Uralmash
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n engineering corporation OMZ. The facility is located in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The surrounding residential area where workers live is also called Uralmash.
Uralmash is an abbreviation of , Ural’s’kiy Mashinostroitelnyy Zavod, literally ‘Urals Machine-Building Plant’. Historically, the plant was also called , Ural’s’kiy Zavod Tyazhelogo Mashinostroyeniya, ‘Ural Heavy Machinery Plant’ or , UZTM, and for a time carried the honorary name of Ordzhonikidze Ural Heavy Machinery Plant, after Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze
Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze
Grigol Ordzhonikidze ორჯონიკიძე - Grigol Orjonikidze, , generally known as Sergo Ordzhonikidze ; – February 18, 1937) was a Georgian Bolshevik, later member of the CPSU Politburo and close friend to Joseph Stalin...
.
History
The Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant began operations in 1933 in compliance with the plans of the Government of the USSRPolitics of the Soviet Union
The political system of the Soviet Union was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , the only party permitted by Constitution.For information about the government, see Government of the Soviet Union-Background:...
for the industrialization of the country. During the pre-World War II period, Uralmash manufactured its products (blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
equipment, sintering
Sintering
Sintering is a method used to create objects from powders. It is based on atomic diffusion. Diffusion occurs in any material above absolute zero, but it occurs much faster at higher temperatures. In most sintering processes, the powdered material is held in a mold and then heated to a temperature...
machines, rolling mills, press
Machine press
A machine press, commonly shortened to press, is a machine tool that changes the shape of a workpiece.-Servomechanism:A servomechanism press, also known as a servo press or a electro press, is a press driven by an AC servo motor. The torque produced is converted to a linear force via a ball screw....
es, crane
Crane (machine)
A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It uses one or more simple machines to create mechanical advantage and thus move loads beyond the normal capability of...
s, etc.) for the mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
and metallurgical
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
industries located in the Urals and Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. The majority of these products were produced from individual designs. At the same time the plant began to develop military equipment, with the production of F.F. Petrov designed Howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
M-30
M-30 122 mm howitzer
The 122 mm howitzer M1938 was a Soviet 121.92 mm howitzer. The weapon was developed by the design bureau of Motovilikha Plants, headed by F. F. Petrov, in the late 1930s, and was in production from 1939 to 1955. The M-30 saw action in World War II, mainly as a divisional artillery piece...
.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
large-scale production of armoured materiel was organized at the plant. At first the plant manufactured armoured tank hulls, later expanding to production of T-34
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. Although its armour and armament were surpassed by later tanks of the era, it has been often credited as the most effective, efficient and influential design of World War II...
tanks and the SU-122
SU-122
The SU-122 was a Soviet self-propelled howitzer used during World War II. The number "122" in the designation represents the caliber of the main armament—a 122 mm M-30S howitzer.-Development history:...
, SU-85
SU-85
The SU-85 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II, based on the chassis of the T-34 medium tank. Earlier Soviet self-propelled guns were meant to serve as either assault guns, such as the SU-122, or as mobile anti-tank weapons; the SU-85 fell into the latter category...
, and SU-100
SU-100
The SU-100 was a Soviet tank destroyer. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years afterwards with the armies of Soviet allies around the world.- Development :...
gun tank destroyers based on the T-34 tank design. The self-propelled gun mounts built at Uralmash demonstrated their effectiveness on the battlefield as a successful combination of maneuverability of T-34 tanks and huge fire power of ordnance pieces.
After World War II, the state made large investments in the reconstruction and expansion of the Uralmash plant. This modernisation favoured both increased output and the production of new machines and equipment--shovels, drilling rig
Drilling rig
A drilling rig is a machine which creates holes or shafts in the ground. Drilling rigs can be massive structures housing equipment used to drill water wells, oil wells, or natural gas extraction wells, or they can be small enough to be moved manually by one person...
s, crushers and mills.
In the 1950s the state began efforts to equip the aviation and rocket industries with heavy hydraulic presses. Uralmash, in response to this new demand, created a range of this type of equipment.
In 1949 the plant produced the first dragline excavator
Dragline excavator
A dragline excavator is a piece of heavy equipment used in civil engineering and surface mining.In civil engineering the smaller types are used for road, port construction, and as pile driving rigs. The larger types are used in strip-mining operations to move overburden above coal, and for...
. In 1960s the plant designed and manufactured draglines with booms 90-100 m long. Now more than 200 walking draglines are in operation at mines in Siberia and the Far East. One third of the total coal amount produced by the open casting is mined with the help of draglines.
The drilling rigs manufactured by Uralmash were of prime importance in the development of oil and gas regions of the USSR, including West Siberia with its severe climate. The extra deep drilling rigs designed and manufactured at the plant made it possible to reach the depth of 13 km (at the Kola Superdeep Borehole
Kola Superdeep Borehole
The Kola Superdeep Borehole is the result of a scientific drilling project of the Soviet Union in Kola Peninsula. The project attempted to drill as deep as possible into the Earth's crust. Drilling began on 24 May 1970 using the Uralmash-4E, and later the Uralmash-15000 series drilling rig. A...
) and to obtain for the first time rock samples approximately 3 billion years old. In addition to land-based rigs, Uralmash also designs off-shore drilling equipment.
In accordance with Russian Federation law, Uralmash was transformed in December 1992 into an open-end joint stock
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
company under the name "The Ural Heavy Machine Building Plant". In 1996 Uralmash it became part of OMZ, one of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
's largest engineering corporations, founded and initially led by Kakha Bendookidze.
In February 2007 OMZ and Metalloinvest agreed to create a common manufacturing complex. OMZ contributed its holdings in Uralmash to the joint venture while Metalloinvest contributed its holdings in ORMETO-YuUMZ. The consolidation will result in the creation of a large machine-building conglomerate with a leading position in the CIS
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
metallurgical equipment market with a joint market share in the metallurgical equipment segment in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
exceeding 40%.
The first director of Uralmash was A. P. Bannikov. The current director is Oleg Danchenko.