A month and a half ago, a new tool division started working at the plant. It was created to use the tool production potential as effectively as possible. Serhiy Tarasenko, director of the tool division, answered important points designed to promote the development of the enterprise as a whole and about the role assigned to the new division.

 – Serhii, to begin with, please explain to our readers what is meant by the definition of such an unusual structure for the combine as “division” and what its peculiarity is.

– The divisional organisational structure of management is created when the enterprise grows, technological processes become more complicated, and there is diversification (distribution of investments and risks, financial instruments and strategies) of production by changes in the external environment. That is, an organisational unit with autonomy in the implementation of its daily operational activities is formed around a certain production. However, strategic management tasks are solved centrally.

– How many employees does the division currently have?

As of July 1, the division’s full-time staff (both in plant management and production) was 276 employees, but in fact, 209 were working.

– What were the primary tasks set before you as the head of this structure?

– My main task is to moderate work in the technology-production-sales chain. For example, technological developments regarding introducing new or improving existing types of products must be coordinated with production capabilities; production must be coordinated with sales, and sales must be with shipment. It is necessary to establish the coherence of these processes and the corresponding structures among themselves as much as possible so that they work as a single entity.

– What, in your opinion, is fundamental to the development of the enterprise as a whole?

Previously, the plant’s motto was written on the Gallery of Glory: “Quality of work—Quality of products—Quality of life.” I would call this the philosophy of Zaporizhzhya.
The quality of work is a set of properties of the labour process determined by the employee’s ability and desire to perform a certain task in accordance with the technological process’s established requirements. Product quality is a set of indicators that include properties and characteristics that affect the operation process, are important for the consumer, and provide a competitive advantage in the market for similar products. Quality of life is the degree to which a person’s material, spiritual, and social needs are satisfied. We can safely say that this is an individual indicator. In my opinion, these three interrelated indicators are fundamental to the development of the combined.
As far as the present is concerned, the company is now living in a new era and overcoming new challenges, which requires a particular strategy.

– And how is the stage of development of our enterprise determined now?

— Today’s stage of development of PJSC “Zaporizhabrasive”, according to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, looks like a triad: People – Infrastructure – Markets, and this is where the most attention is now being paid.

– Far from all enterprises, put people first…

People are the company’s most essential resource and most valuable asset. They do what brings profit to the company. In wartime, we have to protect every plant employee. People need to create moral and material motivation. For example, it can be staff training and the possibility of transfer to a higher-paid position, reservation for men, financial assistance for treatment, etc.

– What specialists are currently lacking in the production of abrasive tools?

– There is a catastrophic lack of technologists, shift masters. And the culture of production and, most importantly, control over the quality of manufactured products depend on these specialists. There is also a lack of specialists in labor professions, such as abrasive products molder, bakelizer, procurer, electrician, fitter-adjuster. The implementation of the production plan depends on these workers.

– What percentage of the full-time workforce is currently in short supply directly in the production of abrasive instruments?

— As of July 1 of the current year, the number of employees in the production of abrasive tools was 242 units. The actual number is 196 people, including 17 people who defended our country. Therefore, the shortage of personnel is 63 people, or 26% of the full-time workforce.

– What is the average level of wages in general by the direction of tool production?

– As of July 1, this figure was 16.2 thousand hryvnias. Taking into account the difficult financial and economic situation in the country as a whole and at the combine in particular, the supervisory board and the board of the combine decided to increase the salary level by 20% from July.

– What is included in the concept of “infrastructure” in the context of the aforementioned triad?
– This includes:
• basic equipment (mixers, presses) and auxiliary equipment (climate control), the quality of products also depends on its operation;
• production technology, which ensures the output of quality products according to the manufacturing process;
• warehouses that ensure product quality and safety;
• quality raw materials.
Each of these components to one degree or another affects product quality and cost, to which markets respond.

– What can you say about the production capacities of tool production?

– In the production of cutting wheels, we have 10 presses designed for the production of 2,220,000 pieces per month. The actual loading for the first half of the current year is 937,700 pieces per month. That is, this equipment is only 42.2% loaded. The estimated capacity of the equipment for the production of abrasive tools on a ceramic bond is 6,872 tons per month, and the actual loading for the first half of the year is 33.8 tons per month, which is 48.3%. The equipment for the production of abrasive tools on a bakelite bond has an estimated monthly capacity of 60 tons, and the actual loading is 44 tons (73.3%). This is based on staffing. And in general, the equipment for the production of tools on a bakelite bond is designed for the production of 294 tons of products. As you can see, the production of abrasive tools is loaded at only 50% of its capacity. So we have potential.

– If evaluated in monetary terms, how much can the production of abrasive tools earn under ideal working conditions?

– The gross cost of the tools that the plant can produce is: for a bakelite tool – 5.7 million hryvnias, for a ceramic tool – 12.1 million hryvnias, for cutting wheels – 36.5 million hryvnias. In total, this is UAH 54.3 million per month or UAH 651.6 million per year.

– Yes, but in order to use such capacities, even under ideal conditions in terms of staffing, the corresponding demand and sales are required.

– That is why we are talking about the third component – the market, that is, the organization of logistics and circulation of goods, the ultimate goal of which is the sale of this product directly to the final buyer or through intermediaries. And we simply need to use all types of sales in our work: direct, indirect, intensive, selective, point and exclusive sales. In order to sell the product as quickly as possible, we need to pay special attention to direct sales (when the manufacturer sells the product directly to the end customer), indirect sales (involving an intermediary) and intensive sales (which involve the interaction of the manufacturer with many intermediaries at the same time).
All these types of sales involve working with large, that is, corporate clients, with small and large intermediaries, that is, dealers, and even directly with end consumers.
And all these types of interaction with consumers correspond to the scheme of the organizational structure of the newly created customer service center, the components of which are:
– management of work with corporate business;
– management of work with dealers;
– application processing management;
– application delivery service – logistics;
– management of communications with clients.
The latter is a completely new service for the plant, on which great hopes are placed in terms of finding new potential customers.

– What factors are the driving force for the successful operation of the center?

– The price. Cost. Sales volume.
To ensure the sales volume, we must offer a competitive price. In order to ensure greater profit, we need to strive to reduce the cost of production. But at the same time, produce a high-quality abrasive tool.

– This is quite understandable, and we have a constant struggle for quality, especially with regard to cutting circles. What is being done in this regard now?

– Among other things, we constantly measure and analyze the cutting coefficient criterion for compliance with the norms of this indicator, and take measures to improve it. The average indicator of the cutting coefficient for the most common positions is 1-1.5, and we have questions about some of them, so we do not stop work in terms of quality improvement.
In July, the “Complex of measures to improve the quality of cutting wheels” was developed and approved, which also includes measures to improve the culture of production.
These measures apply to incoming control (grinding material will be delivered to workshop #10/29 with a quality certificate, it must meet the requirements of regulatory documentation), the mixture preparation department (additional measures will be taken to reduce spills during the preparation of the molding mixture, racks will be installed for laying out the molding mass; an electronic system of weighing and storage of weighing data has been implemented to strengthen the control over the production of the molding mixture), molding department (the press equipment will be audited, its suitability for use will be assessed; a logbook will be established for each press for constant control of work on it; cleaning of the press equipment will be implemented after each press changes), bakelization section (repair of AU-2 has already been completed), cassette disassembly and wheel packing section (the cassette disassembly process is being reviewed; a packaging machine for cut-off wheels will be purchased, thereby reducing the labor costs for this operation), general workshop measures (a complete inventory was carried out and scrapping of aluminum and steel plates, which will be replaced with new ones, as well as glass mesh with Teflon coating), quality control of cutting wheels (the method of determining the cutting coefficient of cutting wheels is reviewed and approved; a requirement was introduced to draw up a test protocol with the results of determining the cutting coefficient of cutting wheels).
Today, the order of the Chairman of the Board “On the results of the audit of the production of abrasive tools” regarding the quality control system was issued, which also provides for conducting experimental work on improving the quality of cutting wheels of standard sizes and such inexpensive measures as setting up equipment, observing the technical process, selecting equipment modes, etc.
This set of measures is designed to ensure the most important thing – compliance with the requirements for the safe use of cutting wheels.
We have to go into production of a cutting wheel with a stable standard cutting ratio.

– To introduce the “Economy” line?

– Yes. For each wheel size, there is a normative cutting coefficient – from 0.8 to 1.5. These indicators should form the basis of the characteristics of the “Economy” circle. The “Economy” line provides for the use of less expensive materials, but excludes savings on safety of use or cutting coefficient.
At the beginning of July, we produced a minimum batch of such wheels of standard sizes. The cutting coefficient of the most running wheels, with a diameter of 125 mm, exceeded the standard by 20%.
Circles produced from the weakly magnetic fraction of electrocorundum practically reach the normative cutting coefficient, while their estimated cost is 6.8% lower than a standard circle.
I think it is necessary to continue moving in this direction, to try to select a recipe for running wheels with a diameter of 230 mm, to work on increasing the hardness of the wheels, to continue work on expanding the assortment of “Premium” quality cutting wheels.

– So what, in general, are the most important tasks you define for the instrumental division today?

– The tool division faces a responsible task of raising the quality of cutting wheels, production culture, as well as expanding the lines of “Economy” and “Premium” cutting wheels.