RGC PRODUCTION: INNOVATIONS FOR ENERGY SECURITY

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It all starts with an ultra-modern automated production plant worthy of shooting futuristic films in it. Two robots endlessly weld pipes and frames, a computerized laser flashes as it trims components and plasma cutters slice through sheets of metal.

What started as an idea for an innovative competition turned into a full-fledged plant in 2019. It now employs almost 200 specialists and has attracted investment in excess of UAH 50 million. Each month RGC Production ships equipment for 80 gas control and gas measurement points to customers.

This equipment is installed across Ukraine: from Zakarpattia to Kharkiv region. Currently, control points operate on gas pipelines in 16 regions of Ukraine and ensure stable pressure for tens of thousands of households.

It took 6 months to build RGC Production. Just 6 months later high demand meant it already had to be expanded with new premises needed to accommodate additional equipment.

The Panasonic welding robot was the first to get a companion – a second automatic manipulator was installed next to the original. Both weld pipes for gas control points and frames. They are controlled by specially designed software, which allows the accuracy of welding tools and manipulators to reach a cosmic 0.01 mm.

Both robots put together bodies and pipes of future gas mains and cabinets. These are later sent for hydraulic testing and chemical treatment.

A futuristic laser sheet metal cutting unit from Turkish manufacturer Baykal also made itself at home in the shop. The advantage of this automated system is that it "slices" materials with minimal cutting errors (from 0.01 mm to 0.2 mm).

Equipment from a Ukrainian manufacturer – a line for the chemical treatment of metal and a painting chamber – completed the picture.

Previously parts would be sandblasted, but nowadays the preferred option is chemical treatment, which is faster and increases the strength and corrosion resistance of metals.

While sandblasting simply removes defects and rust residues, chemical treatment also provides protective coating. It has a microcrystalline structure that creates strong bonds in the paintwork, prevents corrosion under the paint and slows the spread of corrosion even after damage is done.

On the eve of its one-year anniversary, RGC Production received its ISO 9001 and ISO 45001 international certificates. According to project manager Oleksandr Volovych, these certificates confirm that a company meets all international health and safety standards and guarantee customers that products are manufactured in compliance with international quality standards.

The main goal is not only to produce quality equipment, but also to make it easy to maintain and install.

Most often, suggestions for improvement relate to the simplification of the production process or the product itself. One proposal suggested to simplify the design of connections for gas control point cabinets, another to reduce the number of shut-off valves. Together they reduced the cost of production and sped up the installation process on gas networks.

Sometimes improving the usability of the equipment also helps.

"Once I was walking through the business department," says Volovych. "Walking past the half-assembled closet, I caught a shoe on the leg of the gas cabinet. It ripped my shoe open like a knife! That's when I realized it was necessary to make rounded supports so that gas distribution companies employees would not be injured during the installation of new equipment."

Vladimir suggested the borrow a page from aircraft construction assembly. Before screwing in a self-tapping screw, aviators immerse it in paint that protects it from damage. This life hack is now successfully used in making equipment that is later installed by consumers. "Aviation technology" will allow gas cabinets to last longer.

Sometimes it is new team members that bring in new ideas. In one case, the RGC Production team in Lviv was joined by a designer who previously worked at Antonov and Boeing.

His experience came in handy in the manufacture of boxes for domestic gas control points. These are small cabinets that contain a modern pressure regulator and meter, which mostly serves to lower the gas pressure for customer equipment. They are assembled from painted sheets of metal fastened together with screws. But while the sheets themselves are covered with powder paint, the holes on the mounting points are not.

At present, about 38,000 specialists work in gas distribution companies operating under the RGC brand. Many of them cannot switch to remote work, as their work is connected to gas distribution pipelines or the operation of gas equipment.

Each service has its own specific demands. Obviously, emergency dispatch services need their own model, but so do complex-instrumental inspection specialists, or locksmiths of underground gas pipelines. This has led to the growth of a garment industry of sorts.

However, the spread of coronavirus in Ukraine has forced adjustments to the company's work. The quarantine made it clear that a large number of masks and suits would be needed to protect both staff and customers.

After all, during the quarantine, about 12,000 specialists continued to perform their work. Therefore, the clothing production process was urgently re-profiled to create personal protective equipment.

Since mid-March, 105,000 protective masks and 4,000 suits have been produced for gas distribution companies operating under the RGC brand. Some of the masks were donated as charitable assistance. Some 60 hospitals in 16 oblasts received medical supplies and protective equipment worth UAH 23 million.

As for protective suits, they are actively used by employees of gas distribution companies in their work: when visiting gas consumers, and while disinfecting vehicles.

RGC Production is actively preparing to produce modems for gas meters that will be used by ordinary consumers and entire businesses.

Previously, such devices were mostly imported. Therefore, RGC Production decided to create a more affordable alternative – a modem that can be installed on all types of meters. With its help, you can fully move any interaction with a gas distribution company online.

For now, these are mostly used by companies (about 25,000 of them). They no longer have to worry about transmitting meter readings, paperwork, because all the data is promptly sent to the network operator.

From the beginning of next month, clients will simply receive a pack of documents from their gas distribution company and sign them online.