Combine-45 gets to grips with imported technology

For the first time Combine-45 has ordered imported equipment for transporting concrete mixes. Transport director for the enterprise, Pavel Okolota, told us about it. Last year the Combine-45 management team decided to buy from European manufacturers. During a visit to Finland in the second half of March, specialists from the enterprise got acquainted with the production base of one of the local companies — Saraka — and by way of a pilot project decided to buy two items. Shortly, the directors of Combine-45 intend to buy equipment from such leading international manufacturers as Liebherr, Cifa and Stetter.

According to Pavel Okolota, “Saraka spent two years trying to do business with us. But this company is so weakly represented on the Russian market that we never expected to find that it was a serious competitor to the international giants like Liebherr and Stetter. But once we`d become acquainted with the company`s production base, we were pleasantly surprised. It turned out that it produced equipment that was virtually made by hand — and this was very much to its advantage against the leading producers. The equipment is made in small batches specifically intended for each customer individually. Furthermore, it is designed for severe climatic conditions. The reason for this is simple: Finland is a northern country, and in the main the company supplies the northern countries of Europe.

Having weighed all the factors, the specialists from Combine-45 decided to try out the Finnish manufacturer’s equipment in practice. And despite the fact that as a result of the small batch ordered, the cost of this equipment was even as much as 10% higher than that of the international brands, they ordered two machines with nine concrete-mixing vats with 9.5m water channels. “I should point out,” said Pavel Okolota, “that this was our first experience in ordering foreign technology.” Previously, the company had used Russian KAMAZes. In future, the specialists from Combine-45 intend to continue their cooperation with the Saraka Company and with other manufacturers, with whom there had been discussions about orders even before the visit to Finland.