REDUCING

THE

IMPORTANT IN

METHOD

GLASS V.

CONSUMPTION FOR

OF INCREASING

MATERIALS

-

AN

EFFICIENCY

PRODUCTION G.

Polyakov

At the p r e s e n t s t a g e of i n d u s t r i a l development, the n e c e s s i t y of r e d u c i n g the consumption of m a t e r i a l s is a c q u i r i n g m o r e and m o r e s i g n i f i c a n c e . In e c o n o m i c s we u n d e r s t a n d the t e r m " m a t e r i a l c o n s u m p t i o n , to include the unit e x p e n d i t u r e in p r o duction c o s t s on r a w m a t e r i a l s , the b a s i c and a n c i l l a r y m a t e r i a l s , and fuel. and p o w e r . Throughout the e n t e r p r i s e s of the g l a s s i n d u s t r y as a whole the t r e n d is for the c o n s u m p t i o n of m a t e r i a l s to be r e d u c e d : in 1968 the c o n s u m p t i o n was 40.6%; in 1969, 39.8%; in 1970, 38.1%; in 1971, 37%; and in 1972, 36.7%. At the s a m e t i m e t h e r e a r e c o n s i d e r a b l e r e s e r v e s in b r a n c h e s of the i n d u s t r y for e c o n o m i e s in the e x p e n d i t u r e on m a t e r i a l s and the use of t h e s e r e s e r v e s is an i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r in i n c r e a s ing p r o d u c t i o n e f f i c i e n c y . The d i f f e r e n c e s in the o r g a n i z a t i o n of the p r o d u c t i o n and economic a f f a i r s of the e n t e r p r i s e s and the d i f f e r e n c e s in the way in which e c o n o m i e s a r e m a d e and in the i n t e r n a l economic m a n a g e m e n t of the p l a n t s a r e e x p r e s s e d in p a r t i c u l a r in the fact that t h e r e a r e d i f f e r e n t l e v e l s of consumption of m a t e r i a l even in p l a n t s of the s a m e type. Thus, f r o m the d a t a for 1972, the consumption of m a t e r i a l s used in p r o d u c t i o n at the B o r P l a n t was 28.8%; at the S a r a t o v T e c h n i c a l G l a s s Plant, 41o6%; the M i n e r a l o v Bottle Plant, 42.1~; the K a m y s h i n G l a s s - C o n t a i n e r Plant, 42.6%; the Kamen G l a s s - C o n t a i n e r Plant, 50.1~; and the Akulai ]Bottle Plant, 67.3%. It should be taken into account that a r e d u c t i o n of 1% in the consumption of m a t e r i a l s throughout the e n t e r p r i s e s of the g l a s s i n d u s t r y of the M i n i s t r y of the S t r u c t u r a l M a t e r i a l s I n d u s t r y of the RSFSR would m a k e it p o s s i b l e to lower the c o s t of p r o d u c t i o n and so to make an additional p r o f i t of 6,000,000 r u b l e s . In the e n t e r p r i s e s c o n c e r n e d with s t r u c t u r a l and t e c h n i c a l g l a s s a r e d u c t i o n in the c o n s u m p t i o n of m a t e r i a l s can be achieved, for example, by r e d u c i n g the a v e r a g e weight of flat g l a s s by p r o d u c i n g it to the m i n i m u m p e r m i s s i b l e l i m i t of t h i c k n e s s . C a l c u l a t i o n s show that the p r o d u c t i o n of 2 mm window g l a s s at the m i n i m u m p e r m i s s i b l e t h i c k n e s s will make it p o s s i b l e to save ~11,000 ton of m e l t in the g l a s s p l a n t s of the R e p u b l i c and this saving would p r o v i d e 220,000 m 2 of window g l a s s . The c o n s u m p t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s in the p r o d u c t i o n of s t a l i n i t e and T r i p l e x g l a s s at the p l a n t s a r e d i f f e r e n t . The c o n s u m p t i o n of flat g l a s s for unpolished flat s t a l i n i t e is 1.55 m 2 at the F. E. D z e r z h i n s k i i Gusev P l a n t ; 1.82 m 2 at the S a r a t o v T e c h n i c a l G l a s s P l a n t ; 1.83 m 2 at the M. G o r ' k i i Bor G l a s s P l a n t ; 1.81 m 2 at the I r b i t G l a s s P l a n t ; and 1.99 m 2 at the U l a n - U d e n G l a s s P l a n t . The a c h i e v e m e n t of a s t a n d a r d r a t e of g l a s s c o n s u m p t i o n for the output of unpolished s t a l i n i t e (1.6 m 2) at the S a r a t o v P l a n t alone would make it p o s s i b l e to i n c r e a s e by 276,000 m 2 p e r y e a r the output of 2 m m window g l a s s . T h e r e is s t i l l the u r g e n t p r o b l e m of c u r t a i l i n g the volume of o r i g i n a l g l a s s intended f o r the p r o d u c t i o n of c u r v e d and p o l i s h e d T r i p l e x . F o r 1 m 2 of T r i p l e x the B o r Plant u s e s 5 m 2 of p o l i s h e d g l a s s . A 2% r e duction in the c o n s u m p t i o n of p o l i s h e d g l a s s at the P l a n t would be equivalent to a s a v i n g of m o r e than300,000 rubles.

Deputy Head of Glavsteklo, Ministry of the Constructional-Materials Industry of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic. Translated from Steklo i Keramika, No. 3, pp. 2-3, March, 1971.

9 1974 Consultants Bureau, a division af Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 West 17th Street, New York, N. Y. 10011. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stared in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording ar otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. A copy of this article is available from the publisher far $15.00.

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In plants producing high-quality ware the problem of reducing the consumption of m a t e r i a l s is a s s o ciated above all with further extensions of mechanization and the introduction of improved technology. Thus, the r e p l a c e m e n t of Sh-12 by Sh-2 machines for polishing the edge of articles has reduced breakages by 7-9% at this stage of production. The introduction of mechanized p r o c e s s e s in the production of c r y s t a l w a r e will reduce the technically unavoidable wastage and will in the end reduce the consumption of m a t e r i a l s in production. A promising trial of an organizational method in the production of high-quality p r e s s e d c r y s t a l w a r e is being held at the D'yatkov C r y s t a l Plant. The output coefficient of the glass melt in the production of p r e s s e d c r y s t a l w a r e has reached as high as 0.8 in this e n t e r p r i s e although throughout this branch of industry it is on average 0.54. In o r d e r to reduce the constunption of m a t e r i a l s in the production of h i g h - g r a d e ware it is important to reduce the weight of the goods, p a r t i c u l a r l y of those in m a s s production. In the container and bottle plants, savings in the rate of consumption of m a t e r i a l s can be achieved by the rational introduction of production p r o c e s s e s and improvements in the organization of production. Thus, a 3~c reduction in the average weight of bottles and p r e s e r v e j a r s will provide savings of up to 250 ton per y e a r of soda ash. Insufficient attention is still paid to the use of imported glass cullet although a 1~c i n c r e a s e in the use of this in the main bottle plants alone would provide a saving of 560 ton of soda ash. Economies in the use of soda ash in the container and bottle plants can also be achieved by the lowering of the alkali concentration in the glass composition and by reducing the loss of raw m a t e r i a l in storage, etc. In the g l a s s - c o n t a i n e r and bottle enterprises, economies in the use of m a t e r i a l s is the natural way of ensuring that the sales target is fulfilled. At the present time, the problem of reducing the consumption of m a t e r i a l s in glass production is v e r y much bound up with the saving of fuel and power r e s e r v e s . F o r this purpose it is n e c e s s a r y in the f i r s t place to have an advanced type of fuel. In 1972 the Irbit Glass Plant and one s y s t e m in the U l a n - U d e n Plant changed from p r o d u c e r gas to liquid fuel, while the Roslav and Skopin Glass Plants changed f r o m liquid fuel to natural gas. In addition, still m o r e important organizational and technical m e a s u r e s were taken to e c o n omize on fuel and power. The Bor, Saratov, and Salvat Plants introduced a s y s t e m which involved the stabilization of the fuel combustion by the supply of c o m p r e s s e d air to the b u r n e r s and by the automatic adjustment of the gas and air consumption as a function of their t e m p e r a t u r e . Other plants in this branch have installed static condensers with a capacity of 800 kilovolt-amp reactive, thus i n c r e a s i n g the power factor of the e l e c t r i c a l m a c h i n e r y and reducing losses in the e l e c t r i c a l grid. Many other m e a s u r e s have been taken. The introduction of advanced m e a s u r e s to save fuel and power has provided a 3% reduction in the individual n o r m s of fuel consumption in the production of flat glass; a 2~ reduction in glass block p r o d u c tion; 1% in glass container production; and 6.8% in sodium silicate production. Some e n t e r p r i s e s are c a r r y i n g out some interesting work on the output of heat energy with lower fuel consumption and on the use of the heat f r o m the effluent g a s e s . Thus, the Tulun Plant has m o d e r n i z e d its D K V R - 6 , 0 / 1 3 s t e a m boilers and achieved a 16% reduction in the specific n o r m for fuel consumption in the production of heat energy. The Krasnyi Mai Plant has installed equipment which utilizes the heat energy of the effluent gases in the No. 4 furnace. The saving here in conventional fuel is 700 ton per year~ The Rostov Glass Plant has installed a hydraulic waste-heat boiler in the d i r e c t heating furnace and this has provided a saving of 600 ton of conventional fuel. Work on the reduction of consumption of e l e c t r i c a l power and fuel is being c a r r i e d out, of course, by the e n t e r p r i s e s without additional help f r o m the planning and r e s e a r c h organizations. This complicates the p r o b l e m of finding solutions to the introduction of m o r e economical combustion r e g i m e s , the utilization of effluent gases, and the technically optimal consumption of e l e c t r i c a l power. The utilization of only some of the r e s e r v e s for making economies in fuel and power r e s o u r c e s will ha.re a considerable economic effect in 1973. The changeover from solid fuel (brown coal) to mazut at the Raichinsk Plant will save annually 7500 ton of conventional fuel and 950,000 kWh of e l e c t r i c a l power. The completion of the changeover to liquid fuel at the U l a n - U d e n Glass Plant will provide a saving of the o r d e r of 3200 ton of conventional fuel and 570,000 kWh of e l e c t r i c a l power. The reduction in the consumption of m a t e r i a l s in production requires a s y s t e m a t i c overall plan of work in all aspects of the economic and productive effort of the e n t e r p r i s e s . The economy in the present

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consumption of m a t e r i a l s can be obtained in p r a c t i c e in all sections: transportation, storage, processing, and in the utilization of all m a t e r i a l r e s o u r c e s . It is, therefore, the most important task of the w o r k e r s in the glass industry to develop the economic incentive for the collectives to reduce the consumption of m a t e r i a l s . The economic r e q u i r e m e n t s of the new planning s y s t e m are directing the e n t e r p r i s e s towards the m o s t economical schemes of work. Individual plants are concentrating their r e s o u r c e s on increasing p r o duction and reducing expenditure on wages but without paying enough attention to economies in technical and m a t e r i a l r e s o u r c e s . The i n c o r r e c t n e s s of this p r a c t i c e is caused by a one-sided approach to the solution of the problem of i n c r e a s i n g production efficiency which c r e a t e s additional difficulties in the m a t e r i a l and technical achievement of the fulfilment and overfulfillment of the planned tasks. The question of increasing the economic incentive for e v e r y w o r k e r of the e n t e r p r i s e to save m a t e r i a l r e s o u r c e s should be basic in the cost-accounting and bonus s y s t e m s . T h e r e is p a r t i c u l a r value in extending the number of w o r k e r s who r e c e i v e special awards f r o m the m a t e r i a l incentive funds for econom i e s in the use of raw m a t e r i a l s , fuel, and power. Successful t r i a l s involving the rewarding of such achievements are being held at the Saratov Technical Glass Plant, the F. E. Dzerzhinskii Gusev Plant, the Salavat Glass Plant, and others. However, many plants (the Chagodoshchensk, the Raichikin, the Aksai Glass Plants and the Kamyshin Glass Container Plant) do not r e w a r d their w o r k e r s f r o m the m a terial incentive fund for achieving economies in m a t e r i a l r e s o u r c e s . In o r d e r to complete successfully the tasks of the Five Year Plan and to i n c r e a s e production efficiency, the management of the e n t e r p r i s e s and the specialists and w o r k e r s must strive constantly for a reduction in the consumption per unit of completed production, of raw m a t e r i a l s , other m a t e r i a l s , fuel, and power.

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