OREANDA-NEWS. January 22, 2009. Yury Klochkov – First Deputy Director General, CEO of KAMAZ Inc. summed up the results of 2008 and told about the company’s production plans for 2009.

He noted that, despite the world economic crisis, in 2008 the output volumes of KAMAZ almost reached the level of production in 2007. There were made 51005 new trucks and 53791 kits. More than 10 thousand vehicles could have been produced if the rates achieved by September had been kept. However, the sales on all outlets were reduced, and there was no point in working for stock.

In 2008 the company solved two big problems concerning a large-scale transformation in many links of the production chain. Firstly, last year KAMAZ started producing vehicles corresponding with the requirements of Euro-3 ecological standards. It led to practically full renewal of the whole model range of commercial vehicles. Secondly, Cummins Euro-3 engines began to be installed on them. These engines were produced by the joint Russian-American enterprise Cummins KAMA. The annual plan for production of 12 thousand KAMAZ vehicles with these engines was executed.

At the beginning of 2008 “The Aims of KAMAZ Production System” were approved.

There were created 4 standard sections on the finish stages of the production chain: at the mother conveyor line-1 where original vehicles are assembled, at the cab and frame gathering conveyors, and also – at KAMAZ-Diesel.

Now a cab assembly department fully corresponds with the requirements to such kind of production in Western Europe. It was exactly due to the introduced KAMAZ production system that 300 cabs were produced per day – without adoption of any new gadgets. Here not only working conditions improved, but also the personnel’s wage considerably increased because it is directly dependent on production volumes. The production system was also implemented at the mother conveyor line-1 which managed to increase its output. Now this line is ready to produce up to 60 vehicles per day.

The KAMAZ production system touched the management sphere too. In 2009 there will be introduced elements of planning and material accountancy on the basis of information technologies with application of the SAP product.

All this will reduce losses and improve the management structure, change the planning system radically. In 2010 the company will go over to production planning by order. Each vehicle will be controlled automatically from the moment of order registration till the shipment of a vehicle to a customer.

But the matter is not only in visible changes, figures and volumes. What’s more important is that the managers and employees changed. They saw and realized how they can benefit from the implemented KAMAZ production system, increase of labor productivity and corporate culture for the enterprise and themselves. According to CEO, this is the main achievement. We have every reason to say that production will be able to quickly respond to the former, pre-crisis demand on the market when it is restored.

In conclusion Yury Klochkov said, “We will survive after the crisis anyway. And we will do everything so that the KAMAZ employees could face these days without losses. We are currently laying down the foundations of our future, post-crisis success.”