Göcs in Debrecen started operating seventy years ago
Photos: István Vencsellei archive
Little Göcs in the former hussar barracks
The Institute of Spatial Planning has designated the Nyíregyháza motorway, the Hajdúsámson road and the new railway line between Nyíregyháza and Debrecen at the factory site. The investment was a very difficult task, as previously there was hardly any large-scale production of bearings and parts in Hungary, thus Debrecen lacked almost every tradition in the field of modern machinery.
According to the original plans, an investment cost of about 300 million forints was expected, of which 104 million forints were planned by the city for the construction of the new factory. The planned capacity was indicated at 3 million units per year. The plans for the Debrecen factory were prepared by the Mechanical Engineering Design Office on the basis of Soviet documentation, and the investment lasted from 1952 to 1966. During this time, one billion forints were used. The pace took place from 1952 to 1963, the first investment of the Debrecen plant reached 6.2 million units per year (and the Diósd plant’s 1.2 million units). By 1966, the total volume had risen to 12 million bearings per year.
Due to the protracted investments, the annual volume had to be produced in Göcs II. This plant was located in a former hussar barracks bordered by Széchenyi and Nyugati streets in order to start production quickly. The initial technology of bearing manufacturing was very similar to that of walnuts. The significant stage in the history of bearing production in Debrecen, November 1952, is connected to this place. This is when our first bearing was made in honor of the great socialist revolution of October. Then, in December, the first thousand “32,208” tapered roller bearings were produced.
The first occupation of the 1st settlement on Szabadság (today’s Kassai) Street took place in 1963, with the commissioning of the new factory. The relocation of the pre-plant was also completed at that time. The Göcs II on Nyugati Street. however, until 1974, it continued to play a significant role in the life of the company. After fulfilling its historical mission, the workshops on Nyugati Street were handed over to the Debrecen Factory Unit of the Budapest Fine Knitwear Factory.
Socialist international division of labor
The contemporary article in the Diary also points out that before the liberation, Debrecen was characterized by the predominance of small-scale industry. At that time, the only large factory to be considered by today’s standards was the Wagon Factory. The bearing factory in Debrecen merged with the factory in Diósd to spread the reputation of Hungarian engineers, technicians and workers to the world under the name MGM Radax. The designation “radax” after the initials of the company indicates that radial and axial bearings were manufactured. Its use was necessary because the MGM mark is an acronym used by Metro Goldwin Meyer, a major American film company.
In 1972, Magyar Rolling Bearing Works manufactured radial rolling bearings belonging to four construction groups. Single row deep groove deep groove ball bearing, deep groove deep groove ball bearing, deep groove roller and tapered roller bearing. The ball and cylindrical roller bearings were manufactured in Debrecen, which accounts for 80 percent of production, while the tapered roller bearings were manufactured in Diósd.
Since its inception, the company has played an important role in the international division of labor between the socialist countries. The activities of the Hungarian Rolling Bearing Works were carried out in the 11th section of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), which included, among other things, technical and scientific cooperation, specialization and the exchange of bearing products. At that time, Magyar Rolling Bearing Works was delivered to 27 countries around the world, and its products reached all inhabited continents except Australia. Based on this, the 20th year of the existence of Magyar Rolling Bearing Works became the first year of the company’s renewal. According to this, a loan of HUF 1.7 billion was provided for the reconstruction of MGM in connection with the capacity expansion. Of this amount, only about HUF 200 million was allocated for construction investment, the rest was used for the purchase of new, modern machinery.
“However, we should not believe that Magyar Rolling Bearing Works was waiting for the reconstruction with its hands folded. They are improving the working conditions and the conditions of quality work with a lot of measures that can be implemented on their own, ”the article in the Diary emphasized. For example, a very well-used semi-automatic machine was edited in the factory for deburring, which had hitherto been difficult physical work. The machine, which was successfully demonstrated in trial operation, saved the heavy physical work of 3-4 people and took only one job to service.
Nursery, library, resort
In addition to all this, you can also find out from the anniversary book that people of our time have built houses for factory workers on Szabadság út (today’s Kassai út), as well as a Göcs club and a factory library. Of course, the range of basic welfare services for workers did not include nursery, health and canteen care, and there was a wide range of leisure and competitive sports facilities. You could also take part in excursions and major recreation, such as a weekend resort on the shores of the Eastern Main Canal or a fishing farm on Crater Lake in Nagyhegyes.
Attila Vass