The delegation of Omutninsky Metallurgical Plant took part in the 26th International specialized exhibition Metalloobrabotka-2026, which took place on May 12-15, 2026 in Moscow.
The report of the plant’s general director, S.A. Voloskov, aroused the interest of the industrial community, and the problematic issues raised in it became the subject of discussion by experts from various industries.
– Omutninsky Metallurgical Plant produces a component without which a modern high-precision machine is impossible – linear rolling guides, – Sergey Alexandrovich said in the report. — Our experience shows a real path to technological sovereignty and cooperation between factories within the country to create a complex machine base.
Omutninsk is a small industrial city in the north of the Kirov region and is a city-forming enterprise. It is important for us to emphasize that complex industrial technologies can develop not only in the largest centers, but also in small industrial cities if there is an engineering school, an industrial culture and a willingness to take on new technological challenges.
Today, we are the only company in Russia that manufactures linear rolling guides, a critical component of modern numerically controlled machines. Only a few countries in the world own these technologies.
We have developed our own solutions in the field of heat treatment, grinding, and construction and produce guides up to 6 meters long that meet international quality standards.
To date, 8 series of linear rolling rails have been mastered, and 6 more series will be mastered by the end of the year.
We are developing business relations and intend to continue cooperation with leading machine tool factories such as SASTA, STAN Group of Companies, Ulyanovsk Machine Tool Plant, Perm Plant of Metalworking Centers, VSZ Technika (Vladimir Machine Tool Plant), Bivertech and others.
For us, these are not just commercial contacts. This is the formation of Russian cooperation around critically important components for machine tool industry. The more stable such cooperation is, the higher the independence and competitiveness of the entire industry.
Our following key areas of development are: expanding the range of linear rolling guides, including the development of miniature linear guides; the development of guides with integrated measuring systems with an accuracy of +/- 3 microns; the development of ball screw gear production with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Industrial Development Fund.
It would seem that there is something to be proud of.
Indeed, we are proud that such technology was created in Russia, at a Russian enterprise in a small industrial city.
But our experience shows that producing a complex component is only half the task. The second half is to create a sustainable industrial environment around it.
Technological leadership is not only a matter for pride, but also a daily overcoming of system challenges.
The first system challenge is the lack or high cost of necessary components, materials, and tools.
Even with 250 years of experience in metallurgy, we are faced with the fact that in Russia there are either insufficiently developed or completely lacking separate production facilities necessary for the production of modern high-precision components: special materials, plastics, rolling elements, precision tools, electronic components.
To ensure production, we had to: independently understand non-core areas of activity; purchase analogues from the world’s leading manufacturers for research; initiate the development of domestic suppliers.
I will give specific examples. Imported finishing diamond wheels for grinding guides are no longer available due to sanctions, and Russian analogues are still under development and production of pilot batches. In Russia, there is no mass production of commercials with a special logarithmic shape. The cost of domestic balls is ten times higher than their Chinese counterparts. In Russia, there is no raw material base for the production of polymers necessary for the production of carriage seals. Printed circuit boards in our country are produced only with element sizes of 75-100 microns, and not 18 microns or less, as is necessary for individual solutions.
What does this mean for us?
A Chinese or European manufacturer operates within an already established industrial ecosystem. He can buy many components, as they say, “off the shelf.” Today, a Russian manufacturer often has to not only produce the final product, but also simultaneously master related technologies, look for a replacement for materials, and help suppliers reach the required quality level.
As a result, we compete not only with a foreign product, but also with a ready-made foreign supply chain that has been forming for decades.
Therefore, the issue of localization is not only a matter of patriotism. This is a matter of economics, sustainability and competitiveness of the final product.
Today, the localization level of our linear guides is 95%. This is a high indicator. But the remaining percentages are sometimes the most difficult, because there are critical materials, tools, or special components behind them.
Therefore, it is necessary to develop domestic producers of raw materials and components for the production of components. Without this, we will not be able to make products one hundred percent Russian and at the same time competitive at cost.
The second systemic challenge is the shortage of personnel and infrastructural constraints of small industrial cities.
The population of our city is less than 20 thousand people. Therefore, it is a huge task to find a ready-made process engineer for the production of machine-building products. It takes us at least 5 years to train such a specialist, including specialized education and subsequent acquisition of the necessary industrial qualifications.
A typical problem of a city-forming enterprise in a small town is as follows: You must be competitive in the global market, produce world-class products and develop new technologies, but you bear a significant part of the costs of personnel shortages and insufficient infrastructure alone.
How do we solve these problems?
With the participation of the plant, specialized departments in the fields of Metallurgy and Mechanical Engineering have been established on the basis of Vyatka State University in our city.
The city administration, with the support of the plant, has developed a master plan with specific measures to improve the city’s infrastructure.
Our example is not a special case. There are dozens of factories in cities with populations of 20-30 thousand people that possess unique technologies.
Therefore, the development of small industrial towns is not only a social task. This is part of the industrial policy. It is impossible to retain engineering personnel and develop high-tech production if the urban infrastructure does not meet the challenges of modern industry.
In conclusion, I would like to note that the Omutninsky Metallurgical Plant has proved that world-class linear rolling rails can be produced in Russia, in a small industrial city.
However, our experience also shows that systemic challenges – the lack of related industries, a shortage of qualified personnel and an underdeveloped infrastructure – cannot be overcome by the efforts of a single enterprise.
The achievement of technological sovereignty is possible only with the consolidation of the efforts of the state, science, industry and development institutions.
In our opinion, three areas of work are needed today: the development of cooperative projects on critical components: rolling elements, precision tools, special materials, polymers and measuring systems; support for second- and third-level suppliers, without which it is impossible to achieve full localization and sustainable cost of final products; the formation of mechanisms to improve the infrastructure of urban enterprises and the implementation of master-plans of small industrial towns.
We are ready for cooperation, open to dialogue and practical implementation of new mechanisms to support the industry.
Our task is not just to replace an imported part with a Russian one. Our broader goal is to create a sustainable industrial environment in Russia in which critical machine tool components can be mass-produced, efficiently and competitively.