Mansheng Co-establishes Intelligent Coating Industry College

With the wide application of automatic spraying equipment in manufacturing, an unexpected bottleneck has emerged: a serious shortage of skilled coating technicians who can operate, program, and maintain advanced equipment. Many enterprises have purchased high-end 360° high-speed rotating automatic spray machines, yet cannot fully utilize their performance due to lack of qualified staff. To address this pain point, Dongguan Mansheng Automation Equipment Co., Ltd. has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Dongguan University of Technology (DGUT) to jointly launch the Mansheng Intelligent Coating Industry College. This initiative aims to cultivate high-skilled professionals in spraying processes and equipment maintenance for intelligent manufacturing. As the first industry college in China co-built by a coating equipment enterprise and a undergraduate university, it marks the industry’s shift from “selling equipment” to “empowering talents.”

“We bought four Mansheng automatic spray machines last year. They are efficient and replace five workers each. But we only have one technician who can adjust parameters and fix faults, and we had to hire him at a high salary from another factory,” said the owner of a hardware furniture factory in Dongguan, reflecting the common challenge faced by many SMEs. According to the 2024 Coating Industry Talent White Paper released by the China Coating Industry Association, the nationwide talent gap for coating-related positions exceeds 300,000. Among them, the shortage of interdisciplinary technicians capable of programming, debugging, and maintaining automatic spraying equipment is most severe, with a supply demand ratio of approximately 1:8. Meanwhile, few colleges offer coating-related majors, and teaching content often lags behind industrial technology. “Many mechanical engineering graduates do not even understand atomization principles, let alone operate six-axis spraying robots or vision inspection systems,” said the HR director of Mansheng Automation. “Our after-sales team provides thousands of training sessions annually, but it is far from enough.”

Under the agreement, the Mansheng Intelligent Coating Industry College will be located in the School of Mechanical Engineering at DGUT. The initial investment totals ¥5 million, with ¥3 million from Mansheng and ¥2 million from the university. Facilities include:

• Intelligent Coating Training Center: Equipped with Mansheng 6th generation 360° high-speed rotating spray machines, reciprocating lines, robot spraying workstations, and exhaust treatment systems.
• Coating Process Simulation Lab: Uses Mansheng’s trajectory simulation software for virtual parameter setting and path planning.
• Remote O&M Teaching Platform: Connected to real equipment data from Mansheng’s service center for remote fault diagnosis training.

The college plans to recruit 60 undergraduate students annually majoring in mechanical engineering, automation, and material forming. It will also offer short-term vocational training courses, aiming to train 300 people per year. The curriculum is jointly developed by Mansheng engineers and university teachers, covering coating basics, atomization technology, robot programming, defect analysis, and environmental compliance. “Our goal is to cultivate practical talents who can work in workshops, understand processes, adjust parameters, and repair equipment,” said the dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering at DGUT. “Graduates will be ready for immediate employment, reducing corporate retraining time.”

To ensure students learn cutting-edge industry knowledge, the college implements a dual-tutor system:

• Academic tutors teach theoretical fundamentals.
• Six senior Mansheng engineers (three with 10+ years of on-site experience) deliver 32 hours of practical courses per semester.

Students also complete on-the-job internships at Mansheng’s Dongguan production base or client sites during vacations, participating in equipment assembly, commissioning, and customer training. Mansheng guarantees job offers for outstanding graduates and prioritizes referrals to key customers.

The college launched its first student selection in March 2025, admitting 30 students from DGUT’s sophomore and junior years: 18 from mechanical engineering, 8 from automation, and 4 from materials science and engineering. Courses began in April. “In the first week, we learned the hardware structure of automatic spray machines; in the second week, we started operating Mansheng’s 360° high-speed equipment,” said a student representative. “I had no idea spraying involved such advanced technologies. This field has great career prospects.” Students will also visit client factories such as Midea and BYD suppliers to observe large-scale production applications.

In addition to degree education, the college offers short-term skill upgrade courses for in-service sprayers, maintenance technicians, and production supervisors:

• Basic (3 days): Safe operation, daily maintenance, alarm troubleshooting
• Intermediate (5 days): Parameter optimization, color change cleaning, basic fault repair
• Advanced (7 days): Complex path programming, water-based paint adjustment, AI defect detection setup

Classes are limited to 8–10 people to ensure hands-on practice. Completion certificates are jointly issued by Mansheng and DGUT.

Mansheng has established the “Mansheng Coating Craftsman Scholarship”, providing 10 full scholarships annually (covering ~¥12,000 tuition and training fees per student) for outstanding low-income students. Veterans and rural migrant workers enrolling in short-term courses receive a 50% discount. “Talent is the foundation of industry development. We must take social responsibility,” said Mansheng’s general manager. “Helping young people master smart coating skills changes their lives and strengthens manufacturing upgrading.”

The Secretary-General of the China Coating Industry Association commented: “The cooperation between Mansheng and DGUT is a valuable exploration of industry-education integration. It bridges the gap between academic education and industrial needs and deserves wider promotion.” Several vocational colleges in Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang have already contacted Mansheng to replicate this model. Mansheng plans to partner with 5 colleges within three years, training over 1,000 coating technicians annually.

Mansheng aims to go beyond operating a single college. The company plans to work with industry associations and certification bodies to develop national vocational skill standards for intelligent coating equipment operation and maintenance. Currently, no specialized certification exists in China, leaving enterprises without objective hiring criteria. “We hope to establish an industry-recognized talent evaluation system and eventually promote the creation of a new official occupation: ‘Intelligent Coating Equipment Technician,’” said Mansheng’s technical director.

Mansheng invites peer enterprises, coating suppliers, and end-users to join in building the industry college by sharing training platforms and curriculum resources. Two coating companies and one robot firm have already expressed interest in establishing dedicated scholarships or joint laboratories.