Minnikhanov to Gilmutdinov: ''St. Petersburg Polytechnic University implements its developments, but you're only telling tall tales''
The prototype of ''digital'' assembly plants on Siemens software platform was presented yesterday to President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, who attended the opening of Siemens PLM laboratory at Kazan National Research Technical University named after A. N. Tupolev — KAI (KNRTU-KAI) accompanied by industrial generals. ''We will either have to finally become related to you or find some other way to digitalization,'' Rustam Minnikhanov said in his conversation with President of Siemens in Russia Dietrich Meller and rector of KNRTU-KAI Albert Gilmutdinov. It turned out that the president is very concerned about the ''personnel issue'' — whether this German department will be able to graduate ''people who are already qualified for production''. Read more details in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Siemens gives 25 PLM Software licenses to KNRTU-KAI
The specialized competence centre Siemens PLM Software, or PLM laboratory, opened yesterday on the basis of the German-Russian Institute of New Technologies at KNRTU-KAI. It includes software products and solutions of the international technological concern Siemens, which help to transfer the entire life cycle of the enterprise — from development and design of product, planning, production and maintenance of finished product – into digital format. It does not matter whether it is a car, helicopter or sea frigate: in all cases, the technologies of assembly production, which are majority in plants in Tatarstan, are subject to common principles of management.
Presenting the digital capabilities of Siemens PLM Software laboratory, rector of KNRTU-KAI Albert Gilmutdinov said that the laboratory has 25 commercial licenses to maintain the entire life cycle of enterprises (by the way, one license is for additive production – editor's note) and 500 academic licenses for specialized software for students. ''Today it is the most equipped laboratory in the republic. Many companies actively use this package. This allows to fully arrange the digital design, to implement digital tests, digital production and to ensure digital operation,'' Albert Gilmutdinov praised the German laboratory in front of general directors of large enterprises.
What are we talking about, Mr Minnikhanov?
And it is for a reason: the hall of Siemens engineering centre was fully packed. Together with the president, the laboratory was visited by ''regulars'' of industrial gatherings — head of Kazan Helicopters Yury Pustovgarov, head of POZIS Radik Khasanov, director general of the shipbuilding corporation Ak Bars Renat Mistakhov, head of Tatenergo Rauzil Khaziev — in total, more than 20 industrial generals. Surprisingly, among them there also was head of Kazan Aircraft Production Association Nikolay Savitskikh, who usually ''skips'' reporting board meetings of the ministry of industry and trade of Tatarstan and rarely appears in public. They had to listen to the presentation lecture of the rector of KNRTU-KAI for 30 minutes. Looking ahead, we will tell that no question followed from them — the speech either seemed uninteresting to them or there were more important things to do.
''What are we talking about, Mr Minnikhanov?'' Albert Gilmutdinov moved to the point of the presentation, but again, he nearly drowned in pretentious rhetoric. ''This potential allows to carry out digitisation in design, testing, to implement full support of the production and ensure digital exploitation. All these problems are solved by software complex Siemens alone,'' Gilmutdinov told, showing on the screen how different structures in the plane are assembled. According to him, the main activities of PLM laboratory with the use of Siemens PLM Software are following: aviation equipment and technologies, advanced technologies and materials of science-intensive engineering; laser and additive technologies. As an illustration, the guests were shown a drone sample fully designed and developed on Siemens software complex.
Now the project has about 50 industrial partners. One of them is KAMAZ, with which Siemens is conducting a simulation of truck hits on the roads and assesses their effects. Each company has its own Siemens module. ''The module with 3D design is very good for the aircraft plant, the module of engineering calculations – for the helicopter plant, the most powerful implementation of the production organization goes at KAMAZ. I mean, all of them have Siemens, but in parts. So we will invite leading experts by modules. Our centre is a point where everyone gathers in one place,'' Gilmutdinov explained. He offered to make Siemens PLM Software lab the centre for digital transformation in the republic, as well as leading platform for advances training of employees of the enterprises in the Republic of Tatarstan.
Gilmutdinov asked to purchase the modules Tecnomatrix PlanSimulation and Tecnomatrix Process Simulate in order the engineering centre had a full line of hardware-software Siemens equipment.
Dietrich Meller: ''We are here because no company in Tatarstan is included in EU sanctions list''
But the main value of Siemens PLM Software laboratory, according to the plan of the rector, is that all students of KNRTU-KAI will train on the German software. ''We will implement this programme at all levels of education,'' assured the rector. At the same time, the university is aimed at commercial retraining of personnel for Tatarstan enterprises. Now the curriculum of Siemens includes 86 educational modules, but more than a dozen secondary ones are being prepared, Gilmutdinov reported. In short, the digitalization of Tatarstan enterprises will be carried out on the platform Siemens.
Following him, President of Siemens in Russia Dietrich Meller noted that the digital economy needs competent specialists and the laboratory would just help to train them. Later, Dietrich Meller explained to Realnoe Vremya that European sanctions did not influence and will not affect the course of this project because none of Tatarstan companies-industrial partners were not included in EU sanctions list.
Science should advance enterprises, but it turns out the opposite
''We have the large machine-building complex — KAMAZ, Sergo, power engineering, Zelenodolsk plant named after Gorky, helicopter plant, which need digital partners,'' the Tatarstan president told in response. ''So we need other ways to find it or we finally should intermarry,'' he hesitated. ''Do you have any questions?'' he quickly looked at the directors generals. Then he decided to speak about the sore point instead of them. According to the president, enterprises lack qualified personnel to transit to digital economy. ''You need to solve applied problems. They should help us to get those people who are already qualified for production,'' he addressed personally to the rector of KNRTU-KAI. ''Here you say that you aren't worse than the Petersburg Polytechnic University. But they really implement their developments, but you are only telling tall tales,'' he said. The president saw no success in the partnership of the university with KAMAZ, on the contrary, he blamed for it is not science to be the first to bring producers in innovations, but its direct competitors. ''They are ahead of you,'' said Minnikhanov. ''We see how BMW works. You do not know that they (KAMAZ – editor's note) brought people from there. If you can not make a product competitive, then you will only have Siemens showroom,'' Tatarstan president told and left the laboratory.