economy

The architecture technology development centre of the Pyongyang railway building maintenance station was organized four years ago with only 12 employees. It is a small unit both in the building and production scale.

But it has developed practical technologies of great significance in developing the country’s economy and improving the people’s living standards every year in recent years to obtain three patents. 

Once the small and unknown unit, the centre made a leap forward and established its presence. Whenever people asked him what the secret of its success was, Pak Kwon Il, director of the centre, answered that love for their own things and the desire to add lustre to them inspired the employees to invent new technologies.

Three years ago, the development centre set itself a goal to develop the Korean-style gypsum products production technology.

Products made of gypsum, also known as a green and health-protecting building material as it has soundproof, fire-proof, heat preserving and other functional properties, are widely used in architectural decoration as they can improve the formative artistic value and qualities of structures while saving a great deal of manpower, time and materials.

Though they had no special knowledge about this field or guarantee of success, the employees of the centre started the development of Korean-style gypsum products.

What they had at the time was only patriotic fervour to proudly make everything needed for the country with gypsum abundantly deposited in the country.

On the strength of this unbridled enthusiasm, the technical group established a Korean-style gypsum products production technology in a short time and then developed various kinds and shapes of products in succession, including gypsum decorative plate, gypsum decorative strip for skirting and gypsum pillar.

In those years the employees of the centre grew up to be owners of Korean-style die-making technology, artists, sculptors, designers and programmers and became talents who have acquired various technical knowledge and skills and can do the jobs of two or three.

In the course of it, a method of producing dome shell using gypsum was developed and registered as a practical technology and won the first patent. The technology is very popular with customers that introduced it as it is lower in production and construction costs, simpler in the working process and shorter in the construction period than the traditional wet construction method while saving much manpower and materials compared to it. 

The centre developed a lift control system without rubber insulated wire, a cost-saving and energy-saving technical product, to get the second patent. Last year it developed a fixture board by using far-infrared radiation body and was awarded the third patent.

“When we work hard with patriotic fervour to contribute even a little to the economic development of the country and the improvement of the people’s living standards and produce more creations we can feel proud of as our own with our own efforts, technology and resources, even a small unit can become a necessary unit which does a great job for the country, I think,” said Pak Kwon Il.