Relentless Innovation, a fleet-footed and smart producer of high-speed railway trains

In 2004, China entered the high-speed rail era. Like all the workers at CRVC, Li Wanjun, while working in the first welding workshop of the bogie manufacturing plant, also had an upsurge of emotions. He rolled up his sleeves and prepared to go all out in helping Chinese passenger trains achieve “ground-level flight.”

Bogies are the running parts of a railway passenger car that, like human legs, directly affect the running speed, stability, and safety of the train. Bogie manufacturing technology, therefore, was listed as one of the nine core technologies for high speed EMUs. Li Wanjun made a silent decision that he would use his exquisite craftsmanship by all means to develop a reliable “Scud” for the high-speed railway train. 

In 2007, as the main vehicle for the sixth incremental increase of the national railway line speeds, the 250 km/h EMUs introduced by France’s Alstom entered trial production at the CRVU. The rings connecting the beam and side frame of the bogie were the key force-bearing points of the entire carriage, bearing about 50 tons weight. They were also the key component determining whether the train can realize the increase in speed or not. By general welding methods, due to the number of welding segments, there would be defects and un-fused joints. The quality couldn’t be guaranteed and it became an obstacle for timely production. 

 “Can we use a welding torch to weld this ring in one step?” Li Wanjun’s idea was considered “inconceivable”even by the French experts. There were beams and other obstacles around the 600 mm ring. Even using a brush to paint a circle around it, the weight of the stroke drawn along the ring could not be guaranteed, let alone carrying a torch. 

The skillful and brave Li Wanjun decided to attempt it. He performed repeated exercises on model samples. He continuously changed his posture, pace, and respiratory rate along the ring while swinging the torch to and fro at a constant rate, adjusting the current and voltage at any moment to accurately control the temperature of the welding pool. Through more than one month’s exploration, he finally handed over qualified samples, proved perfect by radiographic and ultrasonic inspection.

Based on that process, Li Wanjun summarized his Seven-step Method for Ring Welding.With this method, every mature welder can quickly finish welding a challenging ring at high quality. This innovative technique has been included in the documents of the production process at CRVC.

“This could not be done even by the most advanced welding robot in the world!” When witnessing the craftsmanship of the Chinese welders,the French experts, who always held themselves aloft, were shocked. They had to admit that Chinese production quality was even higher than the technical standards required by them. Chinese welders not only met the requirements, but exceeded them.

In 2010, CRVC adopted new technology to develop a new train. The new technology required that the pipes between the beam and side frame of the bogie be connected. For a structure never before seen, using traditional manual welding methods would not meet the process’ requirements. Therefore, the company introduced the argon arc semi-automatic welding machine. However, after several trial welds, eight rings in two bogies were all scrapped. 

At that critical moment, Li Wanjun stepped forward once more. He covered the semi-automatic welding machine on the pipes, aiming his welding torch at the seam of the pipe. With his rich experience, he manually adjusted the swing range and the speed of the nozzle,using different currents and voltages for different welding layers. As a result, all of the tested welded frames qualified, successfully bridging the gap in using argon arc welding for bogie rings in our country!

Li Wanjun then drafted the “Operation Methods of Argon Arc Semi-automatic Pipe Welding,”successfully obtaining a national patent. His patent was not only widely applied in the production of all kinds of urban rail cars for export, but also provided a valuable means for our country to develop and produce new types of high speed rail trains in the future.”Welding expert Duan Zhenzhen,from CRVC’s Department of Industrialization, sighed emotionally, “To solve on-site processing problems, Li Wanjun knows best. Sometimes,the result of an entire day’s study was not as good as a suggestion he put forward. This is a high compliment.”

To transform “made in China” to “created in China,”we cannot rely on a limited number of researchers. Every one of our technical workers should strive to be an innovator. Li Wanjun told the reporter that, “like with our EMUs, only when each coach is fine can the complete EMU be excellent!”

In line with this thought, Li Wanjun actively employs his own technical advantages. He successfully discovered more than 20 operational approaches for welding bogies, completed more than 70 technical innovations, helped the company overcome many technical difficulties, and directly saved and created more than RMB 8 million cumulatively for the company. His indirect contributions to the production of high-speed railway trains in our country were, “too large to measure.”

To serve the country with his skills, he has rejected international headhunters several times

In the process of accumulating knowledge and demonstrating his ambition to “serve the country with his skills,”many honors, such as Senior Specialist of Jilin Province, Golden Blue Collar of China CNR Corporation, Knowledge-based Advanced Worker of Central Government-owned Companies, National Technical Expert, and the Locomotive Medal came in one after another. During that time, many domestic and international headhunters eyed this “welding wizard and priceless asset.” Many enterprises secretly offered him an olive branch.  

As early as 2002, a large Japanese firm spotted Li Wanjun. At that time, Li Wanjun was selected by the Provincial Foreign Affairs Bureau to work as a migrant construction worker for one year in their shipyard. They didn’t trust Chinese techniques,so for the welding of an important connector between two cabin covers, the Japanese firm spent a lot of money and hired a local expert. But,by chance, they found that Li Wanjun could weld this part perfectly, exceeding the quality standards of Japanese experts. From then on, everybody nodded in respect upon meeting him, “Li San, a master from China!”

Once, when welding the lifting lugs, the grey-haired Japanese in charge was stumped by the highly difficult “vertical position welding,”which required welding from the bottom up, and had special demands for the control of the depth of fusion and welding pool. A flaw even the size of a needle’s point was not allowed. Many industry experts present could do nothing about it. At that critical moment, Li Wanjun volunteered. He held his breath, firmly carried the torch, and deftly guided the fervent arc on the hard base metals. He completed all the operations easily and perfectly. The Japanese, who are particularly picky when it comes to skilled labor, all wholeheartedly gave him a thumbs-up.

At the end of his year long labor contract, the shipyard tried to keep LiWanjun,but he politely declined. After Li Wanjun returned home, every time the Japanese boss, Iwanaga,came to China, he would visit Li San, having dinner and a chat with him, showing his respect and fondness for Li. 

In 2005, when several Singapore guests saw Li Wanjun’s amazing skills, they felt hard pressed to give up LiWanjun, and offered him“10 times his monthly salary and green cards for his entire family,” as a sincere invitation to “Mr. Li” to work in Singapore, but he likewise declined. 

For many years, Li Wanjun refused all well-paid foreign employment opportunities, without exception. Many people thought that he “was silly.” His reply was, “There is no end in earning more money. Without CRVC, without the era of high-speed railways, I am nothing. As a person, I should be grateful. I should pay back my company, serve the country, and produce good,high-speed railway trains, so that in due course, foreign technicians will come and work for our Chinese people!”

Many people kindly inquire, “Now that you decided to stay at CRVC, why not take the chance at a successful career and transfer into a management position? Why stay at the front-lines of production, which is a dirty and tiring post?” Even the leadership of the company had also asked for his motives. Unexpectedly, he was not “interested.”

“There are plenty of college graduates in the plant,it doesn’t lack management staff. I am a technical worker. If I leave production, my skills will slowly deteriorate and I will not be able to participate in any project research. How then will I create optimal value for the enterprise?” Li Wanjun replied.

With a devoted heart, Li Wanjun, as always, continued working on the spark-filled production line. He not only used his exquisite skills to surpass foreign technical standards, but also began to take part in producing and even creating standards.

In 2008, CRVC imported 350 km/h high-speed EMU technology from Siemens. Since the German company had no prior reference for such high-speed operation, the manufacturing of bogies became a mutual research topic for both parties. With the trust of the leadership, as one of the members of the“welding technology evaluation expert team,”Li Wanjun took part in the preparation of the “Welding Parameters of Ultra High-speed Bogies,” and solved mass production issues.

Since then, intending to codify and standardize the skills of his employees, Li Wanjun, as head of the welding supervision team in the workshop, successively developed a“Standard Operation Manual for Bogie Rivet Welders,”“Grinding Standards for Welded Joints of All Kinds of Vehicles,” and “Artistic Standards for Welding.” He set his own rigorous pursuit of quality as the operational standard for welders.

“For ordinary trains with a speed of 80 km/h, keeping firm is OK. But in the process of manufacturing high-speed railway trains, a welding slag may result in a fatal car crash. Every part must be the same outside and inside. No defects can be allowed. Also,they must look beautiful and neat and each weld should be a piece of art.”By allowing Li Wanjun to set the workshop’s operating standards, welding quality was greatly improved.