Fyodor Sokolov: Russian designers marked out for a brilliant future
Design Institute Giprosintez is one of the few design agencies in Russia, which preserved the science and production potential but also assimilated western standards in modeling of complex systems and processes and in project management.
Fyodor Sokolov told The Chemical Journal about the starting points of growing Russian design market and tasks of domestic developers.
Fyodor Pavlovich, today there are a lot of discussions regarding the design in Russia. Please tell us about your vision of the situation and the situation within your institute. What Giprosintez has brought into the twenty first century?
Unfortunately, during hard years, the country has lost its engineering resources— construction engineers, design engineers and only few companies managed to preserve their personnel. Some institutes have been adopted by successful companies that bought them and maintained the core of specialists by giving them possibilities to work on internal projects of parent companies. In our case the situation was rather different— in 1990s we have been awarded with large governmental order that we are still working at. We have been charged with an important mission to implement a program relating conversion of military production facilities, their reshaping into peaceful chemical and petrochemical plants. We've managed to accumulate skilful specialists. Furthermore, since the long-time order besides the design work required also full-scale implementation and installation control we gathered designers but also high-class engineers. As a result, our institute has diversified and highly skilled staff. The peculiarity of the conversion program, no matter what people thought of it in Russia, was the fact that it was an international program and it bound us to change our approaches to management and project control and seriously think about utilization of the most up-to-date software. Than we complicated the tasks and despite troubles peculiar to all design companies and science and research institutes, we have managed to preserve our technical potential and reach the forefront of modern technologies. So for the last 20 years Giprosintez actively introduced new technologies, continuously monitoring the market of innovations and obtaining knowledge on current proposals and situation at the world market of technologies. Giprosintez has managed to smoothly and rather early enter the rhythm of international market and adjust itself to its requirements to quality and demand as the end category of success of any project. Today when we talk about our situation, we say that we are the company having continuous experience of cooperation with Russian performers in about any discipline at the same utilizing international experience, meaning all the best available in western approach to implementation of large scale projects.
What is the difference between western and "traditional Russian" approach to design and project management?
We have implemented a so called "through design" method, when the project is being developed by the one team of specialists. Project manager communicates with project chief engineer of the client. But I shall not speak in details about advance approaches to project management, as there are a lot of talks about it, I shall tell you in greater details about the framework of the design and design environment. Such environment is software called PDMS, adopted by modern western companies and about two or three centers in Russia. This is the first 3D environment in Russia, allowing to create 3D objects for any module or structural element; it allows to accurately calculate materials-output ratio for the facility, as well as its steam, power, water and raw costs during all stages provided basic input parameters for power and raw materials are available. And standard modules, repeating in various projects, are transferred and scaled by the single mouse movement. The work with this system in implementation of all-in-one industrial facilities allowed us to create the library of modular concepts and thus to increase working efficiency and reduce time required for high quality projects development. There are no alternatives to this way. In the end, in about ten years, all design agencies in the market will utilize not just CAD systems (they already use them one way or another), but PDMS level systems, creating 3D objects.
How many people work in your company and what is the structure of the institute?
We have about 500 people in Volgograd office and about 50 in Moscow. Quantity of personnel in Moscow office is increasing due to increased amount of work. In 2009 we plan to have 150 people. We have traditional services like legal service, HR, financial department, marketing and press service. But the core of our institute are programming design engineers. These specialists are directly involved in project developments – in our case we have about 350 people who are familiar with PDMS in great details. It is important that PDMS is not only providing capabilities which have not been available in programs of previous generation, but it allows to clearly monitor the entire front of works and separate tasks and see who, when and why made any revision or addition. Calculation data are automatically summarized and compared, as the program has several verification stages. It disciplines the designers and increases the manageability of the project as well as its quality. Only one Russian university starting from 2008 graduating young specialists trained correspondingly, while we started the respective work from the moment of tool creation. Therefore during the last seven years we invented and proved the personnel training system for PDMS. Our specialists are regularly trained both in Russia and abroad (in the US and Europe), western specialists come to Russia and give courses to our engineers. I can say that today our institute has its own experts and trainers in this particular discipline.
And how bulky is this 3D design system and is it adapted for the client understanding? I guess that in order to transfer the completed design the one who receives has to understand your language?
I shall start from the second part of your question. The system was created in 3D in order to be adapted to the human understanding. The facility and its infrastructure are shown just as they are in real life and are clear to installation engineer, technician or engineer. By the way, the system allows to instantaneously get flat projections of any detail in traditional 2D view as required. The client receives the design in traditional format and often in few formats simultaneously.
Fyodor Pavlovich, if you were the director of the plant who was planning to start a new production, what is the starting point for the project?
Certainly from basic design preparation, determination of main production parameters, which allows to formulate the aim of the bids and start looking for the contractor. But you have to know the market of contractors. There are two main criteria — low price and image of the company – but they don't work today. If the low price goes along with poor quality it means that by saving first costs you end up with big spending later on. On the other hand, high price of the project when you buy the brand name does not guarantee timely equipment delivery or loyalty of the contractor during project support, in particular because both international and Russian market are short of engineering companies and the most trendy companies are chronically pressed with work. Therefore we have the situation mentioned during Moscow International Chemical Summit: when western company after receipt of the order assigns it to recently recruited Russian specialists, thus sterilizing the idea of striving for brands. I believe that selection of the design agency shall be based upon deep analysis of its staff. In Russia there are strong groups and one can formulate the criteria, allowing to define the level of the design agency. Number one - projects implemented by this group. These projects shall be successful and results of designed facilities start and operation shall be stable. The group shall be solid and its employees shall be sufficient in quality and quantity. Active and relevant response even during the first stages of the bid is another important criterion. It is desirable that the group participating in the bids had the experience in designing similar production facilities; in this case the work won't start from the scratch. Besides, one shall dissociate the scope and limits of basic and detailed design, one of which is being ordered to the company. It is not that easy to choose the contractor. It requires the client to perform thorough analysis, preliminary technical and economical surveys and special lead-up.
Is there any sense in dividing basic and detailed designs between separate companies? Does it create additional problems?
Yes, in many cases both parties are more comfortable when both design stages are within the same hands, although this approach also has some shortcomings. But the path of the Russian market is a response to the current situation. Tradition to divide basic and detailed design and give it to two separate companies arouse due to objective reasons. Basic design is developed by the company having the license for technology and today it is usually a western company, while detailed design is usually awarded to the Russian company which is more familiar with local situation which the detailed design should be tied to. Unfortunately our branch science and technologies have been lost during the transition time. Multiple and strong developments available or recently came into being at the Academy of Sciences and which are widely discussed exist only as scientific developments, but not as installations, modules, tested or scaled structures. It makes them inapplicable in the industry and not because of "blindness" or absence of patriotism of Russian manufacturers, which is also often heard about. Anyway, while we wait for our science to bridge a gap to the modern status of the western science - and it will definitely happen - our designers are already provided with work and gain certain experience. The system of sequential division of contractors to separate basic and detailed design allowed us to worm out of a difficult situation and move on.
Can we say that your institute is oriented toward detailed design as the main activity?
Design Institute Giprosintez holds about one hundred patents for different chemical inventions. These are modular concepts and "large processes". During two or three years we got patents for such things as fluidized bed reactor, HCl synthesis furnace, TCS synthesis method. On the basis of patents available, Giprosintez developed the processes for silicon tetrachloride, carbon tetrachloride, chlormethanes, methylchlorsilanes, silicon organic lubricants and many other production processes. All developments listed are actively used in Giprosintez designs as their use allows to significantly increase efficiency of the client's investments during the design stage as compared to the traditional world developments.
During the soviet times our "industrial machine" has developed many proprietary projects, and talking about the today — can you say that you have projects based upon proprietary or at least Russian technologies?
Today, despite the problems of the Russian science we have our own developments. Trichlorsilane, serving as a base product for polycrystalline silicon which in its turn is used for solar elements and backplanes in microelectronics is a home-made product. Russian companies today schedule to make five TCS production facilities and we believe we will be involved in all orders relating equipment and systemization. I guess that Russia will reduce its dependence on import in this sphere, and also will be able to export the products from these new capacities. And the history of Giprosintez has tens of completed projects and our plants successfully operate in many regions.
And what do you do with potential orders requiring the use of technologies which are not proprietary or licensed to you? Do you get yourself into the chain with other design organizations?
It is possible, and we will easily and effectively develop detailed design using the basic design provided. But the experience of contracting construction companies, extensive knowledge of the market, our long and continuous experience of work in local conditions allow us to play another role. The situation with Giprosintez is typical for management companies. Besides 45 years of active presence on the market we know many of existing technologies perfectly well, as well as differences between specific processes, implementations and so on and we are able to assume responsibility and determine the best licensor among available ones and justify our recommendations to the client. I think that in the medium-term outlook we will take full-scale projects and talk about the turn-key orders. Even today we do not need to subcontract anyone for design work. We are integrated and complex design company with great experience in being general designer and perform all disciplines within the design. The next step is to become an engineering company. The country is developing and modernization of production facilities and processes is the main accelerator of technological revolution. So it makes us believe that Russian designers are marked out for a brilliant future.
The Chemical Journal || July - August 2008
