Milk and digital: how Savushkin implements IT solutions in production and works with personnel

The leader of the Belarusian dairy industry became the winner in the nomination "Company of the Year - Developer of Software and Hardware Complexes" at the competition "Leaders of the Digital Economy - 2024". Today, Savushkin is not only the largest Belarusian producer of natural dairy products, but also a recognized expert in the field of developing digital solutions for the processing industry: the company sets trends in production automation.

- Valery Vasilyevich, Savushkin almost simultaneously received the gold award of the "Leaders of the Digital Economy - 2024" competition and the State Quality Mark. Are these related events or a coincidence?

- Both the Quality Mark and the award in the digital solutions competition are, first of all, recognition of the high professional level of all our employees and the merit of our team! We are proud that we are a "people's brand", that millions of buyers choose our products for their taste, quality and affordability.

"Savushkin" is a huge enterprise. The company's seven production sites process more than 5 thousand tons of MILK daily and produce more than 5 million units of finished products. it is now impossible to manage these volumes, control the quality of raw materials, packaging, finished products, all production processes, shipments, logistics without the use of digital technologies.

Today, we not only produce dairy products, but also create digital solutions for their production ourselves - according to our own needs, one might say, "turnkey". Participation in the "Leaders of the Digital Economy" competition allowed us to show ourselves from this side - as a developer of software and hardware systems.

- How does digitalization of production help ensure product quality?

- Digitalization of production directly affects quality. Automation and control at all stages of production allow us to guarantee long shelf life of natural dairy products without the use of preservatives, subject to strict compliance with temperature conditions for transportation and storage. It is digitalization that is the basis for stable and regular shipments, uninterrupted operation of warehouse and transport logistics.

The most striking example is our logistics center in Brest, unique for the country's food industry, where robots load and unload a warehouse with 11.7 thousand pallet spaces around the clock under the control of one duty operator. Delivery times to retail, batch numbers, product release dates, shelf life - everything is calculated and analyzed automatically.

Production processes at all sites of the company are robotized as much as possible to eliminate physically difficult, monotonous work and manual labor in general. Today, we, with the help of our own specialists, develop software and hardware systems that cover the entire milk processing cycle - from acceptance to shipment of finished products. More than 500 such solutions optimize processes at various sites.

- Please tell us who is involved in developing digital solutions for the company's production sites? How do you resolve personnel issues?

- The IT and automation departments play a key role in the development and implementation of digital solutions . Our team is growing. In 1993, there were only 11 of us, now there are more than 150.

Personnel decide everything today. "Savushkin" begins training its future IT specialists from the student bench. We actively cooperate with various educational institutions of the country.

We started this work with the Brest State Technical University and the Mogilev University of Food. On the basis of these universities, we have created joint laboratories, students undergo technological and pre-graduation practices with the possibility of further distribution to the enterprise.

In 2019, an industrial robotics laboratory was created on the basis of the Brest State Technical University, in 2021 - an identification systems laboratory and a research center for innovations in construction (BIM modeling), in 2022 - a laboratory for digital engineering of the agro-industrial complex.

And all this is practice, applied solutions. By the way, we often involve the guys in participation in joint projects that are implemented on the basis of laboratories not only for our company. Students, for example, participated in the industrial marking project: they developed digital models and conducted tests on marking application, selection of equipment for 15 different enterprises of the country.

The first graduating class that was trained this way formed the backbone of our own department of robotics, digital modeling and artificial intelligence. The main location is the Brest Technopark, where we hold many events and seminars on current work topics. Interesting solutions are tested on the basis of the Technopark, here we create robotic systems that are later installed in our production facilities.

We are expanding the list of universities with which we are ready to cooperate. Today, a good practice has developed when engineers come to work as teachers at basic specialized universities, and quite actively. All efforts are aimed at ensuring that specialists ready to solve practical problems emerge from the walls of universities. The company also actively works on career guidance for schoolchildren.

In 2025, Savushkin plans to open joint robotics laboratories based on:

• Polesie State University
• Brest State Pedagogical University named after A.S. Pushkin
• Belarusian National Technical University
• Belarusian State University of Food and Chemical Technologies

College students will also have the opportunity to study in these university labs.

- Valery Vasilyevich, how interesting is it for a young specialist who has received an IT specialty to work at an enterprise like yours?

-  Digitalization permeates all areas of activity of a modern company, and Savushkin is no exception. It is in demand everywhere, from financial and logistics accounting to menu management in the factory canteen. However, the main practical solutions are born precisely in production and for production.

In our company, IT specialists face various and interesting tasks. We actively invest in new technologies and projects. And we need talented young people, fresh ideas and unconventional views. For young specialists, working in the company is an opportunity to apply their knowledge in practice, participate in the creation of truly innovative solutions, and make a real contribution to the development of a large and modern enterprise.

The expert of the competition, HEAD of the department of intelligent information systems of the Institute of Industrial Problems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, PhD in engineering A. Belotserkovsky considers JSC "Savushkin Product" to be a leader of the digital economy and an example of a successful synthesis of modern technologies, responsible management, social orientation and commitment to high quality standards.

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