UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2016. A new riveting, assembling, and welding line intended for hatches of full metal gondola cars was recently commissioned at Ural Vagon Zavod’s Backframe Department, the company press service reports.

The production line was designed and manufactured by Ural Scientific & Technological Unit (UNTK), one of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s member enterprises.

‘This is actually the fifth such production line the department is operating. UNTK designers introduced a number of changes which strikingly improved the equipment’s performance. The fifth-generation production line relies on modern component parts as well as special software for the operator to control the process at every given moment. This is actually our very first fully automated line,’ the press service says.

The earlier versions had four and six welding heads, while this one is fitted with more and a ventilation system into the bargain. Every burner is supplied with its own air vent to improve the welders’ working conditions. The new flow meters give a more precise indication of protective gas spending. The hatch loading and unloading mechanisms have also been improved. All this is expected to reduce the human factor to a minimum and improve the operators’ working conditions.