Organization of an engineering center for industrial import substitution

Abstract

Objectives. Following the imposition of sanctions against the Russian Federation, which included a ban on the supply of foreign electronic equipment—including automation systems—to Russian enterprises, the continuing development of science and technology in Russia became a question of ensuring technological sovereignty according to the principle of import substitution. According to plans developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the policy of import substitution, including automation systems, will ensure the replacement of imported equipment with domestic counterparts.Methods. Approaches underlying the joint project of MIREA ‒ Russian Technological University and Environmental Industrial Policy Center to solve the problems of import substitution are described. Various substitution strategies available in the world experience, as well as objective and subjective obstacles to their implementation in Russia, including the insufficiency of domestic regulatory legal acts and previously formed attachments to imported technologies and regulatory frameworks, are considered. Distinctive features of contemporary external relations are adduced to the necessity and urgency of developing technological sovereignty. The main functional requirements for a software and hardware platform for developing modern automated control systems (ACS) for mechanical engineering applications, as well as the required capabilities of an engineering center for solving applied problems of overcoming import dependence, are described. The components of the production of capital goods (engineering) and its role in the product life cycle are shown.Results. The selection of a pilot engineering object comprising a sectional glass-forming machine, along with a software-hardware complex including elements of industrial electronics and ACS, is justified. The main functional elements of the ACS and their interrelations are shown.Conclusions. The results confirm the necessity of achieving complete import substitution for the creation of digital products. Prospects for cooperation with interested organizations are shown.

Keywords

• product life cycle
• technological sovereignty
• import substitution
• mechanical engineering
• software and hardware platform
• glass-forming machine
• automated control system
• reverse engineering