Constrained by the current overall labor market conditions, an increasing number of companies are facing recruitment challenges. Starting in December 2018, with management’s support, Workshop One piloted a scheme in which two adjacent production lines reduced their workforce by one worker per shift, with staff from both shifts providing mutual support and working together.

The trial was conducted with Shift 2 on Production Line No. 3 and Shift 4 on Production Line No. 4. Under the trial, one roll‑coordinator position was eliminated from each shift, with the resulting workload shared among staff in the extrusion, batching, auxiliary coordination, and crushing stations, as needed.

With one person missing, the workload has naturally increased considerably. Cen Chun and Cui Qingrong reported that, despite the staffing shortfall, production over the past six months has not been adversely affected. They repeatedly emphasized that the key to successful workforce replenishment lies in close collaboration across the entire team, maintaining as much stability as possible among team members, fostering a strong sense of responsibility at every post, and ensuring timely and diligent completion of tasks, while also making prompt preparations before production begins—only then can a solid foundation be laid for smooth operations.

At the production site in Workshop One, despite one worker being absent, operations continued smoothly—though the pace of work had subtly quickened. The author observed that Cheng Yonghua, a newly assigned extrusion operator, finished his extrusion duties and then hurried over to the winding station to assist with unwinding and packaging, before dashing back to his post at the extrusion line. Two team leaders noted that staffing gaps are best addressed through proactive coordination and employees’ sense of responsibility; relying solely on reprimands is simply not effective.

So how can we strengthen collaboration among team members? The two team leaders summarized that we should make the most of the technical expertise and experience of our veteran employees. Cui Qingrong said, “The skills and experience of seasoned workers are irreplaceable; a new hire cannot reach the technical level of a veteran without at least six months of growth.” Zhang Gui, a worker on Line 3’s batching station, has been with Jinbang for eight years. He can skillfully carry out various batching tasks according to production requirements and now also takes on the responsibility of locating tube cores. Each time he goes to fetch a tube core, he coordinates closely with the batching and coordination stations, ensuring that their work is properly scheduled in advance. When arranging production on Line 4, Cen Chun specifically emphasized that the crushing station must have skilled workers. Although crushing work is irregular and not particularly technically demanding, having a proficient operator there can save time and effort, enabling timely support for the winding‑and‑coiling operations.

Another key reason for ensuring employees have sufficient capacity to handle multiple roles is to align job assignments with individual strengths. By assigning positions based on each employee’s personality and skill set, we can fully leverage their unique advantages. For example, Zhou Qingdao, who works in the ingredient‑mixing role, is small in stature and not particularly strong, but his meticulousness and careful attention to detail are his greatest assets—precisely the qualities required for this position. Accordingly, Cen Chun placed him in the ingredient‑mixing role. In this position, Zhou Qingdao can capitalize on his strengths and perform with ease, enabling him to complete his primary duties before taking on additional responsibilities.

Collaboration between the two production lines is also crucial, as one line may sometimes find itself short-staffed and unable to fill vacant positions, necessitating the temporary transfer of workers from the adjacent line. Although piece-rate pay is calculated collectively on a per-line basis, since both lines operate within the same workshop and belong to Jinbang Company, the two team leaders must keep the overall production situation of the entire workshop in mind. They frequently hold pre- and post-shift meetings together, promptly addressing work-related issues between the two teams and making advance arrangements for tasks such as staffing shortages.

Similarly, with one fewer person on the team, higher standards are placed on employee quality, which in turn raises the bar for recruitment. To build a highly capable and loyal workforce, we can look to historically formidable military forces. During the mid-Ming dynasty, Qi Jiguang’s troops, and in the late Qing, Zeng Guofan’s Xiang Army, were renowned worldwide for their tenacity, discipline, and precision—often achieving maximum results at relatively low cost. The Xiang Army recruited primarily from mountain farmers, while Qi Jiguang’s forces drew heavily on hardworking miners. As Cui Qingrong points out, the kind of employees most valued on the shop floor are those who are resilient, possess a broad‑minded perspective, and avoid nitpicking over minor details. This offers an important lesson for recruiters: manufacturing has its own set of rules. When hiring, prioritize down-to-earth, hardworking, and proactive workers—ideally those born in the 1980s, already settled with families, and bearing some financial responsibilities—since such candidates tend to be more stable. By contrast, individuals who are superficial, opportunistic, or prone to dishonesty should be firmly screened out; even if they do make it onto the payroll, they must be swiftly removed.

The workshop supervisor stated that reducing staff should not be viewed in isolation; performance evaluations and product quality must not be compromised as a result. Production Deputy Manager Chen Zhouyang noted that when employees’ workloads increase, their compensation should also be adjusted accordingly, with salary multipliers raised based on individual performance. Currently, workers on shifts 2 and 4 in Workshop One have seen their monthly wages rise by an average of 350 to 400 yuan. Therefore, by coordinating the two production lines and eliminating one employee, the company and its workforce achieve a win-win outcome.

Workshop One is exploring viable approaches to reduce headcount while boosting efficiency—a complex issue that spans management, technology, and corporate culture. Recruitment, job‑person fit, leveraging the expertise of veteran employees, maintaining a stable workforce, coordinating pre‑ and post‑shift meetings, and prioritizing skilled workers for breakage‑prone positions are all lessons learned through practical experience by Shifts Two and Four in Workshop One. Currently, management is planning to extend this collaborative production model—reducing one employee per shift—to other shifts as well. We look forward to more systematic summaries of managerial insights and further innovations in management.

Thank you to our frontline managers and workers for their hard work!