The machine-building complex is a set of certain industries, the products of which are various machines and mechanisms. Moreover, this formation is characterized by very complex connections.
The machine-building complex, whose structure is extensive, includes mechanical engineering itself, as well as metalworking. The products of the enterprises of this complex play a major role in the process of implementing the latest achievements of modern scientific and technological progress. Moreover, this is true for all areas of the national economy.
Structure of the engineering industry
This largest complex industry provides the entire national economy of the country with instruments and equipment. For the population, it produces a variety of consumer goods. The machine-building complex includes the repair of equipment and machines, as well as metalworking. Characteristic for it is the deepening of the specialization of production and the constant expansion of the scale of activity.
The machine-building complex includes more than seventy industries. And all of themcombined into groups according to the purpose of the products, the similarity of technological processes and types of raw materials used.
The machine-building complex includes:
1. Energy and heavy engineering. This includes the production of power, material handling and mining, printing and nuclear equipment, railcar, turbine and diesel locomotive building.
2. Machine tool industry, responsible for the production of various kinds of machine tools.
3. Transport engineering, which includes the industries for the production of cars and ships, as well as those related to aviation and the rocket and space industry.
4. Tractor and agricultural engineering.
5. Instrumentation, production of electrical engineering and electronics, which is considered precision engineering.
6. Production of machine tools and equipment for food and light industry.
In addition to the above divisions, the machine-building complex includes small metallurgy, engaged in the production of rolled products and steel. This technological process is carried out in foundries. Such areas are located in machine-building or specialized enterprises. It produces stampings, castings, forgings and welded structures.
Heavy engineering
All plants in this industry are characterized by high metal consumption. At the same time, they provide enterprises related to the mining and chemical, mining, fuel and energy and metallurgical complex with the necessary machinery and equipment.
Products of factories of heavymechanical engineering are components, parts (for example, rolls for metallurgical rolling machines), as well as finished equipment (turbines and steam boilers, excavators, mining equipment). This industry includes ten sub-sectors. Among them are hoisting and transport, track, nuclear, printing, mining and metallurgical engineering, as well as diesel, car, turbo and boiler building.
The highest cost products in the heavy machinery industry are produced by the production of metallurgical equipment. They are equipped with electric smelting and blast furnaces, as well as sinter plants. Equipment for crushing, grinding and rolling industries is also distinguished by high cost.
The products of mining engineering enterprises are units used for exploration, as well as mining (open and closed method), enrichment and crushing of minerals with a solid structure. These include shearers and tunneling machines, walking and rotary excavators. Such equipment is used at enterprises of non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy, coal and chemical industries, as well as in the manufacture of building materials.
Huge economic importance for the national economy of the country has products manufactured by hoisting and transport machinery. After all, about five million people work with such equipment in Russia. This sub-sector produces electric and overhead cranes, belt and stationary conveyors, as well as equipment designed for the complex mechanization of warehouses.premises.
Products of car and diesel locomotive building are designed to provide the railway sector with the transport it needs. This sub-sector also produces track mechanisms necessary for rail welding, laying, snow removal and other works.
As for the turbine construction, its main task is to equip the energy sector of the national economy with the necessary equipment. The plants of this sub-sector produce units for nuclear and hydraulic, gas turbine and thermal power plants. She is also responsible for equipping gas pipelines and supplying injection, compressor and disposal units used in the oil refining and chemical industries, as well as non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy.
Nuclear engineering plants specialize in the production of various equipment for nuclear power plants. This list also includes vessel reactors.
Printing machine building is distinguished by the minimum volume of production. His factories produce conveyors for printing houses, printing presses, etc.
Machine industry
This branch of the machine-building complex produces:
- metalworking tools;
- forging and pressing equipment;
- metal cutting machines;
- woodworking equipment.
In addition to the production of finished products, this industry is also responsible for the centralized repair of units used for metalworking.
Transportmechanical engineering
One of its industries is the aviation industry. For the manufacture of products, materials and a variety of equipment are used, which are produced at enterprises of almost all branches of the machine-building complex. Aviation industry plants employ highly qualified engineers and workers who produce cargo and passenger aircraft. Helicopters of various modifications are also leaving the conveyors of these enterprises.
Products of the rocket and space industry are orbital rockets and manned and cargo ships. These vehicles are the perfect combination of high technology and wide cross-industry complexity.
The shipbuilding industry uses a large amount of metal in the production of their products. But, despite this, their placement is carried out outside the regions with large metallurgical bases. This is due to the great difficulties in transporting finished ships. Enterprises of the shipbuilding industry have numerous cooperative ties with factories in many sectors of the national economy. This allows the installation of a variety of equipment on water transport vehicles.
The largest branch of the machine-building complex is the automotive industry. Its products are used in all spheres of the national economy. Cars are also in demand in retail trade.
Tractor and agriculturalmechanical engineering
This industry is characterized by detailed specialization. A small number of factories are involved in the production process of its products, producing components and parts for various stages of the technological process.
Tractor and agricultural machine building produces various types of combines. These include flax and grain harvesters, cotton and corn harvesters, potato harvesters and other machines. Various modifications of wheeled and caterpillar tractors are also produced at the factories of this industry.
Instrument and electrical industry
Products manufactured by enterprises in these industries are characterized by low energy and material consumption. However, its release requires the selection of highly qualified workers and research personnel.
Instrument-making plants carry out adjustment and installation of automation equipment. Their tasks include software development, design and production of medical devices, watches, office equipment and measuring equipment. Such products are science-intensive and are used for automatic control of technological processes and information systems.
Russian factories that are part of the electrical engineering industry currently produce more than one hundred thousand items of various products.
These products are used in almost all areas of the national economy. The volume of products manufactured by the electricalindustry, exceeds the number of products that are manufactured by all branches of heavy engineering in the aggregate. The main range of such products is represented by generators for hydraulic, gas and steam turbines, as well as electric motors, electric machines, converters and transformers, electrothermal, electric welding and lighting equipment.
Machinery for food and light industry
This area of production includes sub-sectors that produce equipment for knitwear and textile, footwear and clothing, fur and leather, food industry. The location of such plants depends on the proximity to the consumer.
Role in the national economy
The importance of the machine-building complex cannot be overestimated. After all, this industry is one of the leading in the heavy industry of the Russian Federation. At the enterprises of this sphere, the main and most active mass of fixed assets is created, which include tools. In addition, the machine-building complex has a significant impact on the direction and pace of development of scientific and technological progress, on the magnitude of labor productivity growth, as well as on many other indicators that affect the efficiency of production development.
The entire volume of products produced by the machine-building complex of Russia is more than one third of all marketable products manufactured in the country. Two-fifths of the total number of industrial and production workers work at enterprises in this sphere of the national economy. Here, almosta quarter of all fixed assets of an industrial production nature available in the country.
The significance of the machine-building complex in the life of large regions of Russia is important. Moreover, the development of all spheres of the national economy depends on the level of development of these enterprises. The role of the machine-building complex in ensuring the defense capability of Russia is also great.
Distinguishing features affecting the location of businesses
The machine-building complex of Russia has wide intersectoral ties. But besides this, this education has a number of characteristic features. They must be kept in mind when locating various industries in a particular region.
First of all, the branches of the machine-building complex have a developed specialization. In other words, their enterprises are focused on the production of one, or, in extreme cases, several types of products. In this case, a high concentration is observed. This is such a factor in mechanical engineering, when several enterprises are simultaneously engaged in the production of finished products. Take, for example, a car factory. Its products are only vehicles.
Necessary for the manufacture of automobiles, such a plant receives ready-made components and parts from other enterprises, the number of which can be quite large. This factor has a significant impact on the location of the machine-building complex, which is vital for good transport links. That is why many branches of this sphere of the national economy are located in the Volga region and Central Russia. After all, these areas have gooddeveloped transport network.
The geography of the machine-building complex of Russia, which focuses on the production of the most complex and progressive goods (electronics and radio engineering), is associated with the science-intensive factor. That is why such industries are located near Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, etc. That is, close to those places where the scientific base is well developed.
The machine-building complex, whose products are associated with the military-strategic factor, as a rule, is located in "closed" cities. These are Snezhinsk, Novouralsk, Sarov, etc. Sometimes such production facilities are located near military bases.
The factors of the machine-building complex that influence its development include the presence of a significant number of qualified personnel. So, the most labor-intensive industries are machine-tool and instrument making. That is why such production facilities are located in regions with the highest concentration of the population, that is, in Moscow, Voronezh, Penza, Ryazan, etc.
During the construction of heavy engineering enterprises, their high material consumption is taken into account. A lot of metal is required to produce products in these industries. Only if it is available, it is possible to produce metallurgical and power equipment. Similar enterprises are located in the regions of the Urals (Yekaterinburg), Siberia (Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk). This is due to the large metallurgical base available in these regions. Sometimes heavy engineering enterprises are guided by imported raw materials. There arein St. Petersburg.
There are certain types of cars that only some regions need. This applies, for example, to timber hauling tractors and flax harvesters. Such equipment is not easy to transport, which means it is best produced where there is a need for it.
Experienced hardships
The development of the machine-building complex has significantly slowed down since the 90s of the last century. Some of these enterprises were simply closed, while others significantly reduced the volume of their products. The number of products at factories producing machine tools, agricultural machinery, as well as precision engineering products has especially decreased. What was the main reason for this process? It lay in the low quality of our products, which could not compete with imported products. In addition, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a break in all production ties that previously existed between the republics of the country.
Problems of the machine-building complex lie in the high wear and tear of equipment. According to statistics, it reaches almost 70%. This state of affairs exists in helicopter and shipbuilding, as well as in radio electronics. The average age of machine tools in machine-building plants is approximately 20 years. This does not allow the use of new technologies in the production of products. Today, many branches of mechanical engineering require a radical modernization of equipment. Only in this case, their productsbecome competitive in the market.
Many foreign companies contribute to the aggravation of the situation. Penetrating into our market, such corporations significantly increase the level of competition.
Another acute problem in the engineering industry is the lack of personnel. The system of training labor resources that existed in the USSR was simply destroyed. To date, the age of skilled workers is already approaching retirement age. Due to the acute shortage of young personnel, the process of modernization of machine-building production is significantly slowed down. But this deplorable situation is slightly improving thanks to investment projects. New factories are being built and have already been built, old enterprises are being reconstructed, new ones are being established and pre-existing production ties are being restored.
