25.08.2023 11:48:00
SOLLERS Product Development Centre has begun operations at the Idea Innovation Technopark in Kazan. The centre’s ceremonial opening was attended by the Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Albert Karimov.
One of the new centre’s key objectives will be developing the Sollers model range, modernising the UAZ model range, engineering support for the large-scale localisation programme, and development of new technological solutions, including in the field of electric mobility.
The first projects, the implementation of which has already begun within the framework of the new centre, include the development of all-wheel drive for Sollers Atlant, updating the style of UAZ Patriot, and integrating the 6-speed transmission diesel engine into UAZ vehicles, as well as introducing domestic production of the engine. The centre’s engineers have already started working on introducing domestic production of new passive safety systems and will soon proceed with engineering work to facilitate the launch of serial production of Sollers light commercial vehicles with electric propulsion systems.
SOLLERS Group’s new engineering division in Kazan is equipped with modern laboratory equipment to perform essential tests and validation, while all workstations in the centre are equipped with the latest graphics stations. The Russian software package that has been installed as the centre’s basic CAD system is a full-feature solution with all modern means of automation and digitalisation for developing and implementing projects of any complexity. The software combines powerful parametric capabilities for three-dimensional modeling with design documentation creation and formatting features.
‘In view of the goals of the adopted Automotive Industry Development Strategy, the establishment of such a centre is an important step toward technological sovereignty. It is through the development of our own competencies in the field of engineering that the domestic industry will acquire the opportunity to create its own component base, develop its own platforms, and find innovative solutions that will allow us to create globally competitive technologies. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, for its part, continues to pursue a policy of active stimulation of R&D, and support projects aimed at developing scientific and technical potential for the domestic automotive industry,’ Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Albert Karimov stressed.
‘The advancement of competencies in engineering and the development of new technologies is a cornerstone of the current strategy of the SOLLERS Group. That is why the launch of the new Product Development Centre in Kazan is perhaps the most ambitious, the most challenging, but at the same time the most promising of our projects laying the foundation for the company’s sustainable development,’ SOLLERS PJSC Board of Directors Chairman Adil Shirinov remarked.
The concept of the new Product Development Centre also envisions the active involvement of leading Russian technical universities and engineering schools in ongoing projects in order to create distributed centres of competence in various areas. The issues of establishing this collaboration were the subject of a scientific and practical conference held concurrently with the opening of the centre, which was attended by representatives from Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev, Ulyanovsk State Technical University, Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University named after R.E. Alekseev, and Kazan Federal University.
As Adil Shirinov noted, the centre’s development will be based on the concept of ‘open innovation,’ i.e., maximum cooperation with the centre’s partners – leading universities and research institutes – which will not only help expedite project implementation but will also facilitate the effective training of new engineering and technical personnel in finding solutions to real practical problems.
