Dmitry Nazarov,
Team Leader-Maintenance:

– I have been doing repairs for almost my entire career. I started as a 2nd-rate fitter, worked for six years at the “Electrostal” plant, earned a 5th-class rating, became a foreman, and spent the last eighteen months as a mechanical engineer. When I graduated from the institute, I received an offer to work at “Beko” as an engineer, came here, and joined the plant in 2011. At first, I worked on refrigerators, then in 2013, when the company created a repair service, I was transferred there as a mechanical engineer. And so, in 2019, I was promoted to the position of Head of the Equipment repair and maintenance department.

Our department is responsible for the repair of all process equipment at the plant, with the exception of power supply equipment: substations, boilers, and compressors are handled by a different department. Currently, the department employs 45 people, roughly divided into mechanics and electronics engineers. The department composition is constantly changing: for example, there are now more electronics engineers on staff than there were at the very emerging of the repair service, because the equipment we are responsible for is also changing. Previously, we had only three mechanical engineers; now, each department at the plant has its own assigned mechanical engineer and electronics engineer. The repairs are carried out by qualified personnel supervised by the engineers.

In general, an engineering approach is the fundamental principle of our work and the key quality that every employee must possess. Our mechanical engineers also work as designers – when necessary, they design, prepare drawings in software, and submit them for manufacturing the required unit or part. Electronics engineers write their own programs or modify the existing ones, and assemble the equipment control cabinets themselves. Our team is not just high-level specialists – they are multipurpose experts ready to take on any task, and I am proud of all my employees.

We have to face many challenges. The main one is to prevent manufacture downtime due to equipment failures, and if they do occur, to fix them as quickly as possible. But we also have schedules for the equipment routine inspection and maintenance. Inspections, lubrication – all of this has to be done at night or on weekends, when the plant is idle and the equipment can be turned off. And I’d like to do more preventative maintenance, but the team, in my opinion, is already overloaded: we have 11 fitters handling 270 pieces of equipment. We work constantly, 24/7, because otherwise it’s impossible: our department is the heart of the plant; if it stops, all manufacture stops. Everyone here understands it, so people work with full dedication. And we have another reason to be proud – we have virtually no employee turnover.

Evgheny Ukraschenok,
Electronic Engineering Program Leader:

– I’m originally from the hero-city of Volgograd, where I worked at an oil refinery. In March 2011, I arrived at the “Beko” plant and got a job in the IT department, but after three months, I had to return home to resolve the problems. I really liked everything at “Beko”, and in November, I returned – but there was no longer an IT expert position, so I proceeded as electrician in the electronics department. At my previous occupation, I had experience working with electrical and electronics, and here I quickly learned the local equipment – and after a year and a half, I was able to work independently as a senior electrician. At that, I received a higher education, graduating from the Volgograd State Technical University in 2014, and I was offered a position as an engineer. In 2018, I was promoted to lead engineer, and now I am the head of the electronics department group, deputy head of the automation repair service, and I supervise 16 people: 6 engineers – including the group leader, 2 technicians, and 8 electricians.

Now we are facing a situation in which, due to sanctions, we have to change something, look for analogues, and switch to new types of equipment. Every day there is something new – and that’s good, we don’t have a routine. It can be difficult, but that’s exactly what an engineer’s job is: to seek solutions, to find new ways and means to make everything work as it should.

Our plant is ideal for learning and development – here, people can take risks, listen to experts’ advices, and invest the resources. But our specialists are also well-rounded. Working with such a team can be challenging: everyone has his own opinion, and we don’t have a bossy “I said so, so be it!” attitude. But I’m proud that in our company, truth is born in debates. When you debate with true experts in their field, you gain both knowledge and invaluable experience

Ivan Vatutin,
Senior Mechanic Engineer:

– I’m from the city of Kirzhach. I started my career in the forestry, and after college, I worked in auto repair shops. Then I went to university, interned in the city of Vladimir, at “Mikron” JSC as a design engineer, and then worked in the same position at ThermoLaser LLC, combining two jobs and my studies. After graduation, I worked as a design engineer at the “Volgabus” plant, a bus manufacturer. At the end of 2019, due to family circumstances, I had to return and look for a new job. It was “Beko” manufacturing who responded to my CV. Honestly, I didn’t think they’d hire me there, but I passed the interview and was hired as a mechanical engineer.

My area of responsibility in manufacture is the plastics workshop and the washing machines line. My main task as a lead mechanical engineer is to keep everything running smoothly, which means organizing repairs and ensuring the warehouse has the necessary spare parts. Our work isn’t limited to simply replacing parts on equipment and maintaining it. Sometimes we have to build something from scratch, from the initial idea and drawings to its final implementation in metal. This requires design skills, finding new process solutions that comply with GOSTs – and for this, you need to know these standards. I’m good at this, and I’m proud to be able to prove myself here as a professional.

In general, everyone in the team has some achievements and strengths that help everyone in the teamwork.

Maxim Ushkalov,
Senior Mechanic Enginee:

– I joined the “Beko” plant in the year of its opening – in 2006. Before that, I had worked at other companies, and my good friend and colleague, the former head of the mechanical production workshop, invited me here. That’s why I joined this shop as a mechanical production foreman, and in 2010, I was transferred to the position of mechanical manufacture shop engineer. Early in 2013, our company established an equipment repair and maintenance department, to which I was transferred as equipment repair engineer. Now I am the lead mechanical engineer in the repair department.

The department has developed an equipment maintenance system that I consider unique for our conditions. Our manufacture is practically continuous, we allocate only the idle time for routine and preventative maintenance, but the equipment also wears out continuously. To reduce risks and prevent downtime, we inspect the equipment directly during its operation, trying to identify which unit is at risk of failure, and schedule its repair in advance for the weekend. We also analyze all the causes of downtime and breakdowns, looking for solutions – replacing the problematic unit with a similar one or modifying the existing one. We test, design, and manufacture new parts; if there’s a positive effect, we move on to another unit. And so it is throughout the plant – constant improvements, today on one line, tomorrow on another; this process is practically endless for us.

For example, on one of our lines, the drive shafts were constantly breaking, requiring repairs almost every month. Meanwhile, on the same line in Turkey, there were no such problems. We paid a visit and checked – it turned out they had larger gearboxes. We couldn’t obtain the drawings for them, so we decided to redesign the drive units ourselves. We have obtained the management approval and the funds. Everything we could, we manufactured right here at the plant. There were no failures with these drive shafts for several years by now.

We have to be versatile. And never give up: if there is a problem, we must resolve it; for us, there is no word “impossible”!