the porcelain — earthenware industry

T H E P O R C E L A I N - - E A R T H E N W A R E I N D U S T R Y

A . P . L y u t e n k o

The plan of product ion and rea l iza t ion of product ion in 1974 in the plants of the p o r c e l a i n - - e a r t h e n - ware industry of the MLP of the USSR have been overfulf i l led . There has been an overp lan product ion of porce la in , ea r thenware , and majo l ica v e s s e l s of 3 mil l ion roubles with a rea l iza t ion of 2.7 mil l ion roubles . Compared with 1973, the volume of product ion of v e s s e l s inc reased by 14.3% o r by 35 mil l ion roubles at wholesale p r i c e s and r ea l i zed product ion at re ta i l p r i ce s is up by 46.6 mil l ion roubles . Product ion of in- dividual a r t i c l e s was 91.6 mill ion up on the prev ious y e a r and 320 mil l ion up on 1970, including pla tes (39.2 and 155.6 mil l ion respec t ive ly ) , cups with s a u c e r s (11.6 and 40.3 mil l ion pa i r s r e spec t ive ly ) , and teapots (1.35 and 4.4 mil l ion re spec t ive ly ) .

By means of the new product ion capac i ty introduced in 1971-1974, including that in the new plants at Druzhkovka, P rokop ' ev , Bogdanovich, Samarkand , Vladivostok, and Kirovabad and in the r econs t ruc t ed and en la rged plants at Tashkent , Baranov, Khaitin, Kiev, Kamenno-Brod , Dovbysh, Polon, and o thers m o r e than 216 mil l ion a r t i c l e s were produced in 1974.

In the pas t y e a r the product ion assoc ia t ion "Ukr f a r fo r n and also the Dmit rov , K r a s n o d a r , Te rnopo l ' , Druzhkova, Kuzyaev and " P r o l e t a r i i " plants have exceeded the level of product ion of v e s s e l s as envisaged by the F i v e - Y e a r Plan in 1975.

The planned m e a s u r e s for introduction of new technology in 1974 have been c a r r i e d out. In the new plas t ic molds , which have rep laced the old gypsum type, 300 mill ion a r t i c l e s have been produced (200 mil l ion in 1973). The y e a r saw the introduct ion of seven conveyer fu rnaces for f i r s t and decora t ive f i r ing of the a r t i c l e s , four rapid automated PAS furnaces fo r second f i r ing of p roee la in , 60 semiau tomated de - v i ces for di f ferent sec t ions of production, 12 automated l ines for molding pla tes , s a u c e r s , and cups, and 10 automated s y s t e m s for regulat ion and control of the r e g i m e s of opera t ion of the fu rnaces and drying. Complex mechaniza t ion of 14 product ion shops and sec t ions has been c a r r i e d out and 60 mil l ion a r t i c l e s of i nc rea sed whi teness have been produced in PAS fu rnaces . The m e a s u r e s c a r r i e d out, the planned in t ro - duction of new and advanced technology, mechanizat ion and automation of product ion have made it poss ib le to save around 2 mill ion roubles in 1974.

The branch scientif ic r e s e a r c h ins t i tu tes -- the Leningrad GIKI and the Kiev UNIISP -- a re of g rea t help to the po rce l a in - - ea r thenware industry . The concern t h e m s e l v e s with the solution of c u r r e n t p r o b l ems facing the industry and also the d i rec ted development of the branch.

In 1974 the GIKI worked on such impor tan t subjec ts as the c rea t ion of automat ic l ines for product ion of hollow a r t i c l e s by p las t ic molding and cas t ing , intensif icat ion of the second f i r ing of porce la in v e s s e l s in tunnel fu rnaces , development of technology and op t imum p a r a m e t e r s of molds for cas t ing a r t i c l e s by r e p l a c e m e n t of the gypsum molds , development of s y s t e m s for automat ic control of f i r ing r e g i m e s in rapid fu rnaces of the PAS and POK type, study of the f ac to r s influencing the inc reased quality of g lazes for porce la in a r t i c l e s , study of the caus e s of d is tor t ion and c rack ing of ea r thenware p la tes and development of m e a s u r e s for prevent ion , sea rch for p a r a m e t e r s of s tabi l izat ion of s l ips for use in mechanized p roduc - tion, deve lopment of s tandards for porce la in and ea r thenware v e s s e l s which take into account the i r in- c r e a s e d quality, and study of the raw m a t e r i a l s f r o m new deposi ts . Bes ides this , the insti tute has given help to the plants in the adoption of the industr ia l uti l ization of PAS and POK rapid fu rnaces (the " P r o - l e t a r i i , " Baranov , and Pol tava plants) and has developed technology for the manufacture of s agge r s of ra t ional cons t ruc t ion (the Kirovabad, Riga, and ~Pro le t a r i i " plants).

UNIISP has c a r r i e d out invest igat ions on var ious subjec ts including the development and introduction of new m a t e r i a l s and technology for p r epa ra t i on of porce la in a r t i c l e s of inc reased whi teness (up to 75%),

T rans l a t ed f rom Steklo i Ke ramika , No. 1, pp. 5-6, January , 1975.

�9 1975 Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York, N. Y. 10011. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a" retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. A copy of this article is available from the publisher for $15.00.

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I

Prognosis and planning of qual- fry level

Accumula- tion and use of sci- entific- technical informa-

Deve lopment~ of methods for i h t r o d u c *

tion of new types of ar- ticles in mass prod -

Complex system of con- I trol of production qual- I I ity I

l I I

Preparation of [ Ensuring stability of new articles for f quality of finished pro-. production duction

1

Ensuring ob jectivity. and-ace/~ra cy of evalu- ation of pro- duction quality

1 Ensuring ] stability of] operation [ otequip- [ meat and I technolo- ] gical out- [ fitting [

I Carring out[ factory ] attestation] ofproduc-] tion qua~-

7

, Controlof quality of finished production

I and eval- [ Analysis

- - .uation of levelo([' finished produc- [

/_~lon , I

Study of demand forvarious types of production

tion uction

Input contro: of raw mat erials

StabiHtyor technolo- gical pro- cesses

Ensuringpro- du6~i~fl- rhythm

Defect-fre~ work sys- | tern j

Fig. 1

Organization of increase in qualifi ~ cation and training of pe rs onne I

Evaluatiofi oq the levelof | production ] quality and l develop- ]

i mentofpro~| [ posaB for ' 1 k the year ,!

development of technology for decora t ion of porce la in a r t i c l e s with subglaze p igments f r o m low-caking m a s s e s with one-sho t f i r ing, c rea t ion of sl i t furnace const ruct ions for the second rapid f i r ing of f lat p o r - celain a r t i c l e s with an output of 5 mil l ion p ieces pe r y e a r , and i m p r o v e m e n t of the quality of glaze coat for porce la in a r t i c l e s .

In 1974 the branch plants c a r r i e d out work on improvemen t of the quality of production, extension of the range avai lable , and a t tes ta t ion of a r t i c l e s for the State Mark of Quality.

In the Dmi t rov plant an All-Union s e m i n a r was held, the theme of which was exchange of exper ience of work on i m p r o v e m e n t of the quality of production in plants of the po rce l a in - - ea r thenware industry. At the s emina r r ecommenda t ions were adopted to improve the quality of a r t i c l e s and to dec r ea se the wastage in production. The shor tcomings affect ing output of a max imum volume of 1st grade product ion were pointed out: these include, in the main, d isrupt ion of technological d isc ipl ines and unfounded s impl i f icat ions in the technology of the product ion of v e s s e l s . Thus, there a re ca se s of contaminat ion in s torage and mix - ing of va r ious types of raw m a t e r i a l , incomplete use of dry enr ichment of the or iginal raw m a t e r i a l s , absence or nonoperat ion of t e m p e r a t u r e control devices in the d r y e r s of molding sect ions .

The absence of the requ i red technological discipl ine has lead to a dec rease in the output of 1st grade v e s s e l s in 1974 as com pa red with 1973 in the Kuzyaev, Khaitin, Baranov, Kamenno-Brod , and Tashkent plants and it is below the b r a n c h - a v e r a g e cha r ac t e r i s t i c as a whole for the plants of the MLP of the USSR. Thus, in the Kuzyaev plant the output of 1st grade v e s s e l s is l e s s than half that as a whole in the " R o s f a r - fo r" associa t ion. The wastage af ter second f i r ing in the Kirovabad plant is up 6.7% against the n o r m s , 4.54% up in the Khaitin plant, 2.5% up in the K a m m e n o - B r o d plant. The n o r m s for b reakage of a r t i c l e s in the product ion p roce s s has been exceeded by 1.6% in Tashkent , by 1.39~ in Vladivostok, and by 1% in Ar temov.

The bes t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s with r e s p e c t to output 6f 1st grade a r t i c l e s were achieved by the P e r v o m a i s k (60.4%), Dmi t rov (58.7%), Dulevo (50.2%), and Konakov (56.9%) plants .

In 1974 the branch plants sys temat i ca l ly c a r r i e d out work on the inc rease in output of expansion of the range of ar t ic le~ a t tes ted in t e r m s of the State Mark of Quality. At the p resen t t ime 22 branch plants a re manufactur ing a r t i c l e s with the Mark of Quality under 180 names . The g r ea t e s t number s of a r t i c l e s with the Mark of Quality a re produced by the M. V. Lomonosov Leningrad plant (50 names) and the Dulevo (21), Dmi t rov (17)~ and Riga (13) plants . Other plants produce a r t i c l e s with the Mark of Quality in f r o m two to eight names . The percen tage of product ion with the Mark of Quality is not g r e a t e r than 1.5-2% of the total vo lume, however , this may be inc reased by organiza t ion of special l ines in each plant together with employment of highly qualified personnel .

For fu r the r i m p r o v e m e n t in the quality of plant product ion the GIKI have developed and sent to alI plants a "Prov i s iona l ins t ruct ion fo r the introduction of a complex s y s t e m of control of product ion quality in plants of the po rce l a in - - ea r thenware industry , w The introduction of this impl ies a t rans i t ion f r o m in- dividual m e a s u r e s to an accura te ly sc ient i f ical ly based s y s t e m of complex and constant ly opera t ing m e a - su r e s intended to ensure a high quality of product ion in all sec t ions . The basic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the work on a complex s y s t e m of control of product ion quality a re shown in Fig. 1. In 1974 the Dulevo porce la in plant used this scheme with the a im of making use of the exper ience of all the branch plants .

The pas t yea r has seen the cons t ruc t ion of six new plants and recons t ruc t ion and expansion of 12 o the r s . There has been introduction of new product ion capaci ty in the Bogdanovich plant up to an output of 25.5 mil l ion a r t i c l e s pe r y e a r , 11 mil l ion a r t i c l e s in the Koros ten plant, 6 mil l ion in the Tashkent plant , 5 mil l ion in the Budyan plant and 3310 ton of c e r a m i c p igments and enamels in the Dulevopigments plant.

P ro fes s iona l - - t echn ica l schools have been set up for t ra in ing qualified personnel in the porce la in in- dus t ry in Kirovabad having 600 p laces and in Kapchaga with 400 p laces . In the c u r r e n t y e a r work has to begin on a school in the K r a s n o d a r plant with 420 p laces and in the Bogdanovich plant with 400 p laces .

A happy event was the award to the p lanners , des igne r s , e r e e t e r s , and o p e r a t o r s of the Den' co l l ec - tive of the Druzhkovaporce l a inp l an t of the MLP of the UkrSSR of the pr ize of the Council of Min is te r s of the USSR for the ea r ly introduction and as s imi la t ion of planned product ion capac i ty . F r o m its f i r s t months of opera t ion (introduced in 4th November 1971) the col lect ive of the Druzhkovka plant a s s imi l a t ed product ion capaci ty ahead of the normat ive deadl ines . In the 3rd qua r t e r of 1973 a s s imi l a t ion was c a r r i e d out one y e a r ahead of the normat ive deadline. In 1973 the plant produced 23.4 mill ion a r t i c l e s (106.5% of the planned amount} and in 1974 more than 25 mill ion (101.2% of the planned amount) , exceeding the planned capaci ty which was introduced in two pa r t s (20 mil l ion p ieces in November 1971 and 5 mil l ion p ieces in June 1972).

Ear ly introduction and adoption of product ion capaci ty in the Druzhkovka p lan thas been made possible by ra t ional planning dec is ions (project GPI-3 and P r o m s t r o i p r o e k t ) in all the product ion sec t ions , raw ma te r i a l and finished product ion s t o r e s and also planning of the buildings in one main complex , a r r a n g e - ment of technological equipment to give the bes t use of product ion a r e a and density of product ion with a dec r ea se in t r anspor ta t ion cos t s and engineer ing communicat ion . The plant was planned on land which was of no use to agr icu l tu re .

In 1974 the F i r s t Red Banner of the MLP of the USSR and the Central Commit tee of the textile w o r - k e r s ' and light industry t rade union awarded the co l lec t ives of the Dulevo and Gorodnitski i porce la in plants and the Konakov ea r thenware and Dulevo co lo r plants the title of v ic to r in All-Unton soc ia l i s t r i va l ry and nominated it as one of the plants in which there had been ea r ly introduction and successfu l a s s imi la t ion of product ion capac i ty .

In 1975, the decis ive y e a r of the ninth F i v e - Y e a r Plan, the branch is faced with g rave respons ib i l i t i e s -- to ensure fu r the r growth in the product ion of porce la in , ea r thenware , and majo l ica v e s s e l s and to br ing about a cons iderable inc rease in product ion capaci ty by introduction of new plants and by recons t ruc t ion and expansion of exis t ing ones.

In 1975 the Plan env isages an i nc r ea s e of 12.5% in the volume of product ion of household v e s s e l s as c o m p a r e d with 1974. The re mus t be a natural i nc rea se in the product ion of v e s s e l s of 121 mil l ion p ieces , including 36 mil l ion p la tes , 5.2 mil l ion p a i r s of cups and s auce r s , and 2 mil l ion teapots .

Special at tention mus t be given to i nc reas ing the quality of product ion and to inc reas ing output of 1st grade product ion having the State Mark of Quality.

In the c u r r e n t y e a r there a re g r ea t p r o b l e m s to be faced in the building p r o g r a m which envisages a s s imi l a t i on of a total capi ta l inves tment in exce s s of 60 mil l ion roubles , including cons t ruc t iona l - e rec t ion work of 32 mil l ion roubles . An espec ia l ly l a rge introduction of new product ion capaci ty is envisaged, ca lcula ted on an output of 179.4 mil l ion a r t i c l e s pe r y e a r . New plants mus t be introduced in Bugul 'm ( T a r t a r ASSR) with a capaci ty of 33 mil l ion a r t i c l e s (at f i r s t ) , 44 mil l ion in Bogdanovieh (third t ime) , 28 mil l ion in Zugdid (Gruzinskii SSR), and 28 mil l ion in Kapcbagai (Kazakh SSR). The capaci ty of exis t ing plants is being expanded -- by 18 mil l ion in the Yuzhnourals plant, by 7 mil l ion in the WProletariin and P r o k o p ' e v plants , by 5 mil l ion in the Lomonosova Leningrad plant, by 8.4 mill ion in the Koros ten plant, and by I mil l ion in the Ternopo l ' plant.

The inc rease in product ion capac i ty in the ninth F i v e - Y e a r P lan in the plants of the p o r c e l a i n - - e a r t h - enware branch of the MLP industry of the USSR has been as follows." product ion capaci ty in 1961 was 360

mill ion a r t i c l e s pe r y e a r , in 1965 461.8 mil l ion, in 1970 669.5 mil l ion, and in 1974 1064.5 mil l ion. In 1975 it will reach 1241 mil l ion a r t i c l e s . I t may be seen that the ra te of growth of product ion capaci ty in the ninth F i v e - Y e a r Plan (expected growth 571.5 mil l ion a r t i c les ) is a lmos t twice that in the prev ious 10 y e a r s (309.5 mill ion a r t i c les ) .

The t a sks facing the many thousand col lec t ives of the plants of the po rce l a in - - ea r thenware branch of the industry in 1975, the decis ive y e a r of the ninth F i v e - Y e a r Plan, will be fulfilled with honor .

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