Vitsstroitekhmash is preparing for the launch of serial production of import-substituting truck-mounted aerial platforms

August 18, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Private manufacturing and trading unitary enterprise "Vitstroytekhmash" is completing the first stage of implementing an import substitution investment project for the production of truck-mounted aerial platforms made of high-strength structural steel, the enterprise director Andrey Sidorov told a BELTA correspondent. Vitebsk machine builders plan to open a new workshop in September, which will produce at least 10 aerial platforms per month. Installation of new equipment is underway simultaneously with construction. At the beginning of this year, "Vitstroytekhmash" was the first in Belarus to develop a truck-mounted aerial platform made of high-strength structural steel and produced a prototype. The technical characteristics of the boom-type aerial platform, capable of lifting workers and tools with materials to a height of almost 20 m, are not inferior to foreign counterparts, and thanks to the use of high-strength steels, its metal consumption is 40% lower than that of competitors, while the load-carrying capacity remains the same. The lifting mechanism is controlled by an electro-hydraulic console. The Vitebsk aerial platform is half the price. The enterprise plans to start serial production of truck-mounted aerial platforms with a lifting height of 20 m, 25 m, 32 m under the "Vipo" trademark at the end of this year. The enterprise's marketing strategy provides for the creation of service centers, as well as training and preparation of specialists for working with new products, along with the development of new product types. The enterprise intends to invest over Br4.5 billion in the project and complete its implementation in 2013. The project provides for the creation of 100 jobs. Tax revenues to the local budget for 2010-2013, according to preliminary estimates, will amount to over Br8.5 billion. Andrey Sidorov noted that the niche for truck-mounted aerial platforms in the domestic market is still vacant. The main suppliers of aerial platforms are enterprises from Russia, Ukraine, as well as Italian and Finnish manufacturers. Despite the fact that the enterprise has not yet started serial production, there are already buyers for the new products. Since the release of the prototype, two aerial platforms have been produced and sold monthly. The development of the production of lifting mechanisms will not only replace imported equipment with domestic ones but also allow for export, the head is confident. A demonstration stand is already operating in Moscow in one of the VDNKh pavilions, and the aerial platform itself has been certified in the Russian Federation. Private manufacturing and trading unitary enterprise "Vitstroytekhmash" was established in 2004. The enterprise specializes in the technical maintenance and repair of all types of truck-mounted aerial platforms and aerial platforms, the manufacture of critical metal structures and components, and the production of construction equipment.-0-