Segezha Group and Ledinek Engineering for the first time have used video conferencing to conduct programing and commissioning of equipment at Sokol WPP online. The plant is being upgraded to produce wall and structural beams. Source: Timberbiz
Once the plant starts operating at full capacity, its output of laminated products will increase by 20-25%, up to 100 thousand cubic meters per annum.
According to the contract, the installation and customization of a scarfing line was supposed to have been conducted by the representatives of Ledinek Engineering, the manufacturing company from Austria and Slovenia.
However, due to the pandemic-related restrictions, the team of international installation supervisors was not able to come to Sokol. As a result, Segezha Group staff members had to do it relying on documentation provided from overseas, with their colleagues from Ledinek attending the installation online.
“This is the first time in the history of both Segezha Group and Ledinek, when we managed to start up the equipment remotely,” Dmitrii Rudenko, Vice-President of Segezha Group said.
Only the first stage of line customization to produce wall beams has been completed.
Online installation and commissioning work within the second stage are expected to take place shortly. This stage is more complicated and will tailor the line to produce structural beams.
Konstanting Pastukhov, General Director of Sokol WPP JSC, said that both Russian and international experts were proud of the results of their online cooperation.
“It is only due to the model cooperation, we managed to cope with the set task remotely in a working environment, which is totally new to us,” he said.
Before the pandemic, international experts would visit Segezha Group on their contract-based schedules; the visiting time varied from two months to one year. The pandemic declared by WHO imposed limitations on such visits.
