Industry–college cooperation is becoming a practical way for transformer manufacturers to close the gap between textbook electrical theory and real factory skills. Xinda Transformer’s engagement with Liaocheng Vocational College shows how a production workshop, quality laboratory, and classroom can be connected into one training path—covering core cutting, winding, assembly, testing, intelligent substations, and export-oriented technical service.

Why a Transformer Training Base Matters for the Industry

Transformer manufacturing is not a single skill. It combines electrical engineering, mechanical assembly, insulation technology, power-system application, and digital quality control. A graduate who only knows circuit theory may still struggle with core joint losses, coil winding tension, resin casting process, or routine test judgment. A worker who only learns on one machine may not understand how 10 kV distribution, 35 kV substation, 110 kV, and 220 kV power transformer requirements differ.

Xinda’s cooperation with Liaocheng Vocational College is built around this problem. In February 2026, college leaders visited Xinda’s Feng Huang Industrial Park facility in Liaocheng, inspected the production workshop, R&D activities, and quality-control system, and discussed internships, practical training, order-based talent cultivation, and industry–college collaborative education . In March 2026, students from the College’s economics and trade programs visited the factory for production-line observation and recruitment communication , while intelligent-manufacturing students joined separate sessions focused on electrical commissioning, assembly engineering, numerical-control management, and career pathways . The two sides also discussed building internship and training bases and定向 talent cultivation .

For international customers, this matters because trained technicians understand not only how a transformer is built, but also how it should be specified, tested, shipped, and serviced in overseas projects.

Xinda’s Manufacturing Base as a Living Classroom

Xinda Transformer is located at No. 38 Jingsan Road, Fenghuang Industrial Park, Dongchangfu District, Liaocheng, Shandong. According to the company’s English profile, the site has registered capital of RMB 150 million, about 186,667 m² of land area, 53,000 m² of office, R&D, and standardized workshop building area, and more than 470 sets of production and test equipment . The Chinese official site states 150 mu of land, 53,000 m² of building area, more than 470 production equipment units, 260+ employees including 4 senior engineers and 12 engineers, 1 invention patent and 14 utility-model patents in its public company profile, with routine output stated as 5 million kVA and designed capacity up to 10 million kVA per year for 220 kV and below transformers plus supporting switchgear . The English profile lists 15 invention patents and 46 utility-model patents and a 9,000 MVA annual production capacity figure . Both datasets can be referenced, but a tender or training document should state which company profile version is used.

The factory provides several training zones that can be mapped to classroom modules:

• Core processing zone: longitudinal and transverse shearing, silicon-steel cutting, core winding and stacking
• Winding zone: automatic winding machines, foil winding machines, busbar processing
• Dry-type zone: casting/VPI process observation for SC(B) and SG(B) products
• Oil-immersed zone: tanking, radiator/cooling assembly, tap-changer installation, oil filling and treatment
• Quality and test zone: integrated test benches, impulse voltage generation, AC/DC withstand, resistance/ratio/impedance measurement, partial-discharge and insulation checks where applicable
• Intelligent substation zone: compact substation integration, HV/LV switchgear, monitoring panels and control interfaces

These zones allow students to move from drawing reading to physical process validation rather than only listening to lectures.

From Raw Material to Finished Transformer: A Sample Training Flow

A practical training base should follow the real production sequence. Based on Xinda’s product range and the college visit reports, a recommended flow includes six stages.

Material and electrical steel fundamentals

Trainees study silicon-steel grades, amorphous ribbon characteristics, insulation papers, boards, resins, bushings, terminals, and monitoring accessories. They learn how material selection affects no-load loss, load loss, thermal class, and environmental suitability. Xinda’s product range includes conventional laminated-core designs such as S11/S13, three-dimensional wound-core S13-M.RL, high-efficiency S20/S22, amorphous-alloy oil S(B)H15-M and amorphous dry SCBH15-M , so trainees can compare loss mechanisms across technologies.

Core manufacturing and quality points

The module covers slitting width tolerance, burr control, stacking factors, wound-core tension, RL three-dimensional core symmetry, and amorphous-core handling. Because amorphous material has different mechanical and magnetic behavior from oriented silicon steel, trainees should practice identification, storage, and inspection rules without assuming one universal process for all core types.

Winding and insulation assembly

Students observe circular coil winding, foil winding for low-voltage large-current units, layer insulation, tap windings, and temperature-sensor embedding for dry-type transformers. For dry-type SC(B)10/SCB12/SCB13/SCB14/SCB18 and non-encapsulated SG(B)10 products , the training emphasizes epoxy casting or VPI procedure discipline, moisture control, and PD-related quality checks. For oil-immersed units, the module focuses on conductor spacing, paper insulation, lead routing, and tap-changer compatibility.

Tank, cooling, and accessory integration

Oil-immersed training includes radiator/fan/ONAN/ONAF cooling selection, conservator or sealed-tank arrangement, Buchholz, pressure-relief, oil-temperature and winding-temperature indication, moisture-protection breathing systems, and terminal/bushing installation. For dry-type units, the module covers AN/AF cooling, enclosure IP rating, fan control, Pt100 sensor loops, and indoor installation limits.

Factory testing and acceptance

Trainees learn routine tests applicable to the product type: winding resistance, voltage ratio and vector group, impedance and load loss, no-load loss and no-load current, insulation resistance, power-frequency withstand, induced overvoltage, and—where relevant—impulse, partial discharge, and oil dielectric tests. Xinda’s test inventory includes integrated test benches, impulse voltage generators, voltage regulators, intermediate transformers, frequency-doubling generators, and high-voltage withstand systems . The training base can use these as demonstration assets, while keeping type-test scope separate from routineWorkshop acceptance.

Substation and smart-monitoring integration

Because Xinda also produces compact substations, HV switchgear such as KYN28A-12 and HXGN-12, LV panels such as GCK/GCS/MNS/GGD, and cable branch boxes , students can be trained on whole-system thinking: transformer protection interface, SCADA signals, temperature alarms, smart-panel gateways, and documentation handover. This is especially useful for overseas EPC projects where the transformer is only one element of the delivered package.

Linking College Programs to Real Job Roles

Liaocheng Vocational College’s visits with Xinda covered several identifiable role paths. The training base model can assign each role a clear curriculum.

• Electrical commissioning assistant: learns ratio, vector group, protection signals, temperature controller setup, SCADA/Modbus/IEC 61850 basics where the project requires it
• Transformer assembly technician: learns core stacking, winding placement, lead connection, tank assembly, bushing torque, and cleanliness control
• Winding operator: learns automatic and foil winding machine settings, tension, layer insulation, and coil inspection
• Quality inspector: learns routine-test procedures, oil sampling/DGA basics for oil units, PD basics for dry-type/HV units, and nonconformance reporting
• CNC/equipment assistant: learns shear/winding/VPI equipment operation, preventive maintenance, and production-data recording
• International sales/technical service trainee: learns product codes, efficiency standards such as IEC 60076 and GB 20052, export documentation, and customer technical clarification
• E-commerce/cross-border trainee: learns product cataloging, inquiry qualification, multilingual technical sheets, and overseas market communication; this aligns with the college’s e-commerce and cross-border order-class activities with Xinda

The value of this structure is that students do not receive generic “electrical knowledge” only. They train against actual Xinda product families and actual factory workflows.

Standards and Quality Culture in the Training Program

A transformer training base should teach standards early. Recommended modules include:

• IEC 60076 series for power-transformer general requirements, temperature rise, dielectric tests, short-circuit capability, sound, and dry-type units where applicable
• IEC 60076-20 for efficiency classes and loss evaluation in tenders
• IEC 60599 and basic DGA interpretation concepts for oil-filled units
• IEC 61850/61850-90-3 concepts for smart monitoring and condition data where the substation uses digital communication
• GB 1094 and GB 20052 references for China-market and efficiency-grade projects; IEC mapping for export tenders
• Factory 5S/ISO quality discipline: traceability of materials, test records, nameplate accuracy, and corrective-action closure

During the college’s plant visits, Xinda staff explained production flow from raw-material processing, coil winding, and core assembly to finished-product testing and ex-works acceptance . That sequence can be turned into a quality-case workbook: each student receives a simulated datasheet, records supposed inspection results, compares them with guaranteed values, and writes a deviation report. This builds the same habit required in real export factories.

Smart Manufacturing and Digital Skills

Modern transformer buyers expect more than hardware. Xinda’s public content highlights smart/energy-saving transformers, intelligent compact substations, and collaboration on CAD optimization—for example, joint development with Shandong University of Science and Technology for S20 and SCB18 design, with about 6% cost reduction demonstrated for the S20 series through optimized CAD . A training base should therefore include digital modules:

• CAD/EM basics for core and coil geometry, without requiring students to redesign proprietary models
• Production data collection: winding-machine logs, test-bench exports, and quality dashboards
• Intelligent substation monitoring: temperature trends, load profiles, alarm setpoints, and gateway configuration
• Predictive-maintenance concepts: DGA trend, thermal trend, PD trend, and work-order linkage
• Export documentation automation: BoM, routine-test PDFs, nameplate generator, packing/shipping documents

By connecting these digital skills to the workshop, students understand that “smart transformer” is not only a sensor product, but a data process from design to operation.

Benefits for Students, Xinda, and Overseas Customers

For students, the base provides observable career paths. Liaocheng Vocational College activities with Xinda included production observation, recruitment interviews, order-class introduction, and discussions on internships and定向 cultivation . Students see real positions—winding, assembly, commissioning, quality, CNC, sales, cross-border service—instead of abstract employment advice.

For Xinda, the cooperation supports a steadier technician pipeline. The company’s workforce data include 4 senior engineers and 12 engineers in public profiles ; a training base helps expand practical talent at technician and junior-engineer levels without replacing formal R&D staff. It also improves onboarding for special products such as mining-general, high-overload, rectifier, furnace, and amorphous units, which require process discipline beyond standard distribution transformers.

For international buyers, the indirect benefit is consistency. A supplier with structured factory training is more likely to produce readable test reports, stable packing documentation, correct nameplate data, and field-support staff who understand both Chinese manufacturing and IEC/export requirements. Xinda’s export markets have included Central Asia, the Philippines, the Middle East, Kenya, and other regions according to the English profile , so training materials should be bilingual and standard-oriented rather than factory-jargon only.

Proposed Training-Base Modules for Future Scale-Up

Based on the visited workshops and Xinda’s product scope, the Xinda–Liaocheng Vocational College model can be organized into eight modules:

1. Transformer fundamentals: types, applications, nameplate codes, S11/S13/S20/S22, amorphous SH/SCBH comparison
2. Core technology: silicon steel vs amorphous, stacked vs wound vs 3D RL, loss and noise basics
3. Windings and insulation: dry-type casting/VPI, oil-paper insulation, tap windings, temperature sensors
4. Oil-immersed systems: cooling, protection accessories, oil treatment, DGA introduction
5. Dry-type systems: enclosure IP, AN/AF fans, fire-safety positioning, indoor substation application
6. HV testing and acceptance: routine/type/special tests, impulse/PD/oil tests by product class
7. Substation integration: compact substation, HV/LV switchgear, protection signals, smart monitoring
8. International project practice: IEC/GB compliance, quotation datasheets, packing/transport, site commissioning support

These modules can be delivered as school classroom theory, factory demonstration, and internship project assessment. Because the current cooperation has reached discussions on internship bases, order cultivation, and collaborative education , the modules should be treated as a proposed training framework rather than a fixed certified curriculum unless a separate training agreement is signed.

Conclusion

Xinda Transformer’s activities with Liaocheng Vocational College illustrate a practical “production line to classroom” model: students observe core cutting, winding, dry-type and oil-immersed assembly, testing, and substation integration; college and company staff align internships, order-based training, and job pathways; factory engineers convert real product cases—S13-M.RL, S20/S22, amorphous oil/dry, 35–220 kV power units, special transformers, and compact substations—into teachable modules. The result is not only local talent development, but also stronger engineering discipline for export projects that demand IEC-aligned documentation, consistent quality control, and reliable site support.

For international partners evaluating Xinda, the training-base cooperation is best understood as part of the company’s broader quality and service system: 470+ production/test equipment units, 220 kV and below manufacturing capability, energy-saving and smart-substation portfolio, and continuing industry–college programs that connect theoretical electrical education with hands-on transformer manufacturing.

Want a factory-and-training visit plan for your procurement or EPC team?​ Contact Xinda Transformer’s international team to arrange a workshop tour covering core, winding, dry-type/oil assembly, routine testing, and compact-substation integration, plus technical sessions on IEC/GB efficiency, testing, and export documentation.