«Kaizen» in action!
UMP employees continue to actively participate in the «10 000 Improvements Programme». Following the principles of Gemba Kaizen, plant employees initiate and implement rationalisation proposals.
Uranium Operations implemented the Project «Restoration of the support blade working surface of ZE183VM centreless semiautomatic cylindrical grinding machine». In the process of grinding the surface of the support knife was subjected to intensive physical wear due to the abrasive surface of fuel pellets. Innovators suggested grinding its hard-alloyed surface to completely remove the formed defects in order to reuse the supporting knife. In this way, the working surface of the knife is restored thus ensuring product quality, process stability and extending the service life of the equipment.
Tantalum Operations implemented the rationalisation proposal «Grinding of Tantalum Hydrides on wet rod mills with the use of small-sized Tantalum fittings in production of AGP». For production of agglomerated powder (AGP) and production of primary capacitor grade powders (PCP) for different grades, Tantalum rods were used as grinding bodies when grinding hydrides on wet grinding mills. However, this technology had a disadvantage: inefficient use of rods in the production of finely dispersed Tantalum powders. Innovators of Tantalum Operations and Research Center proposed to use small-sized Tantalum fittings instead of Tantalum rods. Due to this, the material loading factor into the mill was increased, the number of rotations (hydrides) was reduced, and the production time was reduced.
Date of update: 04.03.2025
