Lozovsky forge-mechanical plant

1966–1991

The plant was built in 1966 according to the project of the design institute "Giprotraktorselselkhozmash" ^[2] to provide hot-stamped blanks of the Kharkov group of agricultural engineering enterprises. The location of production was determined by the presence of a large railway junction and the proximity of metallurgical plants in Eastern Ukraine.

In the mid-1970s - the first half of the 1980s, the company was expanded.

At the beginning of 1974, the first fully mechanized line of forging crankshafts was commissioned, and in the same year an energy-repair workshop was created.

In 1979, the press shop was commissioned, and a year later the carriage shop.

In 1982 , a mechanical assembly shop and a workshop for the production of consumer goods were created. As of 01.10.2017, the production of consumer goods was completely destroyed.

After 1991

In the 1990s, in the face of declining government orders, the plant mastered new areas of activity, expanding the range of its products.

In February 1992, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine instructed the plant to master the production of stamped parts for household gas stoves ^[3] and drive axle cases for the PTZ-TI model trolleybuses ^[4] .

In 1995, in accordance with the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the plant mastered the production of bridges for LAZ buses ^[5] .

Also, in May 1995, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine included the LKMZ in the list of enterprises subject to mandatory privatization during 1995 ^[6] . As a result, the state enterprise was transformed into an open joint stock company .

October 28, 1997 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine secured 26% of the LKMZ shares in state ownership for a period of five years ^[7] . After the creation of the Ukragromashinvest leasing company in October 1997, in March 1998, a package of 26% of the plant’s shares was transferred to the company ^[8] . After the expiration of this decree, in 2002, LKMZ entered the Industrial Group UPEC .

In 1999, the plant mastered the production of agricultural tools - in the spring of 1999 the first model was manufactured and put to the test: a spring-loaded hydraulic harrow ZPG-24 Lyra-24 ^[9] .

LKMZ ended the year 2004 with a loss of UAH 6.794 million, but in 2005 increased production by 38% ^[10] , ending 2005 with a net profit of UAH 5.13 million ^[11] .

In October 2005, the plant was certified according to the international quality standard ISO 9001: 2000 ^[12] . The company is preparing to conduct certification according to ISO / TS 16949 .

In June 2006, UPEC launched a program to reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency at LKMZ ^[13] , which included reconstruction of the heat supply system and insulation of building structures, replacement of lighting devices with more efficient ones, introduction of automatic metering of energy consumption and modernization of production ( introduction of soft start systems for process equipment electric motors with a capacity of over 30 kW, optimization of revolving systems, partial transfer of technology LKMZ equipment with gas-flame heating of billets for electric induction).

In September 2006, LKMZ received the status of an approved supplier of component parts for the Swedish concern SKF (the world leader in the production of bearings), becoming the only enterprise in Ukraine that received such status ^[14] .

During the renovation of production facilities, in November 2006, the plant purchased compressor equipment from the Ingelson Rend company (USA) for one of the workshops, worth 0.5 million euros ^[15] . At the end of December 2006, the plant commissioned a numerical control Kharkov-P air plasma cutting machine ^[16] .

In 2006, LKMZ net income increased by 14.4% compared with 2005, to 186 million hryvnia (although the company's net profit decreased ^[17] to 3.2 million hryvnia. 2007, LKMZ ended up with a profit of 11.553 million hryvnia ^[18] .

In 2008–2010 at LKMZ (as in the rest of the enterprises of the UPEC industrial group) a complex automation system for engineering and technological training and computer support for machine-building production was introduced.

By the beginning of June 2008, LKMZ restored the capabilities available in Soviet times for the production of shells for light-armored vehicles, becoming the only enterprise in Ukraine that owns the technology for creating thin-walled armor plates ^[19] .

In general, in the first half of 2008, LKMZ increased production volumes ^[20] , but Ukraine’s accession to the WTO in May 2008 and the economic crisis that began in 2008 in July 2008 complicated the plant’s situation ^[21] . On December 1, 2008, the plant suspended production and began to reorganize personnel with its partial reduction ^[22] . In the first half of 2009, the production and profit of LKMZ decreased significantly ^[23] , as a result, the plant ended 2009 with a loss of 31.1 million hryvnia ^[24] . In total, until the end of 2009, about 800 employees of the plant were laid off ^[25] .

Since April 1, 2010, the plant has restored full-time work ^[26] . In the spring of 2010, LKMZ mastered the production of hulls ^[27] and bridges for the BTR-4 armored personnel carrier ^[28] .

At the end of 2010, LKMZ net income increased by more than 4 times compared with 2009 and amounted to UAH 466.693 million. The financial result amounted to 25.488 million UAH. profit compared to 31,057 million UAH. loss in 2009. ^[29]

In 2011, the plant reconstructed two heating semi-methodical furnaces in the forging shop No. 2. The installation of new regenerative burners manufactured by Teplopribor allowed us to reduce the consumption of natural gas ^[30] .

In September 2013, LKMZ completed the development and mastered the production of a new Dukat-16 disk harrow ^[31] .

In October 2014, the plant was again brought to fulfill military orders for the armed forces of Ukraine, having received an order for the manufacture of transfer boxes for the BTR-4E. At the end of April 2015, the plant manufactured the first transfer case, which was put to the test. In an interview with reporters, the plant’s director, V. Chernomaz, said that military production at the LKMZ would be continued and increased ^[32] .

In April 2015, LKMZ introduced the identification marking of its products (the label is a trademark of LKMZ).

June 24, 2015 in the Kharkiv region an innovative educational cluster “Agrotechnika” was created, which included manufacturers of agricultural equipment (including LKMZ) ^[33] .

In the first half of 2015, the total cost of LKMZ’s output was UAH 400 million, production volumes increased despite a reduction in the number of workers, some of whom were mobilized ^[34] .

In September 2015, the LKMZ design bureau's specialists developed a “device for turning the hull through 180 ° of BTR-4 products when installing mine protection” ^[35] .

In March 2016, it became aware of the production at the LKMZ of the BTR-3 hulls ^[36] ; in October 2018, the LKMZ mastered the production of armored corps of the BTR-4 made of steel “71” ^[37] . Until November 2018, LKMZ was the only enterprise producing the BTR-3 and BTR-4 armored hull ^[38] .

At the time of the collapse of the USSR, the number of employees at the plant was 16,500. In the fall of 2017, the total number of employees was 1,200.

Specialization

LKMZ is a leader in the production of elements of transmissions and chassis for tractors, road construction equipment, manufactures bridges for buses, parts and assemblies for tractor equipment, parts for railway rolling stock, soil-cultivating equipment for use in energy-saving technologies.

In particular, it occupies more than 80% of the CIS market for the manufacture of bridges for road equipment with a carrying capacity of up to 3.5 tons.

The plant also specializes in large-scale mass production of forgings of 300 different types; installed capacity - up to 180 thousand tons of forgings per year.

The main consumers of forgings are enterprises of tractor, automobile, agricultural engineering and railway transport.

Today LKMZ is the only enterprise in Ukraine that manufactures a wide range of forgings for engine building - crankshaft forgings, assembles drive bridges for road-building machines, T-150 tractors and its modifications, spare parts for them, as well as main and cardan gears, carriages suspension system, mounted and traction coupling devices, etc.

Part of the product range of the plant is unique and is not produced in any enterprise of Ukraine. ^[39]

Technology and quality

The use of unique technologies allows you to make forgings of complex shape and high accuracy with a high utilization rate of metal, such as:

• hot extrusion of forgings like hollow and solid trunnions and hubs with a flange;
• punching crankshafts followed by crankpins;
• transverse wedge rolling of solid and hollow forgings such as stepped shafts and gear shafts;
• expansion of ring shaped forgings from stamped billets.

Product Development and Improvement

The development of products for LKMZ is engaged in the Engineering Center of the Ukrainian Design Bureau of transmissions and chassis (UKBTSH) ^[40] .

• UPEC official website
• Examples of the work of CX technology (UPEC channel on youtube)