- Alexander, 12 years is a long time, considering the specifics of your occupation and the heavy workload. Have you ever experienced professional burnout?
- Oddly enough, I have never experienced it. I have a few simple rules that help me a lot. The first and probably most important thing is to strike a balance between professional and personal life. You must spend time with your family, friends, play sports, discover new hobbies. Second, you need to love your job, not turn it into a routine. And to prevent this from happening, you need to keep developing in your field continuously, find new, non-standard solutions to problems. And, of course, maintain a friendly atmosphere within the team, not just at work, but outside it too. Here, these are all of my tips.
- In your opinion, what kind of person will definitely not be able to become an expert in your field? Who can't be deemed a good engineer?
- Just as in any profession, a person must have a passion for their job. In this case, engineering job. For sure, you can't do without creative thinking. It helps to find a non-standard approach to solving the problem, which I have already mentioned. This is one of the keys to success. In addition, you must definitely be a perfectionist, believe in new technologies, in how important it is to develop and implement them. Yes, mistakes are unavoidable. Therefore, it is very important to learn to accept and take them into account in the future. Moreover, think about the safety and well-being of people. I'm talking not only about the manufacturing process now. You also need to think about the final consumer of the product that you release. And one more important point – you need to understand that even with a great bundle of knowledge, you shouldn't stop. You must enhance this knowledge and, if possible, pass it on to others.
- By the way, you do it all well, including sharing your knowledge with others. You also write scientific articles, don't you?
- Quite right. Today, more than a dozen of my articles has been published in Russian publications and several appeared in foreign ones, too. It all started when I began actively diving into the topic of additive technologies and 3D printing. I needed it to implement one of my projects at the plant. I was reading specialized literature all the time, attending webinars. At some point, I realized that I had accumulated so much information and ideas that it was time to structure it all and publish it as scientific articles. Moreover, I realized that they were truly relevant and useful for the professional community.
- Tell us about your achievements while working at Frito Lay Manufacturing.
In 2019, I received award for significant contribution to the installation and successful launch of the new production line at Frito Lay Manufacturing in Russia. In 2021, I was personally recognized for major contributions to the production test on the performance increase of the Baguette product at PepsiCo. During my employment at the company, I have implemented two dozen of my own projects. One of them is shock-resistant funnels, where the finished product goes before packaging. They were made of fragile plastic, which cracked over time. The plant used to spend almost $40,000 annually on the purchase of new funnels. I sent a request to the manufacturer to replace the plastic with a more durable one, but they told me that they could not help me. Then, I got down to work myself. I spent hours studying different types of plastic, I literally tested them for strength and finally found the right one. So, I developed an entirely new design and approached the central engineering team of PepsiCo in Europe again to coordinate the project. They approved it and are still using my development.
- There is also another project of cutter upgrade, isn't there?
- Yes, I've done that one too. The cutter was breaking down too often, the blades just collapsed. It all resulted in the manufacturing process being stalled for many hours, and the plant spending enormous amounts of money on spare parts. I figured it out and realized that the cutter shaft was rotating too fast. Then, I developed and upgraded the design. In the old version, one shaft held twice as many blades as it could handle – 12. The rotation speed slowed down and there were no more breakdowns. My project won the first prize and was named the «Best Project of the Year in the Eureka!» contest among more than 20 Frito Lay and PepsiCo plants in Russia. It was also highly appreciated by R&D Machine, the manufacturer of this equipment. The project was accepted as a new standard for further manufacturing.
- Today you are not only a sought-after specialist but also a happy dad. Would you like your daughter to become an engineer too? Or is it still a job not intended for females?
- Back when she was three, Masha decided that she would definitely be a doctor and she still sticks to her words. So, to say, she chose the same occupation as my parents. They also wanted me to enroll in Medical School, but destiny had other plans for me. But Masha will continue her grandparents' legacy. Interestingly, in our family, the profession is passed down through the generation. After all, I became an engineer, just like my grandfather.
