Cheng Meng from the Installation Department of Shandong Kaitai has honed his extraordinary "Three Tough Traits" skills over seventeen years

Seventeen Years of Breakthrough Journey

If you spot a towering man of 1.90 metres at Kaitai who walks briskly and handles tasks efficiently, it is almost certain to be Cheng Meng.

His appearance matches his given name—tall, big and powerful. However, those who know him well are aware that his greatest "vigour" lies not in his tower-like physique, but in his relentless drive to stick to a goal once he sets his mind on it. Having worked at the frontline for sixteen years, he rose step by step from an ordinary lathe operator to the Minister of the Mechanical Installation Department. He holds two Class II Technician certificates for welding and bench work. He has been awarded the Silver Master Award in the "Binzhou High-Skilled Talents Gold, Silver and Bronze Master Awards" and the title of "Model Worker of Zouping City".

01 Unrestrained Growth, Real Skills Acquired Through Learning

In February 2009, Cheng Meng joined Shandong Kaitai as an ordinary lathe operator in the machining workshop.

"I was afraid I wouldn't learn it," he recalled his early days as a general lathe operator, a sparkle shining in his eyes. While others rested, he pondered tool angles; when others got off work, he cleared iron filings and reviewed his work.

In September 2009, he was transferred to the position of monitor of the laser cutting machine team due to his outstanding performance. Shifting focus from "doing his own work well" to "leading the whole team to deliver excellent results", he began to view production from a managerial perspective.

His career path saw meteoric progress thereafter: he became deputy section chief of the blanking section in 2011 and deputy director of the machining workshop in 2013. Behind these achievements lay countless days and nights spent immersed in the workshop.

The following decade marked a period of rapid, all-round growth for Cheng Meng. He successively served as director of the coating workshop, director of the riveting and welding workshop, and director of the assembly workshop, before being appointed Minister of the Mechanical Installation Department in 2024 — gaining hands-on experience across nearly the entire production chain.

Every job transfer meant starting from scratch. He studied relentlessly to fill knowledge gaps and consulted others whenever he encountered unfamiliar work. He spent his days on the production site and delved into professional books at night. Driven by this rigorous dedication, he obtained dual second-class technician certifications in welding and bench work, emerging as one of the rare versatile highly skilled professionals at Kaitai.

From mastering a single technical skill to holding dual technician credentials, and from a frontline worker to an independent, competent managerial cadre, Cheng Meng has embodied through his deeds the spirit of "devoting oneself wholeheartedly to one’s occupation, loving the job one takes on, and striving for excellence in every task".

02 Innovation and Transformation, Turning Pain Points into Efficiency Boosters

Cheng Meng is in charge of the workshop, and there are two things he can't stand the most: one is idle labor, and the other is rework.

Discuss equipment processes with colleagues

When he served as the director of the riveting and welding workshop, he found that the welding quality could be further optimized and welding consumables were wasted from time to time. He stayed on-site for a whole week, observing the operating habits of every welder, and finally identified the root cause: some welders worked by intuition, resulting in inconsistent process parameters.

Without a word of hesitation, he took the lead in reorganizing the welding process specifications and organized training sessions and on-site assessments for all staff. At first, some veteran welders were unconvinced, saying, "I’ve been welding for ten years—do I still need you to teach me?" Cheng Meng did not argue. Instead, he demonstrated the new process in person by welding a test piece and invited everyone to compare the results. The contrast was crystal clear: the weld seam was smooth, free of pores and slag inclusions. Facts speak louder than words, and all workers were fully convinced.

Three months later, the welding quality in the riveting and welding workshop improved significantly, and the cost of welding consumables dropped by 5 percent.

In the assembly workshop, he implemented standardized operations to eliminate incorrect and missing assembly work. After being transferred to the mechanical installation department, he set about figuring out ways to boost installation efficiency and speed up on-site service response. None of these improvements were earth-shattering, yet these small innovations, like countless trickles merging together, formed a mighty river of quality improvement and efficiency gains.

03 Break Down Barriers: Three Powerful, Effective Strategies

In December 2024, Cheng Meng was appointed Minister of the Mechanical Installation Department.

Many people thought this was a promotion, but Cheng Meng knew full well that he had been handed an extremely tough task.

Installation marks the final stage of product delivery. The sales team presses for progress, the production department hurries for shipments, and clients rush for acceptance. Seven or eight links including design, planning, quality inspection and electrical engineering are intertwined. If any link fails, the installation site has to bear all the blame.

Successfully completed the equipment installation task

After Cheng Meng took office, he skipped lengthy speeches and rolled out three bold, decisive measures straight away.

Measure One: Set up a "Operations Group". He added all sales, design, production, installation and quality inspection staff into the group and renamed it the Kaitai Installation Operations Command Headquarters. Three ground rules were laid down: report progress daily against milestone targets; tag responsible persons for all issues, who must respond within 24 hours; only share solutions and data in the group with no irrelevant chatter. A month later, cross-department coordination became much smoother and overall efficiency improved significantly.

Measure Two: Launch an "Electrical Fault Resolution Group". Electrical malfunctions were the biggest headache at installation sites, and a single fault would often hold up work for two to three days. He brought together installation electricians, workshop electricians, electrical designers and electric control workshop personnel into one group. All technical issues were discussed collectively for joint diagnosis. Once resolved, the root causes and troubleshooting procedures were compiled into documents for archiving. More than forty fault records were filed within three months. New electricians could quickly locate solutions by searching keywords, cutting the average troubleshooting time in half.

The Third Strategy: Conduct a mandatory review for every project. Upon completing a project, Cheng Meng sits down with the installation manager to go through the entire process step by step like rewinding a movie. They sort through every detail from site mobilization to final acceptance, identifying smooth phases, bottlenecks, and near-miss incidents one by one. Common issues are reported back to the design team for revisions, while unique problems are turned into contingency plans. Some dismiss this as Monday morning quarterbacking, but he replies: "Even hindsight is better than no reflection at all. Without reviews, we’ll repeat the same mistakes we made this time down the line."

After implementing these three strategies, the installation site saw dramatic improvements: information flows freely, responsibilities are clearly defined, work progress speeds up, and identical mistakes never recur.

Striving for rigorous quality standards — you need to be extra strict once you arrive at the installation site

After becoming the minister of the Mechanical Installation Department, Cheng Meng has raised his standards for quality even higher.

He implemented quality control across three critical stages: before installation, during installation, and before commissioning. His standout measure for the pre-commissioning stage is to send his own staff to pose as "customers" and inspect the site for flaws. All identified issues are listed and rectified before customers are invited for acceptance checks.

This single practice has drastically boosted the one-time acceptance rate. One customer commented: "Kaitai’s installation standards are stricter than our own."

In 2025, Cheng Meng was awarded the title of "Outstanding Manager" by the Group for his solid work performance throughout the year and remarkable management results. At the award ceremony, General Manager Wang Ruiguo personally handed him the certificate of honor and encouraged him to keep working diligently with a strong sense of responsibility and achieve even greater accomplishments.

Seventeen years on, setting off once again

2026 marks Cheng Meng’s seventeenth year at Kaitai.

From the bottom of his heart, he is grateful to the company for providing a platform for his growth, even more thankful to his supervisors for entrusting him with opportunities to gain experience, and appreciative of his team’s support that has helped him overcome numerous challenges time and again.

“Build the Installation Department into an elite iron unit — delivering rapid responses, impeccable workmanship and premium service, such that clients give a thumbs-up whenever Kaitai’s installation work is mentioned.” This promise drives him to keep moving forward tirelessly on the frontline of installation work.

Standing at 1.9 meters tall, he possesses boundless craftsmanship and dedication. This big man from Shandong is reliable enough to shoulder heavy responsibilities and fully capable of getting things done.

Forged through down-to-earth work, bold in taking on accountability. His character matches his given name, and his journey mirrors his conduct.