The BATE holding company, visited by SOYUZ correspondents, manages to keep up with the tense industrial pace in the face of sanctions pressure. The lack of foreign components for Belarusian and Russian automakers has greatly boosted the demand for domestic components for the machine-building industry of the Union state. The company has new tasks that Borisov production workers successfully cope with.
Bet on your
Before entering the stores, one familiarizes oneself with the geography of the cooperation. In addition to Belarusian manufacturers of automotive equipment and tractors, the main consumers of JSC “BATE” products – the management company of the holding “Autocomponents” – Russian car assembly enterprises. Among them are KAMAZ, GAZ, URAL, UAZ, Vasily Lavnik, deputy director of industrial and technical policy and development, presents the case:
– These are strategic Russian partners with whom long-term prospective cooperation programs have been developed and coordinated. The sanctions have given new impetus to our cooperation. Some of the automotive components that have been imported into the automotive assembly lines of the Russian Federation are now mastered and supplied by us. In addition, the work of expanding the range of these products is expanding every year, and the programs are being updated, as the range of equipment is constantly growing.
The Autocomponents holding brings together 11 industrial companies. Each is specialized in the production of a certain group of components. BATE manufactures starters and generators, Avtogidrousilitel manufactures steering gears (by the way, it is the only manufacturer of such products in the post-Soviet space!), Belcard manufactures cardan shafts, EKRAN manufactures electronics and anti-lock braking systems. Each of these components is equally important, because without any of them the car will not drive or even start.
After the collapse of the USSR, holding companies took the path of preserving acquired skills and technical school, says Vasily Lavnik:
– We maintained our independence from foreign suppliers, so we were able to quickly adapt to work under sanctions, increase our presence in both the domestic and Russian markets. Today, according to our specialization, we can master absolutely any product in a complete cycle – from design to production. No subcontracting, no outside help.
The holding managed to significantly increase its presence in the Russian market. Growth rate – 138%
In order to maintain positions in the market of component manufacturers, the staff of the organization, mainly its corps of engineers, designers and technologists, constantly improve the design of components, expanding the range of products. The company has already mastered the production of import replacement starters and alternators for the assembly lines of MAZ, MTZ, KAMAZ and other companies instead of the previously supplied German, Slovenian and Japanese products.
Today, one of the main investment projects is implemented at the Rudensk plant, which designs and manufactures lighting devices for the automotive and tractor industries. The main consumer of new generation LED-based equipment will be the Russian GAZ group.
working time
The process of launching new products into a series is debugged to the smallest detail. First, the required technical characteristics of the automotive component are negotiated with the customer, the design is developed and agreed, then prototypes are manufactured and tested. The next step is a pilot batch. If this does not cause consumer complaints, mass production begins.
We go to the assembly workshop of the BATE factory. There are three conveyors inside. Two for the assembly of starters of a large group for MAZ, KAMAZ, URAL, MTZ and other mechanical engineering heavyweights, and one for the assembly of smaller starters, which are mainly used for gazelles in the Federation from Russia. From there, new starters are sent for testing, where special equipment each checks more than 20 parameters. Good products are marked and sent to the customer.
An increase in efficiency cannot be achieved without a constant renewal of the equipment park, the acquisition of automatic lines, automatic machines, modular and special semi-automatic machine tools, says Deputy Chief Engineer – chief technologist Dmitry Mitskevich:
- We are implementing an investment project for the purchase of about 50 units of equipment, half of which have already been purchased. By the end of the year we will deliver approximately 15 more units and by the end of 2024 we expect to reach design capacity. The equipment comes mainly from China, Taiwan and Russia. These are CNC machining centers, milling and turning equipment, welding machines, galvanizing lines for coating parts.
I notice that the factory practices multi-machine maintenance – one operator maintains several machines at the same time. We move on to foundry, where parts are produced from aluminum and its alloys by high-pressure casting. Robotic complexes independently perform metal casting and billet turning. Lubrication of forms also occurs automatically. Dmitry Mitskevich clarifies:
- The task in the near future is to automate production as much as possible in order to reduce the labor intensity of the process.
Undoubtedly, Western sanctions have added difficulties to our businesses. But it also opened up new possibilities. Over the past few years, the holding has managed to significantly increase its presence in the Russian market. In 2022, product exports amounted to $147.6 million. The growth rate is 138%. The upward trend in export indicators continues this year: in the first quarter of 2023, it increased by almost 50%.
Besides
Today JSC “BATE” employs more than a thousand people. The production area at two industrial sites exceeds 90,000 square meters, the number of technological equipment is more than 3,500 units.
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