Exactly twenty years ago, on April 26, 2002, Sergey Kogogin took the post of General Director of KAMAZ. Not only did he manage to bring the enterprise out of the crisis, but also KAMAZ became the leader of the Russian automotive industry under his leadership.
The fifth general director of KAMAZ exercises macroeconomic management, personally controls the production process, new design developments, concludes profitable contracts, solves legislative problems, protecting Russian automakers’ interests. The twenty-year period of Sergey Kogogin's work was marked by a number of significant events.
PAYMENT OF SALARY
Delays and irregular payment of wages in the 90s, worsening of socio-economic conditions were a misfortune not only for KAMAZ, but also for enterprises throughout the country. One of the new general director’s first achievements was the solution of this issue. Since then, KAMAZ workers have been receiving wages on time.
RETURN OF SOCIAL PROGRAMS
Another legacy of the 90s inherited by Sergey Kogogin was frozen social programs. The change in priorities in this area has increased social welfare expenditures. Thus, they amounted to 74.4 million rubles in 2003, the social package grew to 354 million rubles in 2006, it exceeded 603.8 million rubles in 2011, 946 million rubles in 2021.
JOINT VENTURES
In 2005, Sergey Kogogin began to involve eminent world companies in joint work. The general director set his own conditions – cooperation meant the establishment of joint ventures in Naberezhnye Chelny. Successful was cooperation with ZF KAMA, Cummins KAMA, KNORR-BREMSE KAMA, Federal Mogul Naberezhnye Chelny, Fuso KAMAZ Trucks Rus, Mercedes-Benz Trucks Vostok, CNH-KAMAZ Industry, DK RUS.
LEAN PRODUCTION
In 2006, the main task was to create KAMAZ’s own Production System (PSK). It has become necessary to combat all kinds of waste and continuously improve the production process. Now, following the principles of the PSK, identifying and preventing losses have become a kind of philosophy and way of life for KAMAZ employees, and the KAMAZ Production System is recognized as the best in Russia. This is confirmed by the certificate in the field of lean production management. The auto giant was the first large Russian enterprise to receive it.
QUALITY PRODUCTS
Achieving a competitive level of product and service quality ensures a stable financial position of the company. In 2006, KAMAZ became the only auto engineering enterprise to receive the Prize of the Government of the Russian Federation in the field of quality. The quality management system of KAMAZ PTC was recognized as complying with the requirements of the international standard ISO 9001:2015 and GOST R ISO 9001-2015. The certificates of conformity are issued by the Russian Register Certification Association.
PRODUCTION REENGINEERING
In 2014, KAMAZ headed for reengineering, which involves restructuring capacities and areas, optimizing production processes and logistics, introducing smart tools and industrial robots. The most part of robots is installed at the cab frame plant (155 units), at the engine plant and the press-frame plant. The goal by 2030 is smart modular manufacturing and the use of 660 robots.
NEW R6 ENGINE
In December 2017, a new assembly line for the production of R6 engines was launched. Equipped up to the state of the art, it is in no way inferior to foreign analogues. This motor is designed for the generation of K5 trucks.
FROM K3 TO K5 GENERATION
Before Sergey Kogogin’s management, KAMAZ was producing only trucks of the classic family. Gradually, the company started updating the model range, both heavy and light-tonnage trucks. These vehicles became known as the K3 generation. Since 2013, the serial production of K4 trucks has begun. In three years, the company has brought to the market 13 K4 models in different versions, the most popular was KAMAZ-5490. It was succeeded by the newest generation K5 KAMAZ-54901 produced since 2020. This is the first KAMAZ premium truck.
PLANT OF THE XXI CENTURY
On May 27, 2019, a plant was put into operation for the production of cab frames for trucks of the K5 generation, the most modern in Russia and one of the best in the world. It has the highest level of automation in the country, its capacity is designed to produce 55,000 cabs per year.
SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES
KAMAZ is today considered the top developer of solutions for unmanned vehicles in Russia. The company started its Avtorobot project in 2014, built the first Odyssey unmanned vehicle in 2015. The Shuttle electric bus was developed by KAMAZ together with the NAMI State Scientific Center in 2017. Robotic vehicles are used for inter-factory transportation.
KAMAZ AND GAS
NGV production is one of the company’s main business areas with growing importance. In 2015, the production building of gas vehicles was opened. Production capacity is up to 8,000 vehicles per year. The program of NGV development is constantly updated at the state level, and KAMAZ's initiatives find support.
ELECTRIC BUS
KAMAZ was the first Russian enterprise to start production of electric buses in 2017. This is the most high-tech and environmentally friendly product of the company. A year later, the KAMAZ-6282 model opened an electric bus system in Moscow. Now electric buses are being tested in other cities of the Russian Federation – St. Petersburg, Belgorod, Kazan, Perm, Ufa.
STATE AND PUBLIC ACTIVITIES
Besides business activities, Sergey Kogogin is doing a lot of work in public service. In 2004-2009, he was a deputy of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan. Since 2006, he has been the head of the Association of Russian Automakers NP. Under Sergey Kogogin, KAMAZ became a company that contributes to the development of cultural and spiritual values: it financially supported the construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, the Kul Sharif mosque in Kazan, assists the Lerman Chamber Orchestra and the art gallery of Naberezhnye Chelny. The General Director of KAMAZ personally helps gifted children in Naberezhnye Chelny.