An Excursion to the Belarusian Automobile Plant

On March 31, students of the Faculty of Business and Law and the Faculty of Accounting, undergraduates of the Faculty of Economics, postgraduate students and employees of the Academy visited Zhodino with an excursion, where they had a chance to see the pride of the domestic car industry - the Belarusian Automobile Plant (BELAZ). This is the flagship of Belarus industry, one of the world's largest producers of quarrying equipment. The plant's products have won many prestigious international awards. It accounts for one third of the world market, and orders are scheduled for many months in advance. One of the dump trucks, a 450-tons truck produced at the plant is the only double record holder of the Guinness Book of Records!

During the excursion, representatives of the Academy visited the Museum of Labor Glory of the enterprise, where they got acquainted with the history of the foundation and development of the plant, achievements and plans for the future. Then a detour was organized around the territory of the plant with a review excursion, because the territory of the plant is 112 hectares and it is like a separate city with its own roads and bus stops.

A special delight was caused by a visit to the exhibition of samples of manufactured equipment - from "babies" to "giants." On the site with finished products, representatives of the Academy were able to climb the largest BelAZ in the world, with a carrying capacity of 450 tons, and took unique photographs in memory. After that, the programme provided for a visit to the assembly shop, where it was possible to observe the process of production of unique equipment.

Employees, students, undergraduates and postgraduate students of the Academy learnt about the concept of "industrial tourism" and, using the example of the BelAZ plant, figured out how domestic production promotes the enterprise, brand and products as a whole. Also, career guidance was of great importance during the excursion, because it is necessary to visit and introduce future specialists to production process so that young people could understand how a car, tractor or combine is born. Now the main thing for future specialists to show is that current enterprises are modern robotic industries with decent working conditions.

The participants of the excursion express their gratitude to the Academy management for the opportunity to visit the largest domestic factory-manufacturer of quarry equipment.

A.N. Kurilenko
Head of Academy Training Practice
Department of Marketing