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Completed project
SarovSystem for Measuring the Geometry of Sheet Steel
Twenty years ago, when there was still little talk in Russia of venture investment, innovation projects, or of business angels, two employees of VNIIEF thought up a device which promised to offer significant improvements in the production of sheet metal. Today, analysing the path which the inventors followed, we can begin to understand the factors which helped this innovatory project to get through the so-called «valley of death». The development of the equipment began in the 1990s, at a time when there appeared to be no demand for it against the background of the general industrial collapse. Work was carried forward as a personal initiative. To transform the scientific research and design work into a commercial product, financial, material and staff resources were essential. In 2004 the people who had developed the equipment, which had been given the name IP-4 (flatness measurement), decided to leave the Institute, to concentrate their efforts on this project. They were supported in this by the Binar Association and its leader Vladimir Karyuk, who was one of the first venture investors in the Nizhniy Novgorod region. Inkomet Ltd was set up to implement the project. Over the following few years, the challenge was to improve the functionality of IP-4 and to launch it onto the market. In this critical period a new force appeared on the scene – the Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership. Thanks to the help of CNCP the team was able to acquire modern technology, by purchasing expensive specialised equipment. However, in our opinion, the most valuable contribution of CNCP was in formulating a strategy for commercialising the company. The inventors were immersed in continuing creative work completing their brainchild. In the midst of all this it was difficult for them to turn their attention to commercial exploitation, especially as they had little understanding of how to set about doing so. CNCP specialists helped us to adapt and adopt the mechanisms needed for promoting IP-4; through marketing (participation in exhibitions, presentations of the equipment to potential purchasers), organisational measures (certification of the company’s quality management system), and technical steps (obtaining a metrological certificate). The Programme financed these measures. Today the equipment possesses unique technical characteristics. Thanks to its high sensitivity and geometrical resolution it can be used to measure the flatness of rolled strip metal under tension, which none of the competitor products which employ electro-optical methods, can achieve. To get where we are and to convince both specialists and purchasing executives of the effectiveness of IP-4, we have had to carry out more than ten series of live tests on different sheet metal production equipment in a variety of factories. Then we also came up against the fact that after the completion of the research phase we were going to need rather different skills from those required in the development stage. Specialists were needed who could adapt the equipment for the particular system where it was going to be installed. This required a team of engineers capable of supervising installation and the work of setting up the equipment. We are now engaged in this new stage of the project but are faced with the problem of the lack of skilled staff. A different approach was offered by the German firm «Vollmer Feinmessgeratebau GmbH»: which offered to take on promoting and selling the equipment. An agreement has now been signed giving «Vollmer» the right to supply IP-4 for the whole of the World apart from the countries of the NIS. This arrangement is functioning successfully and three sales have already been achieved. Russia and the NIS constitute an enormous potential market for Inkomet. Our breakthrough come when the managers of metallurgical factories resolve to modernize their machinery taking advantage of the innovatory characteristics of IP-4. We have a whole swag of references and testimonials from customers to help convince them that this is the right course to take. We have already come a long way towards making a reality of this new hi-tech technology and thus contributing to raising the quality of Russia production. Eleven jobs have been created, eight of them for former employees of VNIIEF. We understand that, with the start-up phase over, we need now to formulate a strategy for further developing our sales, concentrating our efforts on promoting the uptake of the equipment on the markets of Russia and the CIS. Karina Utesheva, | |
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