Research on pathways for intensive sharing management of small high-temperature equipment in laboratories

Intensive management is a crucial measure for optimizing the allocation and sharing of scientific research equipment in universities. Exploring the practical difficulties in its implementation and overcoming management bottlenecks based on advanced concepts are crucial for enhancing the scientific competitiveness of university research. Small high-temperature equipment, as an essential infrastructure for experimental teaching and scientific research, is widely applied in chemistry, geography, and life sciences. However, during its operation, it encounters multiple safety hazards such as high-temperature burns, fire explosions, and electrical short circuits. Under the intensive management model, as the scope of equipment sharing expands and the usage frequency increases, the contradiction between the increase in the safety risk index and the demand for sharing, the contradiction between frequent use and maintenance guarantee, and the contradiction between differentiated experimental needs and instrument function adaptation have become increasingly prominent, severely affecting the safe and stable operation of the laboratory and the improvement of research quality. Therefore, a systematic solution needs to be urgently developed.

This study used the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Disaster Risk Reduction with a fishbone diagram as an example to overcome the existing drawbacks of the intensive management of small high-temperature equipment and deeply analyze the causes of these drawbacks. The Six Major White Hats method from enterprise lean production management was introduced, and its feasibility and adaptability for intensive management of small high-temperature equipment were demonstrated from the perspectives of concept-scenario compatibility and multi-concept synergy. Based on the feasibility analysis, the following targeted implementation paths were further proposed: “planning white hat”: to coordinate resource layout and optimize the allocation system, “standard white hat”: to standardize the entire process operation and strengthen safety control, “training white hat”: to enhance personnel safety literacy and lay a solid foundation for standardized operation, “inspection white hat”: to improve the risk prevention network and reduce potential equipment hazards, “emergency white hat”: to establish a response plan system and enhance the ability to respond to emergencies, and “improvement white hat”: to dynamically iterate the management mechanism and promote continuous upgrading of the model, ultimately building a lifecycle management system centered on “preventing risks, standardized operation, resource optimization allocation, and continuous improvement.”

The implementation proved that this innovative management system, with its refined, standardized, and collaborative management logic, not only specifically resolved the inherent mechanism defects of the intensive management model but also effectively balanced the adverse impacts of the external environment, thereby effectively promoting the transformation and upgradation of small high-temperature equipment management from passive response to active optimization and demonstrating outstanding application effects for strengthening safety control, promoting the release of equipment usage efficiency, and supporting scientific research breakthroughs.

This study proposes a scientific and efficient operational model for the intensive management of small-scale equipment in universities and provides new insights into balancing safety and efficiency in shared research equipment systems. Moreover, the cross-disciplinary application of this management tool offers a practical reference for advancing refined management in university research laboratories.