April 28, 2012
Text and photos: Natalya Nechakhina
NOTIS, a Berdsk-based company and one of the leaders of the Russian packaging equipment market, celebrated its anniversary this year.
The history of NOTIS began on March 26, 1992 with the production of electrical engineering products and lighting fixtures. The company's first employees were design engineers, whose initial goal was to transition to manufacturing technically complex products — electronic trade scales.
Within a year, such scales had been developed, and in 1993 they were launched into serial production at the Sibtenzopritor plant (Topki, Kemerovo region).
At that time, the company rented a small room from an inter-school training center on Ostrovsky Street, where products were assembled, while manufacturing itself was housed in rented space at the former Vega production facility. NOTIS established itself at its current location (8 Promyshlennaya Street) in 1993 — initially on a leasehold basis, and in 1996 the company purchased the production site. The team at that time consisted of ten specialists; today 210 people work here.
Alongside the production of trade scales, work was under way on industrial dosers and electronic devices for weighing in motion (of railway trains, in particular) — NOTIS developers continuously advanced in this field. In 1999, the company produced its first bulk product doser and semi-automatic packaging machine on its own production base. One of the company's first major customers was Sibirsky Bereg, the producer of "Kirieshki" crackers, with whom NOTIS continues to collaborate to this day. Later, fully automatic packaging machines were developed on the basis of these dosers. To this day, even competitors acknowledge that the best dosers — known for their dosing precision and versatility — are manufactured by the Berdsk company.
Viktor Shpomer, Director of NOTIS
— The key to our successful development is the fact that we are a full-cycle enterprise, — says Viktor Shpomer, Director of NOTIS. We study the market, set our own goals, develop our own products, certify them and bring them to market.
New products are conceived in the design bureau, where highly skilled engineers work with cutting-edge design software and are distinguished by their unconventional thinking.
NOTIS is the only company in the industry to use entirely proprietary software.
The in-house production base — which incorporates all manufacturing technologies and processes except electroplating and metal casting — allows us to respond quickly to changes in the market, which today is an essential condition for any company's development. The most valued asset at the company is its highly professional team: everyone knows their job, and a special atmosphere has developed here. The fact that NOTIS today holds a leading position in packaging equipment manufacturing is a credit to the entire team.
— When a person starts their own business, they must be patient, thoroughly study their chosen field, and continuously improve, — believes the director of ZAO NOTIS. — You should treat your business not as a cash cow, but as a calf that needs to be nurtured. Success in any endeavor comes only through work and wisdom.
Vladimir Plekhov, Commercial Director
— Our achievements are reflected in our sales volumes and production profitability. In terms of technology and product development, NOTIS today holds the second position among domestic packaging equipment manufacturers. Over the next five years, we have set ourselves the goal of becoming the leader — and all the prerequisites are in place. A culture of innovation has developed; in some measure, all company employees participate in creating new products. We have always worked, and continue to work, with an eye to the future — even at the cost of short-term profit.
Quality and product reliability are the company's top priorities. The warranty period for our equipment is the highest in the industry: 2 years, and 3 years for horizontal packaging machines.
Among the most important goals for the next 5–10 years is increasing the export share from 25 to 50%.
Today, NOTIS equipment is supplied not only to the CIS — Kazakhstan, Belarus, Moldova, Central Asia — but also to Israel, Canada, and Germany.
I am convinced that the main component of any enterprise is not its material assets, but the spirit of its team. All the skills, knowledge, collective experience, and production organization — it all came to us from Vega. I myself am a former Vega radio plant worker, and I am glad that this level has not only been preserved at our company, but continues to develop.
Vladimir Kosenko, Lead Design Engineer
— I have been with the company since 2001, and I lead the horizontal packaging machines and lines based on them. Right now we are developing an automatic ice cream packaging line.
Every customer has different products and different packaging requirements, so we are always presented with new challenges. The workload in the design bureau is very intense. We work, as they say, "on the fly" — your design has to go into production quickly, and there is no room for error. Creating something new is always interesting.
Depending on its complexity, developing new equipment takes from one to three months.
NOTIS's strategy has always been innovation and continuous product improvement. The company is built on its design work, which is why the work of engineers is held in great respect here.
Sergei Prugov, CNC Milling Operator
— A year ago, after the Berdsk special forces unit was disbanded, I joined NOTIS as an assembly technician. Later, my technical college education allowed me to move to a CNC milling machine.
Among other Berdsk organizations, our company stands out for its stability, which gives me confidence in the future. I enjoy working here; there are opportunities for growth and professional development.
Nikolai Soroka, Commissioning Engineer
— I have been at NOTIS for ten years. My responsibilities include the installation and commissioning of automatic and semi-automatic lines. Right now, we are commissioning a briquetting line that doses, packages and settles grain, seals the bags, stacks them in rows, and wraps them in film into briquettes.
The company produces many different devices, so all 15 commissioning engineers have plenty of work — most of us are generalists.
Installing and commissioning new equipment takes up to two weeks. This is the critical stage for identifying all possible inconsistencies and bringing the machinery into full compliance with the customer's requirements.
We are constantly moving forward; the work is interesting for its novelty. Component technology changes, and we have moved to computer-controlled devices. Regular business trips give me the opportunity to see the world: we travel to the customer's site for installation and commissioning of complex equipment and provide on-site personnel training. In March, for example, we were in Kolomna, where crackers are produced on our equipment, updating the software.
Tatyana Pozdnyakova, Electrical Assembler
— Work has been consistently plentiful lately, especially over the past 4 years. My responsibility is soldering circuit boards, which then go into assembly.
We have a wonderful team that has barely changed over my 10 years here. Even when people have had to change jobs for some reason, they really miss their home team — and some have come back.
I want to highlight the respectful treatment of staff and the care shown for the team. A free bus takes us to and from work, and the canteen serves delicious, affordable food. Make sure you visit our canteen: on Tuesdays we have wonderful cottage cheese pancakes.
Vladimir Petrachenko, Milling Operator
— I came to NOTIS three years ago from BEMZ. I walked through many companies in my job search, so I have plenty of comparison points. I can say with confidence: there is no better place. The production facilities are warm, bright and clean; workwear is provided and laundered right here on the premises.
In terms of production culture and organization, I can only compare NOTIS to the best years of the electromechanical plant. Occupational safety standards are very high. The wages of machine operators here are above the Berdsk average — 20,000–25,000 rubles, and higher on CNC machines.
I'll be retiring in a year, but as long as my health allows, I'll keep working at NOTIS. I wish our company new orders and prosperity. Happy 20th anniversary!
Sergei Plekhov, Head of Production Department
— I joined NOTIS as senior foreman in 2001, when the company had just fully committed to packaging equipment manufacturing. Over this time, the team has grown, and the mechanical production itself has undergone significant change. New production areas have been created — polymer painting and shot blasting of frames. We are actively developing the CNC machine area, for which three new machines have been purchased over two years — milling machining centers and a lathe. A bending machine is currently being manufactured in Germany to our order.
Modern, high-performance equipment is an essential condition for improving the quality of the machinery we produce — without it, it would be difficult to maintain a leading position in the Russian market and compete with leading German and Italian packaging equipment manufacturers.
Products
NOTIS produces a wide range of equipment for packaging virtually all types of products except liquids and pastes: bulk materials (cereals, sugar), dusty materials (flour), large-piece items (sweets, gingerbread), individual items, and frozen products (dumplings).
Since 2001, more than 900 vertical machines for packaging bulk products have been produced. The second class of machines in which the company has accumulated enormous experience since 2005 is equipment for packaging individual items (bread, sweets, soap, etc.).
The latest developments are sophisticated automatic flour packaging lines with no equivalents in Russia. The first such line came out in 2010 and has been successfully operating in Vitebsk (Belarus); in 2011, the company supplied three more such lines to Barnaul, Petropavlovsk, and Taganrog. This development holds two important patents: NOTIS engineers managed to create universal equipment that easily transitions from one type of flour to another without additional reconfiguration.
The latest development from NOTIS, which was shipped to Krasnoyarsk a month ago, is virtually universal. The new line not only allows packaging of different types of products without reconfiguration, but also features increased productivity.
Among the proprietary solutions are developments in multi-component dosing — a topic NOTIS has been working on for many years. The first such machine was made for the Kirieshki brand: it simultaneously applied oils, spices, and salt to crackers in the proportions required by the manufacturer.
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