Blog

A KBR-P17K rear-lift collection vehicle on a KAMAZ-53605 chassis is being presented by KAMAZ at the WASMA 2023 International Exhibition of Equipment and Technologies for Recycling and Wastewater Treatment in Moscow on these days.

KAMAZ’s product portfolio offers a wide range of special vehicles that can help municipalities cope with the tasks they face. The KBR-P17K rear loaded refuse collection vehicle on the KAMAZ-53605 chassis presented at the exhibition is the best solution for modern urban infrastructure.

Public utility services are primarily meant to collect, remove and recycle household waste from the territory of multi-apartment residential complexes. The exhibit of this version answers customers’ all requirements: body capacity is 16 cbm, loading capacity is 2.7 cbm. At the same time, the garbage truck features a perfect compactor: the waste pressing force is up to 47 tonnes, the compaction ratio is 7. The load capacity of the tipper is 800 kg. The weight of loaded waste is no more than 5760 kg. The superstructure was manufactured by the official partner of KAMAZ – AO KOMMASH.

The fuel-efficient and cost-effective garbage truck is based on the KAMAZ-53605 chassis with a 4×2 chassis configuration. The vehicle is equipped with a KAMAZ-667.511 diesel engine with a capacity of 300 hp, complies with Euro 5 emission standards.

Having timely resolved the issues of import substitution, KAMAZ continues to supply modern vehicles to the Russian regions and provide high-quality service, contributing to the implementation of priority national projects. Today, KAMAZ vehicles are manufactured on a sanctions-resistant component base: domestically produced auto components and components from friendly countries are used, which is important for the further operation of vehicles and the stable operation of consumer company fleets.

Ten years ago, on February 21, 2013, the function of selling bus equipment was transferred from NEFAZ PTC, a subsidiary in Bashkiria, to KAMAZ. A bus sales service was created in the unit of the Deputy General Director for Sales and Service.

According to Samat Sattarov, Director for Passenger Transport of KAMAZ PTC, the company has come a long way in the “passenger transport” development during this period. The company, which initially was only one of the market players, eventually took the position of the market leader in the large-class bus market and the absolute leader in the electric bus market in Russia. Passenger transport sales quadrupled during this period.

“In 2022, about 1,500 buses and 55 electric buses were delivered to consumers. Despite all the difficulties of the outgoing year, we maintain a leading position in the large-class bus market and occupy 28% of the market at the end of the year, outperforming our closest competitor in terms of sales by 69%, in the electric bus segment we are the undisputed market leader in the Russian Federation with a share of 85%,” said Samat Sattarov.

In 2022, the company continued to supply vehicles to Moscow and fulfilled two contracts for buses and electric buses, supplying a total of 218 vehicles. KAMAZ participated in the Transport Reform of St. Petersburg, having delivered 364 gas buses to the city. KAMAZ became the only supplier of passenger transport which delivered vehicles under the Transport Reform without violating the delivery deadlines. In addition, 2022 was a successful year in terms of expanding the geography of sales. The company entered new sales markets by delivering large lots of buses to Kirov, Voronezh, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, St. Petersburg, Obninsk, and Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.

Work was also actively carried out to promote buses and electric transport in the regions, potential partners were given the opportunity of test operation. For example, the KAMAZ-6282 electric bus successfully passed test operation in Belgorod, Sochi, Volgograd, and Rostov-on-Don, the trolleybus was tested in St. Petersburg, buses were tested in Moscow Oblast, St. Petersburg, and Kostroma. In order to promote products, the company actively participated in major exhibitions: SPb TransportFest, St. Petersburg International Gas Forum, BW Expo in Moscow. During the BW Expo exhibition, according to the results of the Grand Prix competition organized by the Za Rulem magazine, three KAMAZ new products at once became winners in the Large Class Buses nomination.

“At the BW Expo exhibition, we presented a restyled suburban bus NEFAZ-5299-31-52 with improved performance, which was positively evaluated by our prospective consumers. Based on the results of the exhibition, we signed a contract with the largest passenger carrier of Moscow Oblast Mostransavto JSC for the supply of 329 such buses,” said Samat Sattarov.

Among the advantages of a wide range of models are quality, modern design of the exterior and interior, a well-thought-out driver’s workplace and, of course, comfort and safety for passengers. Realizing customers’ growing demands, the company develops services for the integrated supply of rolling stock.

“Together with the sale of passenger vehicles, we are ready to provide a package of high-quality prompt warranty and post-warranty service in the format of a life cycle contract. We are also launching the BuStream project, which will provide remote monitoring and diagnostics of nodes. Our product will automate the collection of data from rolling stock into a single cloud storage. The system will implement a product portfolio that can satisfy both the basic and the most advanced needs of the owners of passenger vehicles. For example, the software will allow you to automatically perform remote diagnostics of vehicles. This will help customers not only reduce the cost of servicing the fleet, but most importantly, it will significantly increase the reliability of the operation of our vehicles,” said Samat Sattarov.

Today, the passenger transport division employs 30 professional employees. 37 dealer companies are involved in the sale of passenger vehicles. Over 10 years of operation, 9,600 buses and 805 electric buses have been sold. Revenue from the sale of passenger transport amounted to 96 billion rubles.

The consequences of the sanctions pressure that Russian industrial enterprises faced under the new conditions did not affect the company’s wide opportunities in the production of passenger vehicles. KAMAZ continues to supply modern comfortable vehicles to the Russian regions, contributing to the implementation of the national project “Safe High-Quality Roads” and solving other priority tasks for the country. All buses are handed over to consumers on time, which confirms the reliability of KAMAZ PTC as a supplier of passenger transport.

In 2023, the company plans to bring to the market new models of passenger transport, work on which was suspended in the previous year due to the transition to alternative components. These are extra-large-capacity buses, the so-called “accordions” in diesel and gas versions, a trolleybus, which will be the development of a line of electric vehicles and comfortable buses of the middle class. As for sales, the plans are to increase sales of electric vehicles and increase sales of passenger transport by 24% compared to 2022.

The truck assembly plant summed up the results of 2022 and set goals for 2023. The plans include reengineering of aggregate production.

Speaking about the results of the team’s work in 2022, director of the truck assembly plant Anton Saraykin noted that after the events in February, which led to a change in the economic situation and reshaping of supply chains, it was necessary to actively increase the assembly of trucks of the K3 generation. The load on aggregate production has increased significantly. Despite difficult conditions, the plant finished the year with good results. “In 2022, the demand for all-wheel drive vehicles increased sharply, but the team reached record results – the production of 105 vehicle kits per day – only by December. In particular, in order to level the problems of logistics, the conveyors had to work in a 24-hour uneven mode,” the director noted. “Now there is a new task – by April we must increase the rate of assembly of all-wheel drive vehicles to 120 vehicle kits per day.”

In addition, now for the assembly of the KAMAZ-54901 truck, a part of the brackets, tubes, and other parts are being manufactured at the truck assembly plant. In the future, heavy trucks of the K5 class will be equipped with drive axles assembled at an automobile plant. According to Anton Saraykin, the Axles project has successfully passed the defense at the Industrial Development Fund, and money has been allocated for its financing.

It is planned to purchase equipment, some of it is already in the process of contracting. The processing of the cast beam, axle parts and a new axle assembly line are being prepared. The line will feature smart joint tightening control systems. This project will change the manufacturing technology for a number of parts and assemblies for K3 generation trucks. The processing of parts such as the steering knuckle housing, ball joint, axle housing, axle shaft will be transferred from worn-out automatic lines to flexible modern equipment – CNC machining centers. It is planned to organize a workshop, which will be equipped only with new equipment: in the second quarter of this year, the preparation of areas for its installation will begin.

In January, the main assembly line worked at an assembly rate of 190 vehicles per day, in February the assembly rate was higher. “In March, the figure will rise to 210, by the fall we need to accelerate to the delivery of 220 heavy trucks. The conveyors are already ready to increase the pace, the question is the timely supply of all the necessary components, including units of aggregate production,” said Anton Saraykin. “My team and me, our command center, discuss this topic daily. We have already gone through the entire chain of manufacturing axles, balancer suspension, transfer cases, singled out the production of all parts that are lagging behind this pace, developed measures to clear bottlenecks and monitor their implementation.”

As for the strategic development of the truck assembly plant, the main long-term project is Axles, its implementation is planned until 2025. “Further on, the project smoothly flows into the project of reengineering of aggregate production. The replacement of bulky automatic lines with machining centers will continue, and production areas will be optimized. The road map is scheduled until 2030,” Anton Saraykin explained.

In the future, modernization is also waiting for the assembly line for the cabs of the new model range. Now it is designed for the production capacity of 20 thousand cabs of the K5 generation. In KAMAZ’s strategy, new generation vehicles are the main point of growth, and an increase in their assembly will require an increase in capacity.

Production development is under way at KAMAZ. Under the sanctions regime, the importance of such traditional issues for the company as the modernization of production sites and import substitution has increased. By solving priority tasks in a timely manner, KAMAZ employees contribute to the achievement of a strategic goal common to all Russian enterprises – meeting demand through domestic products and strengthening the country’s technological sovereignty. The production indicators achieved to date are the result of the work of highly qualified specialists and workers who work in the interests of the security and economic stability of Russia.