SPECIALIZATION AND INTEGRATION OF PRODUCTION PLANNING IN BULGARIA'S MACHINE-BUILDING INDUSTRY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-00280R000200210016-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 11, 2011
• Sequence Number: 16
• Publication Date: November 27, 1956
• Content Type: REPORT

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SPECIALIZATION AND IJTEGRATIOI OF PRODUCTION PLAQIMG
IN BULGARIA'S MACHINE-BUILDING INDUSTRY
Tezhka Promishlenost,
Sofia, No 7, 1956
In a short period of time, Bulgaria has achieved significant successes
in the construction of socialism. The country has been transformed from a
backward agrarian country into an industrial and agrarian country. In the
socialist reconstruction of the country's economy, heavy industry has be-
come the sound foundation and source of development for all branches of
the national economy.
Domestic machine building is playing a large part in the industrial-
ization of Bulgaria. After the nationalization of industry and especially
during the First and Second Five-Year Plans, machine building became an
important branch of heavy industry and the economy as a whole. During
this period, the reorganization and consolidation of nationalized small-
scale enterprises were completed. New mack4ine-building plants were built,
and many of the old enterprises were reconstructed and equipped with new,
modern equipment. The artisan's method of work was replaced largely by
the. semiplant and plant method of work, and the work of laborers was special-
ized. As a result, the assortment of products of the machine-buildi$s
industry increased, production of new types of machines was mastered, equip-
ment was more extensively utilized, and many enterprises were freed from
side aspects of production that did not pertain to them directly. Machine-
building production increased nearly elevenfold from 1948 to 1955.
The present economic upsurge in Bulgaria is indissolubly connected
with the widespread introduction of new equipment in production and with
the struggle for technical progress. Moreover, the struggle for technical
progress, for an uninterr*ted improvement in production equipment, is an
extremely important task Inseparably related to the development of domestic
machine building. To carry out this task accurately and quickly, therefore,
the organization of the machine-building industry mustbe constutly improved, and
must entail the widest possible use of specialization, coordinated inte-
gration of production planning, and other such forms of production organi-
zation.
Technical progress calls for the specialization of various functions
of the production process. The very process of technology leads tothe
specialization of various aspects of production and requires that the manu-
facture of the same product be concentrated in mass production by special-
ized enterprises, rather than distributed among max- enterprises.
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The technical level of production in specialized plants is signifi-
cantly higher than in plants of the more universal type. In specialized
enterprises, conditions are created for a more accurate and more effective
utilization of personnel (designers, technologists, and supervisory engineer-
ing and technical personnel), machines, and tool bases and other produc-
tion shops. When high-production machinery and perfectedptechnological
processes are used in specialized plants, savings in materials of up to
30-2+p percent are realized, time consumed in mechenival processing and
other operations is cut in half, labor productivity is increased, the
quality of production is improved, and the cost of production is decreased.
With integration of production, the available reserves of an enter-
prise's production capacities are distributed and utilized to the greatest
extent. Invested capital, in turn, is economized and can be used for-other
purposes. Through integration, the profitability of individual machine-
building plants is raised significantly.
Integration of planning assures production of parts with uniform de-
sign and uniform dimensions and large serigO-production with homogeneous
parts produced according to a single technological process, requiring
only a change in work tools or readjustment of equipment in transferring
from one series to another.
Specialization and integration in Bulgarian machine building are in
the beginning stage. During 1953. the Ministerial Council and the Central
Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party issued a special decree on the
specialization And integration of machine-building plants of the Machine-
Building Administration in the system of the Ministry of Heavy Industry.
The decree approved the-basic activity of the machine~WaLiding enterprises
with a view to their furtherer specialization. Several enterprises having
approximately the same activity were consolidated to decreamestheir number
and improve their organization of supply, equipment, and management.
At almost the same time, the first measures were taken to intregate
machine-building enterprises of various departments of the Ministry of
Heavy Industry, the Ministry of Electrification, the Ministry of Agricul-
ture, and the Ministry of Transport.
What has been done to determine the activity and specialization of
basic machine-building enterprises had-had positive results, but it is
far from sufficient. In many enterprises, little has been done to estab-
lish i basic outline of activity and specialization. In several enter-
prises, the principle of specialization is not being observed; orders are
being issued to plants which are not designed to turn out the type of
product desired. For example, the "Vulko Chervenkov" Plant in Sofia, vhilch
specializes in metal-cutting machinery, vas required under its 1955 plan
to produce 5 spring hammers, 13 pneumatic hammers, 8 sixty-ton eccentric
presses, 12 foundry presses type 271, and other machinery. This assignment
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diverted the attention of engineering and technical personnel from their
work of improving and perfecting the production of metal-cutting machinery
in the plant. During the second quarter of 1955, this mistake of the
Machine-Building Administration was corrected, and the V. l(olarov" Machine
Plant in Stalin., which specializes in the production of the desired machin-
ery, was given the production order.
The production of a "Felton" water turbine, a power machine, vas in-
cluded in the production program of the "Stalin" Plant in Dimitrovo, which
specializes in mining machinery and equipment. The "N. Vaptsarov" Plant
in Pleven specializes in the production of vagter turbines. There are similar
cases in a number of enterprises in the system of the Machine-Building
Administration.
Although planned as early as 1952, Integration did not begin until
1954. Since-1955, about 15 percent of the deliveries in machine-building
plants of the Ministry of Heavy Industry have ben coordinated, and about
r5 percent in the Electric Power Administration.' Integration is carried
out mostly between plants of individual administrations; only a_smal-2
amount is carried between individual administrations and departments.
Integration has snot proceeded systematically and has often caused the
consumer plant to fail to fulfill its plan because of lags in the work of
the supplier plant. During 1955, the "Stalin" Plant in Dimitrovo hindered
the work of the Machine-Building Plant in Troyan, the "Vaptsarov" Plant in
Pleven, the "Sila" Plant in Yambol, and other plants by failing to deliver
steel castings on time, although the plants are all under one administra-
tion.
A number of failures in integration during the last 2 years have
occurred as a result of poor planning by the Machine-Building Administra-
tion and the Ministry of Heavy Industry. Because of late clarification
and approval of production plans, the integration plan has been worked out
later and later. Although it is usually sent to enterprises during February,
it provides for production. of parts according to=plan for the first quarter.
Naturally, the supplier enterprise is late, and this, in turn, disrupts the
plan of the consumer enterprise.
Many times the integration plan specified the production of parts which,
if produced by an enterprise (other than the one specified?), would be cheap=
er and of the same quality.
During 1956, integrated deliveries of the Machine-Building Administra-
tion were.significantly larger than during 1955. Integration is carried
out between enterprises of the Machine-Building Administration system; with
enterprises outside the system of the administration but of a department
of the Ministry of Heavy Industry, which includes the Machine-Building
Administration; and with enterprises of other governmental organs, such as
the Ministry of Electrification, the Ministry of Transport, and the Sofia
Urban People's Cduncil.
Despite the 1956 improvementrover 1955 fulfillment of planned assign-
menta for coordination between machine-building plants, a number of short-
comings still' exist. For exajaple, although the integration plan of the
machine-building enterprises wens prepared and sent to the enterprises on
time, changes were subsequently made in the Machine-Building Administra-
tion's plan which brought about changes in the integration plan.
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Some plants are not delivering the necessary parts on tier or are
delivering low-qt .lity parts, thereby disrupting the plan fulfillment
of consumer enterprises. Because the State Spare-Parts Plant in Sofia
and the "Vulko Chervenkov" Plant in Sofia could not supply the "Strug'
Machine-Building Plant in Nova Zagora with reductor gearboxes for
spraying machines, the "Strug" Plant was unable to produce 50 sprayers.
Because the "G. Dimitrov" Machine-Building Plant in Vidin was unable
to -supply pumps Tor several boilers to the "G. Kirkov" State
Rpbber Plant in Sofia, the lag in production of steam boilers during
January cou:,d not be made up. The "G. Diaitrov" State Macbtne-Build-
ing Plant in Ruse was late in delivering tempered castings to the
"Mashatroy' State Machine-Building Plant in Troyan. Plants No 11 and
12 could not fulfill their integration assignments in agreement with
the plan approved by the ministry and could not supply-the 'V. Kolarov'
Plant in Stalin with parts of diesel and gasoline motors.
Shortcomings were noted during April also. The State Spare-Parts
Plant in Sofia did not supply the "V Kolarov" Plant in Stalin with
gear wheels for 18-horsepower diesel motors on time. Because the "Anton
Ivanov" Plant in Plovdiv vas late in delivering cast iron molds to the
"Anton lvanov" State Chemical and Aniline Plant in Sofia, the Sofia
plant was unable to complete the production of several machines scheduled
for April. The "G. Dimitrov" State Machine-Building Plant in Ruse sent
the "Mashstroy" Plant in Troyan poor-quality molds of tempered cast iron
for Heller annunciators- The "Elektrometal" State Industrial Enterprise
supplied the State Spare-Parts Plant in Sofia with poor-quality castings
for DT-54 bearing parts, and the "Stalin" Plant in Dimitrovo did not
send all the planned parts for drills to the "Sala" State Machine-Build-
ing Plant in 7ambol.
Because plants of the Electrical Industry Administration did not
supply Plant No 12 with electrical eppllances for sprayer motors, the
plan (unspecified I for Plant Nc 12 was not fulfilled.
In Plovdiv, the "Anton :vanov" Plant of the Metalworking Administra-
tion did not supply bolts and nuts for the production of agricultural
machinery. This hindered the production of U-5M motors, haymaking machines,
seed-cleaning machines, and other machinery. Plants of the Machine-Build-
ing Administration were compelled to produce bolts and nuts for machines;
this disrupted their own regular production.
A characteristic weakness of almost all plants is that they do not
devote enough attention to Integrating plan fulfillment. In general, the
task of integration is underrated. Efforts are directed almost sa[clusively
to fulfilling a plant's own production plans, as if the integration plan
were not the plant's "own" plan. The managements of several plants do not
feel responsible for the integration plan and do not devote enough atten-
tion to It.
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Consumer plants are also guilty of shortcomings, in that they do not
always promptly clarify needed integration details and do not supply blue-
prints and models on time.
Present practice has shown that the disconnection between individual
departments is not conducive to specialization and integration and does
not allow production capacities tb be fully utilized. For example, ac-
cording to approxljoate data, the utilization of basic equipment in plants
under the Machine-Building Administration lac a_tvo7shift program was as
follows: according to time utilized, 77.6 percent in 1953, 78.2 percent
in 1954, and 78.8 percent in 1955; and according to installed capacity,
27.6 percent, 21 percent,,aad 23.5 percent in the same years, respectively.
These data do np; incluAgcapacity utilization in metallurgical enter-
prises.
The situation is similar In the utilization of machinery in plants
under the Transport Industry Administration. For the remaining adminis-
trations there are no data on Jaow their production capacities are utilized.
Since no account of these indexes has been kept, the managements of admin-
istrations and enterprises do not know to what extent machinery is being
utilized, and the information they do supply is unrealistic. The.Zollow-
ing conc)?ision may be drawn, however, from an analysis of shift programs
in the ".il';ation of basic equipment: in the Electrical Industry Adttn-
istrati of 929 basic sschines-on hand, 573 are working in one ahifiv
235 _in i lifts, and 31 in three shittsy on the basis of a--two-shift
program, .,ref!i'e, the average shift coefficient is l.4, leaving a free
unutiliz. production capact;_w of 0.6.
In the Transport Industry Administration, screw-cutting lathes work
on 1.52 shifts, vertical boring lathes on one shift, turret lathes on one
shift,-tire mills on one shift, boring machines on one shift, and milling
machines on one shift. Basic machines and equipment in this administra-
tio during 1955 were utilized on one shift. In the..Machine-Building
Administration, however, lees were worked an average of 2.5 shifts and
boring machines, 3 shifts. Data show that the tendency in individual
enterprises is to be self- atisfied and not uncover their available pro-
duction capacities with v ch ihtegrated orders for: other enterprises
could be completed.
The manufacture--of Lachine-building products of one type is carried
out in various departments. The same product is produced in several
plants belonging to several departments and administrations; for example,
bridge cranes, manual and electric, are produced in the "Stalin" Plant
in Dimitrovo, under the Machine-Building Administration; in the "Khr.
Smirnenaki" Plant in Sofia, under the Ministry of Electrification; in the
"Proms" Plant in Sofia under the Ministry of Construction; in the "Vulko
Chervenkov" Equipment and Installations Plant in Sofia, under the Ministry
of Transport; and in the "Tolbukhin" Repair Plant, under the Ministry of
Agriculture.
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Such duplication ahd triplication can be pointed out in the manu-
facture of ' r y other 'roduc . This dismemberment of the=nac2Mnd-build-
ing industry does not allow the specializing of enterprises to its great-
est extent and does not allow the industry to b developed as a whole.
A plan of national dimensions has still not been worked out for
specialization in machine buildings.
All machine-building plants produce a large quantity of -identical
parts performing the same work in various machines under identical con-
ditions. These parts must be maximally standardized to permit them to
be series -produced according to single blueprints in specialized plants.
The main iirection in the further development of machine building
is to adopt the`-princtples of series production and mass production.
Parts must be_aystematically standardized, units and machines must be
.made uniform, technological processes must be standardized, the aggregate
processing-of parts must be intcroduced, and units, shops, and plants must
be specialized. The Ministry of Foreign Trade must put an end to the
`diversity of the automobile and tractor park in Bulgaria which is supplied
with Bulgarian spare parts.
Designing organizations of ministries and departments and designing
divisions of basic machine-building plants must re-examine designs, parts,
and units common to various machines in individual brances of machine
bolding. For example, agricultural machines must be made uniform with
standardized parts and units of a uniform design, but with moving parts,
axles, gearboxes, bearing castings, gears, etc., in different sizes.
In drawing up operational blueprints of uniform parts, plant technol.
ogists must assist in meeting the requirements for mass production of
these parts.. For strict adherence to-unifokm designs, a special central
control must be organized to approve all operational blueprints of machines
which are to go into series production, At the sastime, strict accoupt-
ing of the use of unifoom parts and a special system(for formulation of
their technical documentation must be-organized. A quick-and complete
introduction of these measures will make it possible to calculate the
essential volume of parts whose production is necessary to-organize
specialized mass production. These measures must not bW examined sporadi-
cally _ nd temporarily, but must be systematically carried out. This is
one of the important future assignments on which the newly prcJected
Scientific Research Institute for Mac!line Building must begin work and
which it must solve,-in conjuneti:cn-with the Institute for Standardiza-
tion, the "Mashproekt? Departmental Machine Construction Organization, and
designing divisions of plants.
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There is still no complete perspective plan for integration; thus,
contact between the consumer and producer enterprise is weak; the former
cannot rely on-prompt delivery, and the latter is unable to prepare for
prompt fulfillment.
The Ministerial Council, the ministries, and the administrations do
not periodically check the fulfillment of the integration plan, and its
nonfulfillment is noted only when the plan of the consumer enterprise
falls short of completion.
Quick and timely action must be taken to remove the shortcomings
and weaknesses in planning and fulfilling integration plans and to out-
line mes-'uses for strengthening first achievements and expanding special-
ization and integration in the Bulgarian machine-building industry.
The already-existing integration of production is being carried out
with difficulty outside the systems of individual ministries and depart-
ments. The production of new types of machines is not being centrally
superviseddwith the result that two or more departments are simultaneously
producing the same type of machine.
The dissociation of individual departm?nts leads to irrational utili-
zation and placement of capital investments. A typical example is the
unjustified spontaneous investment of capital in the construction of found-
ries in plants of all departments- The foundries are often concentrated,
in the same cities Sofia, there are foundries in the "G. Dimitrov"
Locomotive and Railroad Car Plant, the V. Chervenkov" Equipment and
Installations Plant, the V. Chervenkov" Metal-Cutting Machinery Plant,
the "Proms" Plant, the '6 Septem?-ri' Plant, the "V. Kolarov" Plant, Plant
No 12, and several cooperatives. The situation is no better in Stalin,
Plovdiv, Pleven, Stara Zagora, Burgas, and other cities. As a result,
many foundries have been constructed, but they are-small in area, unmecha-
niied, and have a very low productivity.. The average productivity in
Bulgaria is 10 tr_ns per worker annually, as compared with 40 tons in the
Soviet Union. The productivity of individual foundries during 1955 fluctu-
ated frota C:32 to 3.5 -tons-per square metes In the "G. Dimitrov" Loco-
motive and-Railroad Car Plant, as a result 04' the introduction' of conveyer
smelting, productivity in smelting-parts for railroad-car brak'ts increased
to 47.5 tons per square Meter.. ?
. The consolidation and regionalization of cast-iron foundries will lead
to mechanization of processe?ss imDrovemert, of technology, quality improve-
ments and elimination of defects, especially, hidden ones. It is possible
to construct modern foundires.,vith a capacity which, through integratta ,
can more economically 3at.isfy more of the needs of machine building with
a capital :nveetment significantly lower ths,R the amount individual depart-
ments spend for' a large number of foundries.
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in spite of shortcomings and weaknesses, specialization and integra-
tion have played a large. role in this stage of-the development of Bulgari-
an .aachine building. During 1954, under comparatively difficult cori-
tions and with a shortage of electric power, consolidated and specialized
plants of the Machine-Building-Administration produced 16.7 percent more
products than in 1953, and during 1955, 15 percent more than in 1954.
The results achieved support the correctness of the line taken in
specialization and integration. However, there are still-significant
reserves in Bulgarian machine-building plants which can and must be un-
covered and utilized for specialization and integration.
To eliminate weaknesses and shortcomings in machine building, basic
machine-building enterprises must be united under one management. This
would lead to a more accurate designing and specialization of enterprises,
a properly directed development of the machine-building industry as a
whole, a more efficient utilization of the present widely dispersed mechin -
e_y park, a more operational and competent management of enterprises,
and a more accurate planning of capital investments for construction and
for supplying plants with'pachines and equipment. The present practice.
of supplying the same machines for various?departments.vithout taking into
account their complete uiilization?vill be curtailed. labor payments and
standardization and the distribution and utilization of engineering and
technical personnel will be more correct. The. technological situiation
will be improved;.modern, mechanized regional foundries vf.l1?b. constructed;
and specialized, high-performance equipment ?for.mass production w-il_be pro-
vided. The unification of the machine-building industry.under one' manage-
ment will create condityiona'for large=scale series production. All this
will help to increase output and labor productivity and to lover the cost
and improve the quality of machine-building production.. .