Agrosila selecting a site for joint production with a UK company

200 combine harvesters repaired a season

In 2018, two new enterprises appeared in the structure of Agrosila holding: Agrosila-Servis, which is responsible for the repair of equipment, and Agrosila-Logistika, which ensures the implementation of technological operations at enterprises.

''We completed the reorganisation with this division. Now we have a classic vertically integrated holding, which is divided into types of business, areas, the accounting of which is transparent,'' Director General of Agrosila JSC Svetlana Barsukova explained to journalists.

The press tour, which was held on 20 March in Naberezhnye Chelny, was dedicated to the new directions. The head of Agrosila-Servis, Pyotr Chaplygin, gave a tour to journalists around the production and repair sites, explaining how the work is organised at the enterprise.

Today, the production facilities of Agrosila-Servis consist of 18 specialized sites, 15 of which are located on the territory of the production base in Naberezhnye Chelny, one site is localized in each of the settlements of Bolshoe Nurkeevo and Dzhalil, one — in Zainsk.

About 200 combine harvesters are repaired a season. The equipment is disassembled, checked for defects, monitored, and then tested

All processes at the enterprise begin in the zone of service reception. Units, aggregates and equipment are received here for repair. Further, depending on how the process unfolds, the unit goes either to the wash or to the turnover stock for storage.

The repair of combine harvesters takes place in the main room of the production site.

''We specialize in combines that are operated in our holding. Third-party orders are not taken. Legally we can do it, and there is a demand. Therefore, we plan to begin it in a year and a half,'' Chaplygin told. According to him, about 200 combine harvesters are repaired a season. The equipment is disassembled, checked for defects, monitored, and then tested.

The company has more than 3k units of equipment

The second wing of the production workshop — the site of wash disassembly. Formally, this is the second stage of all processes.

''Any unit gets into the returnable container, washing is performed with the use of surfactants. We launched this workshop in 2016 in order to optimize the processes,'' explained Pyotr Chaplygin.

After repair and assembly, the engines go to the shop where they are run in. Here, the parameters are taken from the engine to see if it is assembled correctly. According to Chaplygin, so far the company has the opportunity to run in only domestic engines, but plans for 2019 — to purchase a test bench to run in foreign equipment. In addition, the company uses lean production methods that reduce the cost of repairs by optimizing production processes, their stabilization, predictability and planning.

''The sowing machinery is under repair from the end of October to the beginning of April. April 1 is a reference point, because there were years when the sowing campaign began in mid-April,'' Chaplygin told reporters.

He also said that about 50 tractors are repaired annually at the enterprise. In total, the company has more than 3,000 units of equipment.

''The sowing machinery is under repair from the end of October to the beginning of April. April 1 is a reference point because there were years when the sowing campaign began in mid-April

The battery area (where the technical condition of the batteries is maintained) and the hydraulic repair area (high-pressure hoses are manufactured here) are also important sites in Agrosila-Servis. At the end of the tour, Pyotr Chaplygin showed the site where the holding cars are repaired.

''There are a lot of trucks and cars in the holding. It has been decided that we will take over the process of its repair,'' explained the head of Agrosila-Servis.

38 billion rubles in 2018

In the second part of the event, Director General of Agrosila JSC Svetlana Barsukova came to the journalists and summed up the work of the entire holding in 2018. She said that last year the holding increased revenue to 38 billion rubles, which is by 12% more than in 2017. This year, Agrosila plans to increase its financial performance by 15%.

''As for the production in volume terms, in the direction of crop production we produced 361,000 tonnes of grain crops and more than 1 million tonnes of industrial crops. Within the framework of processed products, Zainsky Sakhar plant reached record levels of 170,000 tonnes of sugar, Chelny-Broiler produced 121,000 tonnes of meat in live weight. About 980 million rubles were invested in the repair campaign,'' shared Barsukova.

Answering the question of the correspondent of Realnoe Vremya, Barsukova noted that in general the economic situation in the markets of sugar and poultry has stabilized.

''Naturally, now there is a certain seasonal decline. Every year after the new year holidays the demand for poultry meat declines, plus there is fast that many Orthodox observe, which also affects the demand for meat. In general, the situation in the markets is quite stable now, both the manufacturer and the consumer understand what they want. Therefore, there is a certain parity,'' summed up the head of Agrosila JSC.

The cost of grain increased by 15%

In the conversation with journalists Svetlana Barsukova touched on the topic of grain price growth. According to her, the price increase has been going since 2018, as the yield in Russia was reduced due to weather conditions. Today, the cost of grain has increased by about 15%.

''This, of course, affects the cost of the final product. If we talk about our holding — poultry meat. But at the same time, manufacturers are working on the cost to maintain the price expectations of the consumer, which they have when they come to the store. We are also engaged in this,'' Barsukova noted.

Today, the cost of grain has increased by about 15%. This, of course, affects the cost of the final product. If we talk about our holding — poultry meat

Today Agrosila actively exports products. First of all, it concerns poultry meat, sugar, granulated pulp and molasses. By 2022, the holding is going to triple the volume of poultry meat supplies outside Russia. In addition, it is planned to open export supplies of dairy products. According to Svetlana Barsukova, demand is everywhere.

''These are the countries of the Asian region, the CIS countries, where high-quality dairy products are really required. It is no secret that in the CIS there are more widely represented dairy products with substitutes for milk fat. Therefore, high-quality dairy products are in demand there, especially if the price allows to buy it,'' explained Svetlana Barsukova.

Supplier for McDonald's

The holding is actively working with HORECA, so in 2018 Chelny Broiler became one of the suppliers of McDonald's. As for the supply of other products, Agrosila is planning to build work on sugar and milk.

''There are certain requirements for the contents of milk, which is used in fast food chains in the preparation of cappuccino. We are negotiating and planning to supply these products,'' said Svetlana Barsukova.

When asked whether there is any specificity when working with food networks, Barsukova said that international food networks have high quality standards and requirements for products that should be supplied to these networks.

''That's ok. We meet these requirements,'' she declared.

''We also have unmanned automatic machines''

As for technology, the holding is actively working in this direction. On the territory of the enterprise Agrosila.Chelny-MPK, there is a robotic warehouse that allows to automatically form products. The company intends to automatically generate waybills for cars that transport products without human intervention.

''We also have unmanned machines, they fly and take pictures of the field,'' said Barsukova.

The head of Agrosila JSC said what the holding company is doing not to experience a shortage of personnel, which is now observed in the industry

Elaborating upon the topic of innovation, Svetlana Barsukova told about the bar coding system, which the holding introduced last year at Zainsk sugar factory. The system is unique for Russia, it allows in real time to take into account the products produced from the processing of beets to the moment of its sale to consumers.

''This year we are planning to continue to improve this system, plus integrate it with the video surveillance system. The same system was implemented at Agrosila.Chelny-MPK,'' said Barsukova.

On the question of whether the sanctions risks cause concern, Svetlana Barsukova expressed the hope that ''reason will prevail and there will be no interruptions in the supply of spare parts''.

''The economy regardless of political preferences is primary,'' she added.

''Soybeans and chickpeas are promising both in terms of protein content and possible export''

Summarizing the results of the sowing campaign, Barsukova said that last year the holding sowed two new crops: soybeans and chickpeas.

''They are quite promising in terms of protein content and possible exports. The experiment was successful, this year we are arranging the area of these crops up to 700 hectares. But still within the experiment framework. If this year the experiment confirms its economic efficiency, it will be possible to speak about further use of these cultures,'' Barsukova explained.

The head of Agrosila JSC said what the holding company is doing not to experience a shortage of personnel, which is now observed in the industry.

''We are actively cooperating with the Sarmanovsky agrarian college, participating in all recruitment fairs, actively cooperating with the Agrarian University of the Republic of Tatarstan. We are implementing in the company a mentoring programme, educate our own staff and recruit new ones,'' said Barsukova. The topics of social security and motivation of employees were also touched upon.

Plans include new production of sprayers

Moving on to the plans for 2019, Svetlana Barsukova said that the enterprises of Agrosila plan to actively invest in the modernization of existing and construction of new production facilities. The main areas for investment will be the production of milk, production and processing of poultry meat, sugar and flour production, as well as the cultivation of crops. The total volume of investments planned by the holding for 2019 is estimated at 2,2 billion rubles, about 1 billion rubles of which are invested in investment projects of varying complexity.

The project has already started with the UK company Househam, which provides the supply of innovative sprayers to the fields of Agrosila.

''We have plans to open a joint production for the production of these machines. As soon as we understand that the project is effective, it is possible to make the decision on location,'' Svetlana Barsukova outlined the plans.