According to the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Team" Alexander Tarasov, "we would like to better acquaint our employees with those companies, the history of work with which has more than one year and who have shown themselves as a reliable partner, with whom, at least for exploration, at least together for a tender" …
Alcon Trade System has been cooperating with AGC (AGC Flat Glass Russia) for many years. Architectural glass of our brand was used for the arrangement of the facades that have become the hallmark of the company - the Moscow School of Management "Skolkovo", the administrative building of the Union of Architects of Russia, the class "A" business center "Udaltsova-Plaza" and others. We talk about the history and present of our relationship with the CEO of the company Yuri Khripin.
Yuri Alexandrovich, when did your company start?
- The Alcon Trade System brand was registered in 2003. But the business itself was created back in 1994, when I opened the Frast company, which operated under the license of the well-known company Hunter Douglas. We were engaged in the assembly of blinds and the production of multi-panel suspension systems. A little later I was lucky: I got acquainted with the products of the Reynaers company - "warm" profile glazing systems. I signed a contract with them, bought equipment and … started working in Moscow. It should be said that at that time there were only “cold” systems in Russia, so we were the pioneers. The first clients appeared, the first orders …
Can you remember your first major project?
- Of course. In 1994, we received an order for the glazing of the Golden Keys complex, on Minskaya Street! At the same time, we used Glaverbel glass for the first time in a large volume. At that time there was no tinted glass or tempered glass … We had to create by trial and error an opaque filling based on the outer glass and the inner metal screen. Here, it turns out, in a very short time, we went through several stages at once, inventing in weeks what had been developed over the years abroad. Only we came to this by an experienced method. Then they learned how to make projects themselves, without asking for help from foreign firms that worked for a lot of money.
Yuri, you say “lucky”. What role does “luck” play for you?
- Luck is a chance for which you should be ready. If used correctly, then success is guaranteed. Therefore, you need to keep yourself in a state of constant readiness.
After the Golden Keys, your company has already become quite famous …
- Of course, there are more projects. Our experience, which we could offer to our Customers, has also become larger. Now we have over 40 projects in our portfolio. Detailed information on them can be found on the website www.alcont-system.ru. Almost every project had to apply all their engineering knowledge, puzzle over, come up with non-standard solutions … You know, in our business, the main thing is to avoid a systemic error. Everything else is quite fixable. Therefore, I made a conclusion for myself: as an engineer, I will never undertake a project in which an error is a priori. No matter how they convince me, and no matter how profitable this project is.
- Is there any project that you could present as a business card for your company?
- Not yet, but just about to be. This is the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management. Interesting, rich, recognizable … We have already given this object a year and a half … This project arose at the end of 2007. We received an offer to participate in the tender from the General Contractor of the facility, PSP-Farman. We liked this object so much that we set to work with enthusiasm. We worked almost around the clock to correctly form the technique for solving the object, did pre-design studies, budget estimates … You cannot imagine how many options we went through the options for solving the project. After 2 months everything was ready. And after negotiations and defense of the proposed option, we won this tender. By the way, one of the decisive factors was our proposal, aimed at the fact that it is possible to carry out facade work all year round, and not only in the warm season. This non-standard project in general constantly requires non-standard solutions. For example, manufacturing and installation methods. So, buildings A and B have horizontal crossbars and inclined posts, forming the horizontal direction of the facades, and buildings C and D, on the contrary, have vertical posts and inclined crossbars, giving a vertical direction. And the number of these elements, dissimilar to each other, exceeds 1000 options, each of which is individually made and, in turn, consists of at least 15 parts. And that's just for one case. And there are 4 of them. What are the standards here … I want to thank the entire team who worked on the project - our commercial department, financial department, design engineers, procurement department, production, installation department. Special thanks go to the project manager Sergey Sevastyanov, as well as Stepan Spiridonov, Vladimir Kurchenko, Yuri Panfilov, Vladimir Veselov, Andrey Burundaev and many other employees of the company. The key to our results is the close-knit work of a team of professionals.
They say that not every company can boast of such mechanization of installation work?
- Yes it is. For the device of large-format structural glazing of a huge disk with an area of 3.5 thousand square meters. m (the so-called disk "D", where the educational building and the library will be located), vacuum suction cups were used. With their help, it was possible to carry out a qualified installation of glass products with a weight of each element over 450 kg. For the construction of the remaining facades, 12-meter front cradles, special mast front platforms and cargo lifts were used.
- Why did you choose AGC products for your façade glazing?
- The products that you offer covered absolutely all positions. It's simple. We have chosen a good product and do not regret it at all.
What awaits the company in the near future besides the completion of Skolkovo?
- New projects, of course. The company is developing, and soon we will have two foreign partners. We want to develop quite new segments on the market of modern facades: wooden and wood-aluminum joinery of European production, as well as planar (or as they are called otherwise - spider) facade glazing systems. We have already done several projects in recent years using these technologies. We liked the results very much. And customer reviews were very positive. So now we want to develop these areas more actively.
Does your company have a motto that would reflect your business philosophy?
- Our motto is to meet the requirements of the time, to develop. Continuous innovation is the key to success in today's world. Only those who follow the market news and promptly react to changes, know modern technologies and materials will win. And another secret of our success is to work harder than others. Work 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Our goal is to be the best in our field. Because the best, the first, are known and remembered, and the "second", "fifth" … "tenth" - they remember. This is a difficult task, but, as I said, the more difficult, the more interesting.
