A modernized conveyor for assembling mining dump trucks with a payload capacity of 130 to 240 tons was launched in test mode at the BelAZ plant in Zhodino (Minsk region). The heads of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and Belarus, Anton Alikhanov and Andrei Kuznetsov, took part in the ceremony, the company's press service reported.
The new conveyor line, equipped with a modern information management and monitoring system, will allow assembling 30% more dump trucks.
Alikhanov said that BelAZ updated its production base with an interstate loan provided to Belarus by Russia. The Minister wished the company active development and «new victories».
The modernization of the assembly conveyor is part of an investment project for the reconstruction and re-equipment of the assembly and testing shop for cars and tractors. The plant expects that the renovation program will help improve production efficiency and product quality.
BelAZ was opened on the basis of a peat engineering plant (production of equipment for peat extraction), founded in 1948. In the 1950s, the company began assembling dump trucks. The first model of its own design, BelAZ-540, appeared in 1961. Now the plant is among the top 10 largest manufacturers of mining equipment in the world.