Coziness in homes and… on the city streets. How «Vitebsk Carpets» wove the longest runner

Experts from the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have confirmed the uniqueness of the 400-meter-long carpet runner created by OJSC "Vitebskiye Kovry". This product today adorned the XXVII "Slavyansky Kaleidoskop" fair, which opened in Vitebsk. Its guests witnessed a new national production record authored by Vitebsk textile workers.

The national record-setting ceremony was held during the fair's grand opening and was conducted according to all the rules: no one should have any doubts about the professionalism of "Vitebskiye Kovry" specialists.

Process

The carpet runner stretched across the entire Kirov Square on the street of the same name. CCI experts walked along the product with a curvimeter (a mechanical device for measuring distance), verifying the integrity of the fabric. Their work was captured on smartphones by numerous fair visitors. Upon completion of the expertise, the General Director of the Vitebsk Branch of the CCI, Natalia Vorobyova, presented the head of OJSC "Vitebskiye Kovry", Artem Lokhankin, with the corresponding certificate.

Inspired Labor

The general director of the joint-stock company helped "Vitbychane" to understand the uniqueness of the production achievement and the components of success.

According to Artem Lokhankin, the enterprise currently produces rolls for clients with a maximum length of 25 meters. When discussing with partners – the Vitebsk branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the directorate of the international festival "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk" – what could be used to decorate the fairgrounds, they settled on the option of a carpet runner. The task was set: to produce a single piece 400 meters long, which is the length of the public garden. In length, this is comparable to 16 standard rolls of "Vitebskiye Kovry".

– When we realized that no one in Belarus had done this before, our specialists' eyes lit up. To make a runner as long as four football fields! That's the whole secret – inspiration, labor enthusiasm, and unconventional thinking of the enterprise's employees, emphasized Artem Lokhankin. – We had to apply non-standard solutions to produce the item without seams. We also had to rack our brains over the packaging technology, as the roll weighs 270 kilograms.

It was decided to decorate the record-breaking runner with the logos of the participants of the project dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the international festival "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk".

– We not only created a unique product but also gained excellent production experience, which we will use in future work with potential clients. They will be able to see for themselves that "Vitebskiye Kovry" can handle non-standard orders. For example, for premises where a carpet runner longer than 25 meters needs to be laid in a single piece. Now we are technically capable of doing this, – stated Artem Lokhankin.

To the museum

The fate of the record-breaking carpet is not yet fully determined. A part of the carpet, about 1.5 meters long, will definitely find a place in the enterprise's museum along with the record certificate, said Artyom Lokhankin. The remaining part may be used for souvenirs. For example, fair participants could become their owners: this year, there are more than 100 manufacturers from Belarus and Russia.