Ciegoplast, an entity that produces high-density polyethylene pipes and connections, belonging to Hydraulic Resources in Ciego de Ávila, is in the group of those in the country that focus on seeking profitability and satisfying the demands of the national market, without dismissing the incursion abroad.

Its group has been able to diversify productions and reduce imports, even in the midst of difficulties exacerbated by the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States government and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although there is still a long way to go, they also direct their attention to promote productive chains within the economy.

The start-up of a mill that grinds all the waste from the main productions to use them in others, called alternatives, for which 100% high-density polyethylene is used, is a proof of this.

José Terry Gregorio, director of refinement and development of the company, points out that the work is far-reaching, because most of these alternative productions, which substitute imports, do not require virgin raw material.

The manufacture of polyethylene fibers, a highly expensive product on the international market and used for casting the slabs of the transfer channels is part of these creations, he says.

These fibers are mixed in concrete and mortar and, according to the homologation with which it imported Hydraulic Resources in the country, they were evaluated by specialists in their fluidity, assimilation by the machine and compaction in the slab. In addition, the laboratory certified that the results of the samples behaved within the parameters required for this type of test, Terry Gregorio states.

“Another alternative production made by Ciegoplast and requested by the Cuban Geo-mining is a Manifold (HDPE structure that works as a distribution center used in the processing of mineral mix with gold content)".

“The design of this Manifold meets the required technical requirements, its assembly and maintenance and repair work are much easier. It has greater durability in its use and exploitation, and does not allow the usual inlays that normally had with the previous metallic system”.

For the Geo-mining, in the exploitation area of ​​the municipality of Placetas, in Villa Clara, they also manufactured two floats with a diameter of 630 millimeters and a length of 4.5 meters that support a load each one (mineral mixture with gold content) of approximately two tons.

Cages for intensive fish farming and filter nozzles for water treatment plants are two other alternative productions with which linkages are achieved, the first with the Fishing Company and the second with the Aqueduct and Sewerage Corporation.

There are different prototypes of cages in project, but the most requested ones are the circular cells of 18 meters in diameter and the rectangular ones of three by four meters, Diego García Plasencia, commercial director of Ciegoplast, adds.

Meanwhile, from nozzles, 12,200 have been made for the Nuevitas water treatment plant, in Camagüey, but the Ciego de Ávila`s entity can manufacture 200 units daily; so there is already the possibility of having 100% Cuban nozzles and with the same result in effectiveness and efficiency as the imported ones.

At Ciegoplast, in business improvement since 2001, based on research, development and innovation, they managed to commission paralyzed equipment and transfer technology to increase machining capacity.

Among these inventions is the recovery of a lathe for machining large-diameter parts, such as thousand-millimeter flange holders, which made it possible to meet the commitments of important works in the national territory and substitute imports, since the cost of one with similar characteristics in the international market is 350,000.00 dollars.

A bench was adapted to the vertical drill intended for the production of reduced tees, a job that replaces the endless concaves, facilitates the drilling of two reducers at the same time and eliminates the frequent breakage of the auger blades.

Equally noteworthy is the recovery of the Weber extruder chamber spindle, an innovation that consisted of eliminating the oil leak from the gearbox on Line Two, by adapting a different-sized seal and using a spring salvaged from another scrapped seal.

Another invention was the adaptation of belts to the WIDOS endless, equipment with a high rate of exploitation since its start-up in 2002 to produce pieces by thermo-fusion.

This solution makes it possible to extend the useful life of the belts, of different sizes, as they have less rotation frequency.

The men and women of Ciegoplast aspire that their productions can also contribute to Cuba's exportable funds, since; in addition, it would be a possibility to improve their technology, with 21 years of exploitation.

Undoubtedly, at the Ciego de Ávila pipe company, the first of the three operating in the country, they think about the future and the present of the national economy. There, they reorganize, innovate, seek solutions to strengthen themselves as a socialist state entity, whose function is to become a sure source of wealth and well-being for society.