20 years of work: ESAB-SVEL welding materials plant summed up the results

Moscow, December 10, 2020 - 20 years ago, the Saint Petersburg welding materials plant SVEL became a part of ESAB. Today, ESAB-SVEL summed up the results of joint work and shared its plans for 2021.Over twenty years of operation, the production volume of welding materials at ESAB-SVEL has grown from 3 thousand tons in 2001 to about 23 thousand tons in 2020, making the plant today the largest supplier of materials for the welding industry in Russia. In total, over 20 years, about 350 thousand tons of electrodes, flux and wire were produced. To date, the company produces more than 30 brands of electrodes in various packages (each brand has from 2 to 5 diameters), several of the most popular brands of welding flux in various packages, and 2 brands of welding powder wire.ESAB-SVEL products are in high demand among the largest enterprises of the fuel and energy complex, Gazprom, oil companies, shipyards and other enterprises from 40 regions of Russia and CIS countries. ESAB-SVEL is a full-cycle enterprise, and in 2020 production did not stop for a day. Despite the restrictions imposed, the annual plan for the production of welding materials was fulfilled – moreover, the production of flux and cored wire increased. In 2021, ESAB-SVEL plans to increase the volume of production of high-quality alloy electrodes, welding flux and welding powder wire, the full production cycle of which will be completed in 2022.Also, among the key tasks of the company for the next year is the development of a new vacuum packaging of welding electrodes, which will save customers from the need to calcine the electrodes before use. The joint venture "ESAB-SVEL" was founded in 2000, at that time its production capacity was 8,000 tons of electrodes per year, and the output was less than 3,000. Already in 2005, the plant's capacity increased to 15,000 tons (9,500 tons were produced). In 2007, the company began production of ceramic fluxes, and in 2014, specialists began to create a site for the production of stainless electrodes. After another 3 years, the first stage of production of cored wire was launched, and the process of complex automation of electrode production began, which continues to this day. Now the plant employs 170 people. Among the company's key areas of development: automation of electrode packaging with 100 % pack weight control, optimization of the wire rod production line, computerization of dry mix preparation and electrode coating, as well as investment in the latest equipment of press-drying lines, which are the heart and Assembly point of electrode production.  "Looking back, we can say with confidence that we did a great job and achieved excellent results. All this became possible thanks to the staff-the professionalism of employees, their approach to their work. We hope to continue to maintain the same pace of development, improving our products and developing our partner networks", - Albina Penyagina, Director of the ESAB plant in St. Petersburg.