publications. The second part of his holiday is spent thinking about whatever project he is currently working on. The third part is to devote himself to creating a future technology study plan. In general, even if the plant is not going to use a new piece of foreign or industry technology for a while, he still takes the time out to study it.

"To be forewarned is to be forearmed—you should not fight a war you're not prepared for!" summarizes Jin. Opportunities are best taken by those who are prepared. While for some people studying technology you are not using might seem a waste of time, it places Jin at the cutting edge of his field. It is this enterprising and enthusiastic approach that has turned Jin from an ordinary technical school graduate into one of Shanghai Electric's most well-rounded and accomplished talents.

Jin believes being a craftsman means more than putting your heart and soul into your work. It also means having a creative and innovative spirit. In this new era, he hopes that more creative craftsmen will emerge. As the seasons change and the technology evolves, there will always be one constant: Jin's devotion to his work and his spirit of craftsmanship.