Moscow. April 25. INTERFAX – Shvabe Holding of Rostec State Corporation unites dozens of industrial facilities and research centers throughout Russia. Today it is the core of the optical industry of the Russian Federation. By the end of 2021, the portfolio of intellectual property objects of the holding amounted to 2,597 units, the range of products – more than six thousand items.
Sergey Dmitrochenko, Deputy General Director of Shvabe for Sales Development, marketing and service support of civilian products, told Interfax about the tasks of import substitution, diversification of production, and increasing the volume of current products.
- Sergey Alekseevich, the Innoprom exhibition and the Shvabe Holding Company are among the participants opened today in the capital of Uzbekistan. What are your developments that visitors will see this year?
- We are traditionally represented by several companies at Innoprom. This year, these are the Ural Optical and Mechanical Plant, NPO Orion and the Polyus Research Institute, a subsidiary of Shvabe-Moscow.
In the joint Rostec exposition, we show both new and already proven civilian products. Among the key ones, I will note the layout of a new oxygen concentrator and a unique Russian SWIR camera that sees through fog, smoke and tinting, projects of medical special vehicles and a school bus. In addition, we present the Sensorex pulse oximeter for measuring and monitoring saturation and the Bonny mobile incubator.
In the business program, we have planned a number of signatures related to technology transfer in the field of urban infrastructure and the energy sector of Uzbekistan. We are also ready to act as a comprehensive technology partner in projects of various directions, including those related to the integration of initiatives in the field of creating healthcare facilities. We expect to talk about this and other relevant topics of our work in detail with our partners directly on the site.
- Regarding civilian products - what is its share in the total sales of Shvabe?
- I would not separate the total volume of production and the sale of civilian products. One of our growing areas is complex projects using the solutions of the holding. Through them, through these projects, we can promote our own products.
I will give as an illustrative example the implementation and maintenance of intelligent transport systems. This is a project that allows us to establish feedback with the market and make an objective picture regarding future production volumes – photo and video cameras, traffic lights, telecommunications solutions; plan the modernization of the equipment produced.
- What is the role of the holding in the global strategy of Rostec State Corporation for the diversification of defense industries?
- In the Rostec circuit, we occupy an important niche in the production of medical equipment – there are more than 200 items in our nomenclature – and the implementation of healthcare projects. Here, the competence of Shvabe is clearly confirmed both from the point of view of marketing, and from the point of view of market feedback and output volumes.
We are also the only ones in Russia who have implemented a comprehensive life cycle contract for urban lighting – in Nizhny Tagil. These are thousands of installed supports and lamps, hundreds of kilometers of networks along the roads. Now we are at the stage of the service part of the project. So, we can say that this competence at Rostec is also ours.
We are also considering new directions – both in undeveloped areas, such as ecology, and in familiar ones. For example, we are building a maternity hospital in Magadan on 28 thousand square meters, we are completing the construction of a cancer center in Krasnoyarsk. A major innovative project was the creation of the company "Shvabe-Spetsavto" for the production of ambulances in Nizhny Novgorod. We are equipping machines as part of a profile program for the modernization of primary health care, re-equipment of medical institutions in the country.
During the implementation of such projects, we strive to maximize the competence to equip "turnkey" all medical facilities at once. If earlier we only produced equipment, now we have reached a new level.
- Let's focus on the project for the production of ambulances. Wasn't it during its implementation that Shvabe presented two new super-passable cars based on Sable?
- Yes, and I note that such cars were not produced in Russia before. Both models are built on the basis of the chassis of the Gorky Automobile Plant as part of the production of Shvabe-Spetsavto. Sable Prima is positioned as three cars in one – a reanimobile, a car for two serious patients and a transport for the evacuation of four victims at the same time.
In turn, the school bus is equipped with an additional air suspension and reinforced in terms of safety. In this variation, the bus is ready for off-road and is resistant to external influences, has increased reliability of the engine and chassis, as well as an insulated passenger compartment.
All of the above applies to the reanimobile. This is the first class C four-wheel drive car for carrying out medical measures by the resuscitation team, transporting and monitoring the patient's condition at the pre-hospital stage.
At the same time, the Prima 4x4 Sable was equipped with a high-torque power engine to realize the potential of all-wheel drive and ensure stable movement over rough terrain. Among the features I will note a maneuverable and passable wheelbase, as well as a corrosion-resistant, easily disinfected medical salon.
- Let's clarify this point – Shvabe has never produced cars itself, has it?
- It's true. Therefore, we entered into the project with a partner who was already engaged in the production of special vehicles. Behind them is the chassis, behind us is medicine. And here the experience of past projects, including equipping perinatal centers, came in handy. We have gained a wide circle of like-minded people in the medical community. Thanks to a well-established feedback system, we actually know first-hand what equipment, what conditions specialists need to work in such cars.
- What indicator do you plan to reach?
- Production capacities allow us to supply up to six thousand cars for various purposes. We are talking, first of all, about school buses. The program is implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to transport schoolchildren from rural areas to educational institutions. But in the end, everything depends on the needs of the market: if they increase, we will try to respond by increasing production.
- How acute is the problem of import substitution in the holding today?
- Shvabe has been working on import substitution together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Health for several years. During this time, we have managed to create conditions for the implementation of projects of any complexity. Today we are part of the founders of the specialized consortium "Medical Equipment", whose tasks, among other things, include ensuring sustainable work on the creation of their medical products.
Reducing dependence on imports has become a key theme of the current Innoprom for a reason. This is one of the main tasks facing the entire industry today. Both our holding company and other domestic manufacturers should work hard to solve it.
To some extent, the pandemic has become a test of strength. Shvabe successfully passed it – thanks to the accumulated experience in the production and supply of high-tech medical equipment and the well-coordinated work of our enterprises. Now we continue to develop the direction of import substitution, launch projects at our facilities, and release new product lines.
Everyone is waiting for a big and difficult job. We are facing new challenges, but we have the necessary competencies and resources to respond to them.
