Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant Open Joint Stock Company is located in Yekaterinburg, right in the heart of Russia. The construction of the plant was complex. They built an enterprise, residential quarters for employees and the infrastructure of the town for the full life of people and the production complex. It was one of the grandiose plans successfully embodied in reality. The archives of the factory museum and exhibition halls tell the story of the creation of the enterprise, development, modern life and prospects, plans for the future of Uralmash. The whole region is inextricably linked with these plans, because the plant is a driving force in development, one of the flagships of the country's economy.
In the depths of the Ural mountains
The idea of creating a powerful plant in the Urals became apparent shortly after the revolution of 17 years, when the Soviet government realized the need for industrialization of the country. To repel global threats, you need a powerful rich power. The Ural and Siberian regions, rich in their resources, could give an impetus to industrial evolution. After all, where Ekaterinburg now stands, there were dense forests. Now it is a large industrial center, the fourth most important city in Russia. Out of nowhere, enormous efforts were made to build factory shops, thermal power plants, industrial and urban infrastructure - everything that makes up the Ural Heavy Machinery Plant (Uralmash). Uralmashzavod is one of the examples of an integrated approach to solving construction and ensuring the vital functions of a large industrial enterprise. An interesting fact is that the government timed the laying of the first metal construction workshop on the ninth anniversary of the restoration of Bolshevik power in the Urals. It was on this day, July 15, 1919, that Yekaterinburg was recaptured from Kolchak, and nine years later they laid the first stone of the future industry giant of the USSR.
Father of factories
The Ural Heavy Engineering Plant was commissioned in 1933, and the development of the first drawings of the giant was made in 1928. Specialists of the Leningrad Institute for the Design of Metal Works were engaged in designing. The proposed solution took into account the experience of Western countries in heavy engineering. To improve the skills of workers and technical personnel, the project provided for a training base, and for a compact and comfortable living - a residential complex, concentrated around the factory zone.
With the light hand of Maxim Gorky, the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant began to be called the "father of factories." Indeed, with the launch of the enterprise, other sectors of the national economy were able to develop, and heavy engineering constituted a significant revenue part in the country's economy.
Equipment
The equipment of production facilities was supplied by the world's leading giants, at that time it was the best that the world could provide. Leading in their industry German and American companies took part in deliveries. In this regard, the company urgently needed highly qualified workers, engineers, and qualified technical workers. This circumstance contributed to the emergence of the training base of the enterprise, raising the level of education throughout the region.
The company in 1933 began producing equipment for the steel and rolling industries, mining equipment, and produced heavy hydraulic presses and more. Almost all drilling rigs of the Russian Federation, pipe rolling and steel mills operate on equipment manufactured by the Ural industrial giant, and numerous contracts have been signed for the supply of high-quality equipment to Western countries. Gradually, the enterprise acquired capacities that enabled it to become a pioneer in the industry and reach the present with the name of Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant OJSC. Yekaterinburg became one of the centers of industry in the middle Urals.
Historical excursion
Since the launch, the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant has been manufacturing and supplying equipment for the industrial complex of the USSR, this continued until 1941. During the war years of World War II, Uralmash was rapidly redesigned to produce tank weapons in just three months.
The restoration of industry after the war required new machines and equipment; in 1947, the first mining excavator with a bucket capacity of three to five cubic meters was launched at Uralmash. In the late forties, production of walking excavators was established ; in the early fifties, the company produced the country's first pipe-rolling mill designed for seamless hot-rolling pipes .
Critical 90s
In the early seventies of the 20th century, Uralmash, a heavy engineering plant, combined production and intellectual capacities under its name. The association includes five core enterprises and research institutes Tyazhmash. The tandem lasted until 1992, during the period of perestroika, enterprises were transformed into independent economic units. This is a difficult period in the life of the enterprise: the workshops were empty, there were no orders. The state, having lost priorities, almost ruined the industry enterprise. But in 1996, Uralmash joined the United Machine-Building Plants company, this step saved production. Since 2015, the company has been managed by ZAO Gazprombank.
The main activities
OJSC Ural Heavy Engineering Plant manufactures products in several areas and provides a number of non-core services.
Production areas:
- Mining equipment. It includes lines for the production of excavation equipment, crushing and grinding equipment and equipment for the cement industry.
- Metallurgical equipment. This is one of the largest activities of the enterprise. Uralmash manufactures modern firing, blast furnace, sintering and forging equipment; continuous casting machines, rolls for hot and cold rolling mills, as well as tooling and tools.
- Handling equipment. Powerful cranes for metallurgical production, bridge cranes for nuclear power plants, general purpose cranes and specialized models are produced in this direction.
The Uralmash plant in Yekaterinburg provides an opportunity for all interested parties to purchase tools and additional equipment for production sites at any convenient time from the finished goods warehouse. If it is required to manufacture equipment on an individual order, then highly qualified engineers of the enterprise will do it masterly, relying on a treasury of factory knowledge and many years of experience.
Valuable asset of Uralmash
The foundation of any enterprise is the people who work at it. Robotic, mechanized lines cannot completely exclude human participation in production processes. Comfortable conditions have been created for successful work for all personnel levels. This tradition has been laid down since the construction of the plant, when at the same time as the walls of the shops quarters of residential buildings, kindergartens, schools, specialized educational institutions began to grow, the infrastructure of the housing estate was organized.
In general, employees respond positively about the enterprise. The salary level is decent, in some workshops a highly skilled worker receives a higher salary than the engineering staff. A bonus system is provided, overtime hours are recorded and paid. Working conditions and safety at a large enterprise are observed within the framework of the requirements of the Labor Code. Of the negative, arbitrariness of the middle management is often mentioned, but these are more special cases, of which there are many in any large enterprise.
Social town
The area of the social towns of the Uralmash district is 105 square kilometers. The city has two metro stations, which indicates the importance of the place and the comfort of the inhabitants. They began to equip the residential area in 1927, but then the dugouts were the first housing. In their place, wooden barracks were quickly erected, and subsequently full-fledged residential buildings. The architecture of the city is interesting in that it clearly presents the direction of constructivism. One of the attractions belongs to this era - the white water tower. At the time of construction (in the early 30s of the 20th century), it was the largest in the world. Completely made of reinforced concrete. Now it is not in operation and looks more like a monument of its era. The town has parks, a sports complex with a stadium, places of leisure and entertainment, educational institutions.
Prospects
Uralmash (a heavy engineering plant), like most enterprises in Russia, experienced ups and downs, but its significance for the state has never been diminished. Even in the difficult 90s, the plant managed to survive, and now it gets new development prospects. Since the transfer of the enterprise to the management of CJSC Gazprombank, investments have been made in production. So in 2015, an extensive modernization of production facilities began. Contracts have been concluded for work with India, China, Kazakhstan, Italy and other countries.
Representations and plans
In order to optimize the work, the company's management decided to open a representative office in India, from where a large number of promising orders came. The volume of production for 2015 was doubled. In 2016, the company entered into plans and ready-made contracts for the manufacture and supply of equipment.