- Zhanibek Altynbekovich, recently there has been an increased interest in the development of mechanical engineering from government agencies and businesses in our Republic and around the world. Please tell us about the state of the industry and its prospects. - Indeed, the world’s mechanical engineering is developing at a rapid pace. The main catalysts for growth are advanced technological developments that enable the production of ever more efficient machinery and equipment. Every year, more and more machine-building start-up projects are launched in the world, and existing industries are switching to more economical and environmentally friendly engines, introducing new stronger and lighter alloys, improving equipment designs using artificial intelligence. Kazakhstan is no exception in this trend, as at the end of last year, the industry grew in monetary terms by 35% compared to the previous year and exceeded 1.47 trillion. tng. At the same time, in real terms, production also increased by 24%. It should be noted that in the national economy there is main demand for the energy sector. For example, at the end of 2019, the volume of purchases by subsoil users in the oil and gas sector amounted to 7 trillion. tenge. At the same time, the share of local content in the service sector is 50%, and in the purchase of goods - no more than 10%, that is, the need for the energy sector of the Republic alone is several times higher than the volume of production of engineering products by domestic enterprises.   - This year, the whole world is gripped by the coronavirus pandemic. How did these circumstances affect the activities of the Plant? - Indeed, the pandemic has made adjustments to our plans for the current year, at the peak of the sickness rate, up to 10% of the entire team went out on sick leave, but during the measures taken, it was possible to stabilize the situation without losses and even increase production volumes. Interruptions in the supply of imported equipment and components to the mining enterprises of Kazakhstan gave us a chance to capture new market segments. In the conditions of quarantine, our designers and technologists were faced with the task of developing new drawings and production technologies. For example, in the shortest possible time, there was prepared documentation for production of mills MSC 3.2x4.5 and MSHTs 2.7x3.6, which were previously manufactured at enterprises in Russia and Ukraine. Due to the closure of borders with the Russian Federation, Podolsky Zavod placed orders with KLMZ for metal structures for ArcelorMittal Temirtau, and the world famous ThyssenKrupp Industrial company is placing a large-scale order with us for the production of an average drum for the Vostochny open-pit mine instead of its own factories in Germany. - Which of the measures that you have taken to stabilize production would you mention? Was there any support to the Plant from the Corporation and the state?  - Yes, in a pandemic, we have learned to work effectively remotely, because in the summer 80% of the management team was transferred to remote work. We began to treat each other more carefully, supported the initiative of the Corporation to pay targeted social assistance to those in need and to provide additional funds to fight the virus for all employees. In turn, it is necessary to note the support of the Corporation, as one of the main Customers, because even at the peak of the crisis in the metal market, orders for our products were not reduced. Special support was provided by the state represented by the President, who called on banks to provide relaxation of loan obligations, which allowed our plant to refinance a loan from DBK-Leasing. As you know, DBK-Leasing financed a large-scale modernization of the Plant in the amount of over 12 billion tenge, of which 66% has already been paid off thanks to products manufactured on new CNC machines, and KLMZ has become the flagship of mining and processing engineering. - You took the lead in KLMZ one year ago. Please tell us what challenges you have faced and what results have been achieved? - The growth of the plant's production volumes for 8 months of 2020 compared to the same period last year amounted to 35% in monetary terms and 52% in physical terms. I am confident that this year, through joint efforts, we will reach a historic maximum. At the same time, we managed to increase labor productivity by 37%, which made it possible to fulfill additional orders without increasing the number of personnel. Thanks to these factors, the cost of production was reduced, which in turn led to an improvement in financial indicators by 2.5 times. Behind all these results there is a great work of our team, the most important thing is that over the past year we have managed to launch the process of business transformation, learn to think in a new way in all areas. So, in safety and health sector, we have strengthened the focus on proactive indicators, taking into account the microtraumatism, potentially dangerous near miss cases, introduced software for analyzing behavioral audits, and are constantly working on the “Safety Pyramid”. In the field of digitalization, we are completing the implementation of the 1C-ERP accounting system, by the way, last week our project was recognized as the project of the year in the CIS among 150 participants. We are working on digitizing the base of drawings, installed online cameras in all production shops, launched a telegram-bot to update the status of order execution for third-party customers. In order to reduce the balances of inventory and finished products, there has been established a logistics department consisting of competent specialists, which, at the stage of forming applications for materials, can offer analogues available in the warehouses of the Plant. Thanks to the analysis of video surveillance and face-to-face timekeeping, the labor intensity of the production of many products has been reduced, the overrun of metal has been eliminated, which in turn has reduced the cost of production and changed the resource specifications of these products. One of the striking examples of personnel involvement in business transformation is our project "Idea Generator", which allows all employees of the Plant to submit their ideas on saving to Tech. Council, while receiving a remuneration of 10% of the annual effect. For 3 months, 20 ideas have already been submitted to the "Idea Generator", and with each bonus award to employees, the number of ideas in workshops and plant management grows. Overall, I believe that the team has successfully rebooted. Thanks to joint saving measures, with the support of the Corporation, this year alone, without damage to production, costs were reduced by more than 400 million tenge. Activities included: reusing raw materials, optimizing metal cutting, switching to heating oil, mixing winter and summer diesel fuel in winter, reducing material consumption rates, searching for new suppliers of rolled metal to reduce purchase prices, switching from corporate service providers to market offers, optimization of painting technology and product packaging schemes, consolidation of shipment of goods to reduce logistics costs and much more. - Very impressive. In addition to fulfilling the Corporation's orders, do you sell your products to other enterprises? What plans and tasks do you set for yourself for the near future? - Yes, deliveries to third-party customers are one of the development priorities for us and a real confirmation of the competitiveness of our products. Over the past year, we managed to increase the volume of sales data 10 times! Among the new customers: Kazzinc, despite the fact that they have their own machine-building plant - Kazzincmash, ThyssenKrupp, ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Podolskiy Zavod, Makinsky Zavod MakWool, Maikuben Ugol. The production of brake shoes for NK KTZh dump cars, grinding beaters for Samruk-Energo, has been mastered specially under the Samruk-Kazyna Contract import substitution program. Agreements were reached with ERG Service on machining their castings for the production of pumps and components for the needs of the Eurasian Group. One of the most difficult technological challenges for us is participation in the tender for the supply of spare parts for Dunfos equipment, and we are competing with the leading CIS factories seeking to localize these products. Thanks to the highest parameters of machining performed by our machines, we have moved to the second stage of the competition. Now our metallurgists are faced with the task of producing cast billets from high-strength cast iron of the VCh-40 grade according to international standards for the possible export of pumps and shut-off valves to Europe. Despite the successes achieved, one cannot relax even for a minute, as the market is changing rapidly and may make its own adjustments in the form of a pandemic, a crisis in the mining industry, or changes in legal requirements and regulations. For example, from January 2021, the share of mandatory local content in the procurement rules of subsoil users will be canceled. The only universal recipe for all changes is constant development and increased competitiveness. - Zhanibek Altynbekovich, thank you for such a meaningful conversation. - Thank you, I congratulate everyone on the upcoming Machine Builder's Day!