VOCATIONAL-ECONOMIC

TRAINING

S T I M U L A T I N G T H E MASTERY AND P R O D U C T I O N OF E F F I C I E N T TYPES OF ROLLED P R O D U C T S

V. I. Kocherov, 1~. P. Nikolaev, B. G. Solyanikov, N. T. Kravchenko, R. D. Bondin, V. A. Gorobets, Yu. V. Belyashov, and S. V~ Kortsov

Under the new rules governing the self-financing of metallurgical plants, bonuses are underwritten differently and broad incentives for workers have been put in place. Since the size of the bonus fund depends on the profits obtained for actual production, plants now have a vested interest in producing the most efficient and profitable types of metal products. Along with improving the product mix, one of the main ways for plants to increase profits is to improve the quality of the product for which the customer is paying. In addition to other products, the A. K. Serov Metallurgical Plant makes hot-sized steel sections on 450 and 320 mills. These products were previously unprofitable, and the workers were indifferent to the level of quality that was achieved. The following was done to change the situation in the rolling-mill shop: 1) both the equipment and the technology for producing hot-sized steel sections were improved; 2) a system of material incentives for the workers was instituted. High-precision rounds and hexagons are made mainly in two steps: production of a hot-rolled starting stock; subsequent processing in the sizing shop at the plant. To improve production in the shops, the rolling schedules were revised to include a large number (7-15) of time-consuming operations involving counterflows of metal. Material costs were high, a large number of workers was needed, and metal consumption increased (20-30 kg/ton). The successful introduction of sizing blocks in the 320 and 450 mills at the plant increased the accuracy of the hot-rolled shapes by a factor of 2-3. This obviated the need for additional cold rolling (a separate operation) before hot-forging in closed dies. The quality of the product is now the same as the quality of cold-drawn steel. In addition, the uses of such a product are more numerous: cold or hot rolling on mills and automatic lines to make standard and special machine parts. To make quality round and hexagons of group B under GOST 1051--73, the precision starting stock is subjected to continuous grinding or rough turning (in which less metal and tool is consumed than previously) and subsequent cold rotary or longitudinal rolling. All this had made it possible to reduce production costs by 10-20 rubles/ton while realizing a savings in metal of up to 30 kg/ton. Simplification of the rolling schedule has made production more flexible, which is very important given the shortage of production space. To provide workers with a material incentive to meet and surpass targets for the production of hot-sized sections, the plant instituted additional monthly bonus payments from an incentives fund generated by sales of the given product. Regulations governing the payments stipulate that the monthly bonus will be paid if the target of the production of hot-sized sections has been met since the beginning of the fiscal year (cumulative sum). Furthermore, it will be paid regardless of whether or not other indices and b o n u s - p a y m e n t conditions of the overall production target have been met. Bonuses may be paid to catchers, rollers, fitters, and electricians involved in the repair of mechanical and electrical equipment, mill foremen, fabricators, foremen in the conditioning section, mechanics and electricians in the section-rolling shop, the shop chief, individual workers in the inspection and manufacturing departments, and others.

Donetsk Scientific-Research Institute of Ferrous Metallurgy (DonNIIchermet). Plant. Translated from Metallurg, No. 3, pp. 11-12, March, 1990. 0026-0894/90/0304-0047512.50

9

A. K. Serov Metallurgical

Plenum Publishing Corporation

47

Bonuses are distributed among the section-rolling shop, and the inspection and manufacturing departments in proportion to the sum of the wages and salaries of the workers receiving bonuses. Within the shop, the bonuses are distributed first according to rolling mill and then according to shift, in proportion to the amount of hot-sized metal produced. The size of the bonus paid each worker is established by the crew with the participation of public organizations. In the awarding of bonuses to engineers and technicians, allowance is made for the contribution made to the solution of problems involved in the production of more efficient types of rolled products. An important element of the overall bonus system is economic substantiation of the amount of money allocated for bonuses. Proceeding on the basis of existing procedures and regulations for calculating the economic effect of producing efficient types of rolled products for the national economy, the following expression can be used to calculate the size of bonus (B) for each ton of hot-sized, high-precision metal that is produced: B=

(QK~-- qK~)CK~,KaK4K;, c4

where Q is the production of hot-sized metal in the fiscal period under the plan, tons/yr; q is the same in the base year of 1985; C is the wholesale price of the hot-sized metal, rubles/ton; K 1 is a coefficient expressing the efficiency of the hot-sized metal in the national economy (0.I 5); K 2 is a coefficient accounting for the fact that the savings in metal in the national economy is realized at different times (0.5); K s is the norm for allocating monies to the incentives fund as a result of the production of efficient types of rolled products in the plant as a whole (0.3); K 4 is a coefficient accounting for the ratio of metal saved in the sector as a whole to the projected absolute increase in metal saved (0.733); K s is the fraction of monies allocated from the incentives fund to the section-rolling shop for the payment of bonuses to workers for the production of hot-sized metal (0.3). Calculations showed that the payment o f 0.47 rubles in the form of a bonus is economically justified for each ton of hot-sized, high-precision metal that is produced. The introduction of the bonus system for stimulating the production of hot-sized metal in the section-rolling shop and the plant as a whole has helped increase production and maintain the requisite level of quality. Thus, the mean monthly output of this product f r o m the 450 and 320 mills after the introduction of the new incentives exceeded the Plan target by 24%. This figure is 40% greater than the analogous index for the period preceding the introduction of the incentives.

48