Skilled talents are an important driving force for serving regional economic transformation and upgrading, as well as technological innovation in the manufacturing industry. As the largest hardware production base and professional market in China, Yongkang, the "Capital of Chinese Hardware", has over 53000 hardware manufacturing enterprises and 543600 employees. At present, the total number of skilled talents in Yongkang is severely lacking, with only 2.8% of the employees being senior engineers or above, which is far from meeting the needs of sustainable development of the hardware industry. At the same time, the traditional mode of cultivating skilled talents is difficult to meet the requirements of hardware enterprises' transformation and upgrading for the specifications and qualities of skilled talents, whether in terms of training concepts, levels, or methods.
In response to the difficult issues of the mismatch between the target positioning of skilled talents in vocational schools and the demand for talent in the development of the hardware industry, as well as the disconnection between the quality of skilled talent cultivation and the transformation and upgrading of the hardware industry chain, Yongkang Vocational and Technical School (Yongkang Hardware Technician College) in Zhejiang Province has integrated advantageous resources to build four functional training platforms: a skilled talent training field, a new product development testing field, a technical problem solving field, and a hardware maker experience field, By introducing and undertaking various practical projects for enterprises, implementing workshop style training, teachers and students can fully participate in the entire process of new product design, processing and manufacturing, technological innovation, collaborative management, and other aspects, solving the problems of outdated equipment and low skill levels in student skill training.

Skilled Talent Training Ground:

Establishing a hardware digital manufacturing base

Building a new highland for skilled talents

The school integrates advantageous resources to establish a "skilled talent training ground" - a hardware digital manufacturing training and internship base. The training ground is benchmarking the production standards of hardware enterprises, purchasing a batch of advanced processing equipment with the same specifications as the enterprise, including Demaji five axis machining centers, etc. Following the principle of "full product cycle", it has more than 20 training rooms and comprehensively undertakes external processing projects for precision hardware products.
The training ground is dedicated to cultivating students' precision machining technology for products. On a weekly basis, we design a "Production Week" production internship activity to ensure that each class regularly participates in the production week training. In addition, the training ground is fully integrated with the setting and standards of positions in hardware enterprises, selecting and customizing a batch of typical, high-tech, and popular apprenticeship positions. Students participate in job practice through a "follow-up internship+special internship" approach, learning and mastering one or more precision machining skills.
Wu Shiping is a student who just graduated in 2021. During his time at school, he often participated in practical training on technology improvement, process transformation, and other practical skills, accumulating a lot of technical experience. Upon graduation, he received an "olive branch" from Yongkang Yulong Technology Co., Ltd. and successfully obtained a monthly salary of 7000 yuan. Zhu Yuxuan, a third year high school student majoring in CNC, won first prize in the 2021 National Vocational College Skills Competition Industrial Product Design and Maker Practice Competition (Vocational Group). He said, "The honors obtained in the competition have made me more confident in developing in the CNC industry. We not only need to cultivate high-level craftsmen for Yongkang, but also to send first-class technical talents to China and even the world, "said Jiang Jin, a teacher at the training center, with confidence in his words.

New product development testing ground

Establishing a Hardware Industry Research Center

Building a hardware new product distribution center

With the increasingly urgent demand of hardware enterprises in absorbing cutting-edge technologies, led by the Yongkang Municipal Government, the school, together with the School of Electronic Information at Xi'an University of Electronic Science and Technology, Zhejiang University of Technology, listed hardware manufacturing enterprises, and the Yongkang Mold Industry Association, has jointly established the "New Product Research and Development Pilot Field" - the Hardware Industry Research Center, focusing on building three major research and development bases, namely the 3D industrial product design and development base The door automation production R&D base and precision mold intelligent manufacturing R&D base comprehensively undertake new door product research and development, hardware mold research and development, and have the advantage of undertaking over a hundred new product research and development.
The experimental field is committed to cultivating students' hardware industry design skills. On a monthly basis, it launches the "Service Month" engineering learning alternation activity, allowing teachers and students to participate in the entire training practice of creative design, 3D printing, sample processing, and other new products. Students can learn and master design skills such as process design, 3D modeling, and 3D molding. The experimental field has successfully incubated and formed a batch of precision hardware product catalogs, including new material applications, new process design, precision machining technology, etc., developed with the participation of students, effectively meeting the learning needs of students' "diverse skills".
At the Industrial Research Center, the vice principal of the school, Ma Lingang, introduced the heat sink installation project developed for Hongyun Industry. This project can effectively solve the problem of low manual installation efficiency and greatly improve the economic benefits of the enterprise.

Technical Problem Solving Field

Establishing Yongkang Hardware College of Zhejiang University of Technology

Creating an incubation site for technological achievements

In the research conducted by the school, it was found that 63.5% of small and medium-sized hardware enterprises in the local area are enthusiastic about technological transformation projects such as process transformation and technological improvement. The "Technical Problem Solving Field" jointly established by the school, Yongkang Municipal Government, and Zhejiang University of Technology - Yongkang Hardware College of Zhejiang University of Technology emerged as the times require. By forming multiple high-level teacher innovation teams led by 12 university professors and 17 school teachers (including national skill masters, national technical experts, national gold medal coaches, etc.), we lead teachers and students to participate in the practice of technology improvement projects together. National skill master Sheng Yiyuan has established a tin carving innovation team to undertake technical breakthroughs in tin carving intangible cultural heritage projects; 13 national gold medal coaches have formed a precision hardware technology service innovation team to undertake the process design and fixture transformation business of hardware products.
The research center is committed to cultivating students' innovative skills and thinking. On a quarterly basis, we carry out the "Innovation Season" on-the-job practice activity. Each innovation team undertakes a certain number of various technical improvement projects, encouraging teachers and students to participate in the entire process of project design, transformation, assembly, quality inspection, and other practical activities. Teachers and students can learn and master one or more methods, including production process improvement, fixture transformation, and so on Innovative skills such as technological innovation and improvement, as well as innovative thinking abilities.
We undertake the functions of providing external technical services and school enterprise cooperation, solving technical problems for enterprises, transporting skilled talents, and implementing conceptual products. It is a 'booster' for industrial transformation and upgrading. "Xia Bin, a teacher of the school's technical service department, said that this is not only an incubation place for high-level skilled talents, but also a place trusted by enterprises in Yongkang and surrounding areas to tackle technical problems.