KAMAZ summed up the results of the annual contest in invention and rationalization for 2017: overall savings from all introduced innovations exceeded RUB 277 mn.
Almost 1,200 KAMAZ employees are authors of innovations and rationalization proposals. Valery Pluzhnik – Chief Expert of the Chief Engineer's Office at the Foundry – became the Best Inventor of the Year. The Best Rationalizer of the Year title went to Foreman of the Industrial Truck Shop at the Engine Plant Asif Shakhbazov. For the second year in a row, winners have been determined in two new nominations. Konstantin Popov, Chief Design Engineer of the R&D Center, was named the Best Young Inventor of the Year, and Farit Gimadiev, Chief Expert of the Automobile Plant, became the Best Young Rationalizer of the Year.
The Best Rationalization Proposal of the Year is an idea suggested by Andrey Ukhov, Deputy Chief Technologist of the Foundry for Support of Production. Changes in the design of a gating system for the "Bracket" cast brought him the victory in the contest. Six months after implementation, the project saved over RUB 10 mn.
The best innovation of the year is a machine for cable cutting and stripping of conducting cores which is already operating at the foundry. The economic effect for a year since the moment of its introduction exceeds RUB 350 thous.
According to the data of the bureau for patent-licensing and innovation activities of the Research and Development Center of KAMAZ, 72 protection documents for industrial property were received for the whole year. Eleven of them are for innovations, 54 – for useful models, four – for industrial samples, and three – for computer programs. 163 industrial properties and 1,477 rationalization proposals were used.