Smartphones, vacuum cleaners, and electric railways – they all run on electricity. And where there’s electricity, insulators are needed, for example to fasten transmissionlines to the transmission tower. Militzer & Münch Ukraine was able to win a producer of polymeric insulators as a customer, and now transports insulator parts from Shanghai to Ukraine, and forwards the finished goods to Vietnam.
The contract was already signed in the beginning of June 2016 for a duration of three years. “New customers with regular transport orders are extremely important to us, as this strengthens our market position”, says Yuliya Bezverkha, Marketing & Sales at Militzer & Münch Ukraine.
European quality at very low prices
Militzer & Münch Ukraine’s customer designs and manufactures polymeric insulators for current lines, open switching stations and substations as well as AC overhead lines for railways. The insulators are produced in the Donetsk region according to international safety specifications before they are exported to Vietnam.
“The most important advantage of products produced in Ukraine is European quality at Chinese prices.”
Yuliya Bezverkha
Marketing & Sales, Militzer & Münch Ukraine
For the manufacturing process, the company relies on equipment from Germany, Switzerland, and from other leading foreign suppliers. The machinery allows fully automating the basic manufacturing processes. “The most important advantage of products produced in Ukraine is European quality at Chinese prices”, says Yuliya Bezverkha. The finished products are then exported. The insulators that go to Vietnam are roughly 1.5 meters in length and weigh four kilograms each.
Import and export from one source
Militzer & Münch Ukraine handles the import as well as the export for their customer. “We import parts from Shanghai to Ukraine, mainly via sea freight in 20 foot containers, sometimes also via air,” says Yuliya Bezverkha. “The goods we transport are fastening elements that connect the insulators to the current line and the transmission tower.”
After they have arrived in Ukraine, the goods are trucked from the Port of Odessa or Kiev Airport to the production factory in the Donetsk region. Here, the polymeric insulators are produced and packed in wooden boxes for on-forwarding. The finished insulators are transported to Ho Chi Minh City, mostly by air.
During one year, the M&M Ukraine team shipped more than 15 tons in airfreight and 51 in sea freight in imports from Shanghai, and more than 24 tons by air and 50 tons by sea in exports to Vietnam. “We appreciate the trust the costumer puts in us”, says Yuliya Bezverkha.
What are insulators?
Insulators must offer high mechanical stability, but very low electric conductivity. In order to combine these two components, insulators are made from solid insulating materials such as aluminum oxide ceramics, porcelain, glass, glass-fiber reinforced plastics or epoxy resins.
Insulators are used to fasten or guide bare electrical conductors. The current flow through the fastening element is inhibited to the largest part. Insulators used in the open, for instance on transmission towers, big antennas or substations, moreover have to be durable in view of ultraviolet radiation and weather variations.
