The Longest Serving Workshop Team

Modern Group salutes the Guan family as the longest-serving workshop employees.

Guan Yan An was born in 1965 in rural Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, about halfway between Beijing and Shanghai, on China's East coast. As a boy, Guan Yan An helped his parents on the farm while he was studying his schoolwork. However, as times became difficult, Guan Yan An stopped formal learning after elementary school to begin working to contribute to his family. Guan Yan An learned about construction as a teenager and became a trade carpenter. He liked carpentry, mechanics, and working with his hands. In the 1990s, Guan Yan An began to use his knowledge to organize construction teams to subcontract labor for China's booming construction market. By now, he was married with two sons, Guan Zhong Yue and Guan Zhong Wei.

After China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the steel fabrication industry began to blossom in China, with scores of workshops opening, offering new opportunities. In 2003, Guan Yan An joined the steel fabrication industry and worked as a fitter and welder. By 2008, Guan Yan An led a team of fabricators that included both sons. In 2010, Mr. Guan joined the Modern Heavy Industries production team as a subcontractor but felt very comfortable working with Modern Group. Guan Yan An, Guan Zhong Yue, and Guan Zhong Wei joined Modern Heavy Industries as fitters and welders as permanent employees in 2011.

In November of 2022, Guan Zhong Yue, now 36, became the factory director of MDHI. He is the father of one son and two daughters. Yue's brother Wei, 33, is a lead fitter/welder with one son and one daughter. The elder Guan Yan An remains an indispensable veteran fabricator who continues to train and mentor new employees and play with his five grandchildren.