Overview

In 2010, SMIT Group decided to diversify its business by expanding production through the manufacture of a new product - polymer corrugated double-layer sewer pipes in the diameter range OD160 - ID600 mm. In the Free Economic Zone "FEZ Mogilev" the owners established a new legal entity "SKT UNIPLAST" and registered the trademark "COREX". The preparatory stage was considerably delayed due to the lack of qualified specialists in the team at that time and uncertainty with the project financing.

In July 2013, the staff of SKT UNIPLAST was replenished with experienced employees, and we started the practical realization of the project. Potential markets for the new product and possible equipment suppliers were analyzed as soon as possible. As a result - the original plans of the business owners were changed. Namely. The capacity of the Belarusian market as the main market was overestimated. Besides, at the time of decision making, the market was largely monopolized by the only competitor - SC "POLYPLASTIK". There was a minimal presence of imports against the background of the above-mentioned factors. Thus, the Russian market was determined as a priority market for the new product: growing consumption volumes; high purchase prices and solvency of the end user; low competition from local manufacturers; significant share of imports, etc.

After a detailed analysis of equipment suppliers' offers, we decided to opt for modern Battenfeld-Cincinnati Solex series extruders instead of KraussMaffei, a horizontal Unicor corrugator instead of a vertical Corma, and an IPM cut-off device instead of Sica. Much attention was paid to the automation of production, which allowed minimizing the share of manual labor. The new production laboratory was equipped with ZwickRoell testing equipment.

In December 2013, in test mode, we produced the first batch of OD250 pipe with ring stiffness SN8. An important issue to be solved was the choice of raw materials. European suppliers recommended by the equipment manufacturer did not leave much maneuverability in terms of price. In addition, the market demanded an increased (relative to the designed) annular stiffness of the pipe. The problem was solved, among other things, by using Asian block copolymers and specially selected chalk-filled compounds. As a result, the production of pipe with an annular stiffness of SN16 became possible using the tooling designed for the production of SN8 pipe.

Building a sales system was also within our area of responsibility. Different models were considered, but the system of sales through supporting regional dealers took root and yielded results. The plant filled the warehouses of "regional dealers" with products and gave them the task of communication with the end client. Taking into account the specifics of commodity-money relations in the real sector of the Russian economy, the scheme worked almost without fail. As a result of the efforts made, the line reached its design capacity at the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, and the plant broke even. In all subsequent years, a net profit of around €1 million per year was recorded.

Throughout the entire period of the project, we considered various options for its development, mainly in the direction of expanding the range of corrugated pipes. However, the vision of the owners, their desire and opportunities to invest led to the fact that in 2019 we mastered the production of non-core products - polyethylene sheathing for the completion of FPU pipes. Thus, two more lines of Chinese machine builders appeared at the plant and started production of products - low-pressure polyethylene sheathing of 100-density polyethylene.

In 2020, the composition and structure of business owners changed - SMIT Group became a part of POLYPLASTIC Group of Companies. Two years later, under the influence of changes in international politics, the new owners decided to suspend the activities of SKT UNIPLAST.

What we did