OREANDA-NEWS. September 09, 2010. Yury Gerasimov, Director General of KAMAZ-Diesel Inc., made a report participating in an event held at the administration of Naberezhnye Chelny.

The report of the top manager of OJSC KAMAZ’s subsidiary producing power units, diesel and gas engines for trucks and spare parts for them was devoted to activities of KAMAZ-Diesel and maintenance of jobs under crisis conditions.

Already at the very beginning of the recession, production volumes and receipts halved; and, according to the results of 2009, they made 45.5% and 46.8%, respectively, against 2008. Losses of the enterprise in 2009 reached 643.8 million roubles, and the burning issue for the enterprise was to survive and to maintain its jobs.

In order to improve the financial condition of the enterprise, a number of activities were developed to lower costs, which enabled to save 344 million roubles in 2009. Measures for savings on costs to the tune of 634 million roubles were prepared to breakeven this year; and, according to the results of the first half-year, everything is executed according to the planned values. Due to introduced lean production instruments, 52.5 million roubles were saved in 2009, and over 30 million roubles were saved for the first half-year of 2010. Increased labour productivity and an engine assembly cycle reduced more than one-half were great achievements.

Another activity for HR-management under the crisis conditions was to form a “gold” personnel reserve – the list of professions and specialties which determine both the plant’s current activity and its labour potential in the future.

Owing to successful cooperation of the management of OJSC KAMAZ and the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Protection of the Republic of Tatarstan, the workers of the plant were provided with additional jobs and wages for almost a year (from June 2009 to April 2010 inclusive). The number of new jobs created for this period of time grew from 1,052 to almost 7,000.

To date, as regards the development of the new product mix, under way is preproduction of Euro-4 engines with a Common Rail fuel injection system and development of a modern transfer case 6522. Already in 2010, it enabled to create almost 100 new jobs. It is also planned to develop new constructions of front axle details 6522 and production of localized details for ZF gearboxes and Cummins engines (crankshafts, cylinder heads, flywheels). This will make it possible to create 165 jobs, at least.

During the crisis, the scheme of payment was changed. If a worker’s suggestion brings a saving rate, its part will go for his tangible reward. Regulations to create incentives of the personnel for development and promotion of new products have recently been introduced. These regulations provide for payment of rewards for employees who develop and realize new products to the tune of 10% of the marginal revenue.

In conclusion of his report, Yury Gerasimov noted that KAMAZ-Diesel is getting out of the crisis with credit. “We learned how to more effectively manage costs, we became more efficient, adaptive to continuously changing environmental and internal conditions,” he said. “Under conditions which require survival strategies, we continued developing, and, moreover, increased our share in the market and entered new markets. Finally, we maintained our personnel. We hope that, thanks to all these measures, we managed to save our potential in order to become even stronger in a competitive struggle in the future.”