MOSCOW, 6 Nov. 2014. Officials at Russian Helicopters, part of State Corporation Rostec in Moscow, implemented lean technology across the company’s production in 2013 and have found that the lean technology pilot projects delivered a saving of roughly 70 million roubles last year.
Lean technology is a strategy that minimises the volume of energy and material losses in the production process. Russian Helicopters comprises major industrial enterprises across the country. Efficiency and economy in production are two of the key strategies aiming to reduce outlays.
Lean projects are underway in virtually all Russian Helicopters' enterprises. At Rostvertol, the lean technology group has implemented several projects since 2011, such as the 5S approach to organizing the workplace, the SMED system for reducing time taken in equipment changeovers, the Kanban scheduling system for production and procurement, and implementing the TPM approach to maintaining and improving equipment that involves identifying flaws early.
In 2013, the direct economic impact of reduced material and labour input in production, and increased energy efficiency at the enterprise exceeded 12 million roubles.
Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant is implementing projects in this area, including one to 'Establish an efficient production system at the external fuel tank assembly site'. Thanks to this project, the time an employee spent on producing fuel tanks rose from 125.9 to 275.5 standard hours, the time taken to complete an order fell from 113 to 85 hours, and production rose from 8 to 15 sets.
Projects to boost production efficiency are currently being implemented at Kazan Helicopters, Progress Arsenyev Aviation Company, and other Russian Helicopters companies. Stupino Machine Production Plant has implemented a project to 'Reduce the transfer procedure by which parts are processed using CNC'. This project delivered a reduction of 60,000 standard hours in labour input, also cutting spending on design and the preparation of specialised technological production tooling.
In 2013 alone, over 800 new pieces of equipment were installed across Russian Helicopters enterprises. Russian Helicopters must achieve an energy saving of 40 percent on 2010 levels by 2020 by implementing lean technology projects and energy saving initiatives.
Russian Helicopters is the only helicopter design and production powerhouse in Russia, officials say. Russian Helicopters was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Moscow. The company comprises five helicopter production facilities, two design bureaus, a spare parts production and repair facility, as well as an aftersale service branch responsible for maintenance and repair in Russia and all over the world. Its helicopters are popular among Russian ministries and state authorities (Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Emergency Control Ministry), operators (Gazpromavia, UTair), and major Russian corporations.
