Twenty years of cold chain

Late at night, in the short half-hour drive from Tongxing to home, Hu Shutong thought about many things.

What Professor Hong revealed on the phone was hard to calm down. Before leaving, Old Pang had spoken with many old friends, hoping to get their help when Tongxing established its corporate academy.

Professor Hong kept this matter in mind.

He was worried that Hu Shutong's sudden call would catch him off guard, so he had started taking steps in secret to at least build up a decent teaching staff. However, he waited for more than two years, and it seemed as if Hu Shutong had forgotten about it, so it was not surprising that he was furious when he answered the phone.

The page left by Elder Pang is independent of the overall plan. When Hu Shutong first saw it, he already had a guess, but he was too busy at the time, so he temporarily hid the matter.

At this moment, Hu Shutong was thinking that he had no time before, and he had no time now.

There won't be time for it in the future. This matter will be left unresolved year after year, and perhaps it will still be locked in a small drawer ten or eight years from now.

Fortunately, Tongxing now has more capable people to rely on. It's better to hand over the entire delivery business to Yang Chenghai, and let Su Mu and Liu Zhiying handle Tongxing's internal and external operations. As long as Hu Shutong runs the corporate academy, he will face another long period of busy work outside of Tongxing.

Corporate-run universities are not a new model. By the end of last year, the number of corporate universities in China had exceeded 400. If privately established corporate universities are included, the number will exceed 1,000. These corporate universities cover industries such as finance and telecommunications, home appliance manufacturing, automotive energy, and even kitchen appliances, catering, online games, and daily necessities.

The difference between higher education systems and corporate universities is significant. We all know that there is often a disconnect between "academic studies" and "technical skills" because companies have very specific needs, while graduates are often too "balanced." This is probably why many company HR professionals see graduates as blank slates.

This has led many companies to start their own schools.

Some foreign corporate colleges established in China are specifically designed to train the talent needed by enterprises. Some of them have been operating for 15 years and have achieved remarkable results.

Large-scale enterprises tend to be inward-looking, producing and selling their own products to fill talent gaps. There are also some inward-looking colleges that build talent chains across the entire industry. The latter often receive policy support.

In the cold chain industry, corporate academies will inevitably bear the deep imprint of "industry academy". An outward-oriented corporate academy that faces the entire supply chain is a consideration that Hu Shutong does not need to hesitate about.

The car was driven very slowly. When he truly entered this mindset and began to try to solve the problem, Hu Shutong returned to that thought process of intertwined ideas and multiple sources of thought converging.

The strong support from the senior figures around Professor Pang is a tremendous asset. He can also explore collaborating with Ming Chiang University, Ching Ning University, and Lung Shan University on faculty allocation, and even establish training and practical training bases for them, achieving mutual benefit. Furthermore, the Refrigeration Society, the Ching Yan Refrigeration and Tong Hsing R&D Center will be a significant supplement, enabling the development of more targeted courses.

Moreover, Hu Shutong is a very capable person, both above and below.

What exactly should students learn at a corporate academy?

From management to technology, he has a set of principles in his heart.

The cold chain industry faces a talent shortage of millions. Unlike other professions that have a solid foundation, a long history, sufficient foresight, and the ability to keep up with the times, it was born with a poor foundation and suddenly encountered the era of rapid growth. Ten years ago, the industry lacked talent; ten years later, the shortage will only increase, because the industry is growing wildly in many places that people cannot see, and demand is soaring exponentially.

Perhaps due to his own educational background, Hu Shutong realized early on that Tongxing should pursue a more macro-level cold chain model. If this path were merely about supply and sales, it would make things a hundred times easier for a person.

It must be said that if Tongxing Academy becomes a reality, this path of talent development will finally reach a significant stage. Over the years, Hu Shutong has given many lectures at various universities, and Tongxing has also opened up special training channels for interns, including scholarships jointly initiated with the industry every quarter. However, these are not as effective as a corporate university.

A corporate university is an educational entity that systematically cultivates targeted talent and serves as a strategic tool for an industry. It differs fundamentally from training institutions in all aspects, including academic qualifications, faculty, and even master's and doctoral programs.

The software aspects are largely in place, and after a series of visits, Hu Shutong believes that a training system can be established. However, in terms of hardware, it is absolutely unrealistic to rely solely on Tongxing's funding. Although it is not as staggering as the billions of yuan required by higher education institutions, the expenses involved are still a huge amount.

As for the method, just as he had instructed Meng Qiangqiang, it was to be tied to the acquisition company. This time, he was determined to hold onto Lei Xiaoxi tightly, even if it meant pestering her relentlessly, to secure a substantial amount of assistance; otherwise, this project simply wouldn't succeed. Hu Shutong had already prepared for all the subsequent plans, and he would not hesitate to endure it, even if it meant working himself to the bone.

Gazing at the bright moonlight outside the car window, the song "Original Scenery of My Hometown" played in the car. Hu Shutong realized that he hadn't seen any real scenery in all these years. He was surrounded by plans and materials, his mind was preoccupied with the upstream and downstream supply chains, managing both production and sales areas, and when he talked to people, it was all about where potatoes were going, how to replenish seafood, and today, another manpower project.

While others' worlds are mostly filled with emotional dramas, comedies, plot-driven films, or nostalgic cartoons, his world is practically a documentary about an industry. It's utterly boring; there's hardly anything interesting about it.

But then I thought about it again, and the stories of this industry along the way could be described as beautiful scenery, since we've chosen to settle here.

Scenery shouldn't just be the photographer's enchanting light and color, or the traveler's lakes, mountains, and forests. The fleeting glimpses of urban change, the backbone of a nation's industrial history, and the verdant greenery planted to combat drought are all part of the scenery. Scenery is also the workshops of textile mills, lighting fixtures, and fruit and vegetable factories; the bags of cement used to build houses; the teacups and utensils crafted with the dedication of artisans; and the vehicles used to bring fresh produce into homes.

Settling down here, seeking and upholding this path, every aspect of life becomes a dazzling landscape.

He turned up the volume, turned another corner, and he was home.

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.