Belarusian Kuzlitmash to make unique presses

BREST, 18 October (BelTA) – The Pinsk-based manufacturer of forging, pressing, and foundry equipment OAO Kuzlitmash is busy implementing an investment project to start making presses with no analogs in Belarus, Kuzlitmash Director Maksim Zakharenko said.

Starting the production of universal crank hot stamping presses with the force up to 25 meganewtons (MN) and enhanced technological capabilities is on the list of innovative projects and measures of the government program on innovation-driven development of the Republic of Belarus in 2021-2025, which are being realized in Brest Oblast. The Industry Ministry is the customer.

Kuzlitmash intends to offer a lineup of three typical sizes of presses with the forces as large as 10, 16, and 25 meganewtons. “In other words, with the forces ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 tonnes. The force parameters of the presses have been chosen as the most popular ones in the standard lineup. The product range may be extended in the future if necessary. We intend to create equipment able to combine the universality and functionality of hot stamping and warm stamping. It is a new kind of products. Complete import substitution. It will have no analogs in Belarus and will have high export potential,” Maksim Zakharenko explained.

The R&D work to design the new presses is partially financed by the state budget. A total of Br13 million has been invested so far. The company is busy buying modern metalworking equipment, building the foundations for setting up the new pieces of equipment. Four new machine tools will be installed. One has already been installed and operates successfully. Another one will be delivered by the end of the year.

A press with the force of 1,600 tonnes (16 MN) will be the first one Kuzlitmash will make. The developmental prototype will be made in late 2024. After that design documents will be adjusted and commercial production will begin. The company intends to make up to seven presses like that per annum.

Kuzlitmash intends to sell the new presses to potential buyers in Belarus and Russia. Those are flagships of the Belarusian mechanical engineering industry such as MTZ, MAZ, Belcard, and other enterprises that have forge and press shops in need of modernization and retooling.

Making hot stamping presses represents a small part of the company's total manufacturing business. Kuzlitmash is part of the holding company BelAZ and supplies modules and parts for the haul trucks BelAZ makes. These products account for about 70% of the total output. “Our parts are shipped daily and go to assembly lines immediately,” the Kuzlitmash director clarified.

Kuzlitmash also makes press-forging equipment. “We are now seriously refreshing the lineup to match modern reality. We started doing it when we became part of the holding company. In 2012 Kuzlitmash made 2-3 units of press-forging equipment. In 2019 the enterprise made as many as 45-50 units. We've recently started repairing this kind of equipment, too,” Maksim Zakharenko said.

Three years ago Kuzlitmash started making and certified the production of metal structures used in the civil engineering industry: arched girders, flights of stairs, crane track girders. The enterprise made 2,000 tonnes of such structures in 2022 or enough to build an entirely new factory. According to the director, it is a very popular business that the enterprise intends to develop further.

The history of the public joint-stock company (OAO) Kuzlitmash began in 1974 when the first startup complex of the Pinsk forge-and-press automatic lines factory was commissioned. At present Kuzlitmash makes over 50 items of press-forging equipment and foundry equipment.