Mechanical Measuring Instruments Factory

The profile of the institution was extremely diverse, they produced a lot of products in several areas at the same time. In 1904, the measuring instruments department produced 2,000 pieces of heat, voltage, water level, water level gauges and spring balances. The other department of the company manufactured experimental instruments for physics, chemistry and electrotechnical laboratories. These were exported to Italy, Spain, Egypt, Bulgaria and even South America. The production and repair of physics and chemistry teaching instruments became increasingly important in addition to various thermal engineering instruments. Silk spinning mills, MÁV locomotives, Ganz warships, etc. were equipped with special instruments. They also dealt with the production of projectors and their accessories, photographic equipment, slide projectors, spark inductors, X-ray devices, switchboards, Hertz, Tesla, Marconi devices, etc.
After the First World War, production was put on a new footing. In response to the demand that arose with the spread of electricity, the production of electrical measuring instruments was introduced in 1918. The company's "general store" nature did not cease. From 1920, epidiascopes and motion picture projectors were manufactured, and in the 1930s, Hungarian subtitle printing machines for foreign-language sound films were manufactured. Stage lighting equipment and reflectors were manufactured under foreign licenses. They installed the first cloud and wave projectors at the National Theatre. The production of aviation instruments began in 1925. From 1930, the company supplied instruments, inspection and verification equipment in large quantities to the Hungarian Air Force. A floor was added to the factory building in 1941. The factory was headed by a military personnel commander.

The company joined the Messerschmidt program. As a subcontractor, they supplied 1,100 instrument sets (tachometer, oil thermometer, water thermometer, gasoline, oil pressure and intake pressure gauge, propeller position indicator, airspeed indicator, altimeter, variometer, pilot compass, turn indicator horizon) to the Weiss Manfréd factory for Bf 109 and Me 210 aircraft. They also acquired the right to remanufacture certain German instruments. To accommodate the increased production, the Bulcsú Street department was expanded and two-shift production was introduced.

The profile expanded in the early 1950s with the production of pneumatic automation components.

After 1975, MMG-AM purchased the license for the SAM-80 system from a Dutch company. It had an Intel 8080 processor, a small-capacity RAM case and a slot for a ROM on the processor module, and a memory expansion module could also be used. Its original purpose was to be a data receiving and intervention terminal attached to a computer. The MMG AM microcomputer software developers developed a program system for it that could also perform the processing role in the case of not too large input and output signals, supplemented with an alphanumeric terminal and printer.

The manufacturing and commissioning process was made more expensive by the fact that the connectors on the backplane had to be connected to each other and to the cable management of external equipment according to the module layout, by “snapping”. It was important to further develop the system without changing the mechanical elements: using a faster but instruction-level compatible processor (Intel 8085 or Z80), the connection between the modules should be made on a printed backplane, with wires reserved for later use (e.g. priority interrupt, handling) on this. More modern integrated circuits should be installed. The development team decided in favor of the Intel 8085, so the development of the SAM 85 system was based on this. With this system, the system design engineers were able to typify numerous tasks (e.g. tank farm systems in the Soviet Union) and solve them without the software developers having to deal with them!

Development of telemechanical stations (1974)? Tank farm and other applications in the USSR, in Hungary the telemechanical stations of the ADRIA transmission line and the Szeged-Algyö gas and oil field were implemented with a telemechanical station developed for the USSR. (The central TPAi type computers and their software for these Hungarian systems were produced and put into operation by the MTA KFKI.)

From 1978 onwards, only microprocessor-based telemechanical stations were produced (with SAM 80 and then SAM 85 modules), with a control center made of such modules.

The MP8500, then the MP8501, were designed and manufactured. These multiprocessor computers were equipped with an Intel 8085 processor and could be expanded to up to 8 processors. They were also suitable for performing central tasks at a level above a larger number of telemechanical stations.

Activities of the Computer Applications Department

(led by Lajos Ivanyos: transferred from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (KFKI) in the fall of 1979)

He had to perform development, testing, design and commissioning tasks related to the use of PDP11 series and compatible ESZR computers and the purchase of the Nuovo Pignone license, and new types of applications. Such were, for example, the Metropolitan Water Works, the Ukrainian compressor station, the Leningrad Epoxy Resin Factory, the MÁV Hatvan - Miskolc Interchange Traffic Control (KÖFE) system, the GOV National Telemechanics System, and the development of hardware and software for the control of mobile artillery units ordered by HTI. He played a prominent role in the design and implementation of the data collection system for units 3 and 4 of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant.

At the request of the Gas and Oil Transport Company (GOV), MMG AM purchased a license for a field terminal system operating with a 16-bit processor and usable in freezing environments from the Italian company Nuovo Pignone. The system for monitoring the main pipelines of the Metropolitan Waterworks, the Central Traffic Control (KÖFE) system established on the Hatvan – Miskolc section of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV), was implemented with such NP field terminals and an MP8500 center. The five-district data management system of GOV was implemented with NP terminals and TPA 11440 central computers manufactured by KFKI (the center was built in Siófok, also with TPA 11 series machines).

The total number of SZAFO employees was around 60, of which about 10 people were involved in the operation of the equipment and administrative tasks, and 50 people could be expected to be involved in the tasks. Most employees participated in several jobs at the same time. There were groups of 3-5 people and groups of 6-10 people (here too, more than 10 tasks had to be contributed!). There were also groups of 10-40 people, e.g. the Paks works. SZAFO was simultaneously involved in solving an average of 20 tasks, some people participated in solving an average of 2-3 tasks, but sometimes they had to assist in more than 4 tasks.

In microcomputer software development, 3-5 people participated in each project. If many new subtasks arose, then 6-10 people.
In hardware developments, they dealt with the development and modernization of the type hardware modules.

He worked in a group of about 6 people on the applications and further development of the multiprocessor MP series.

Developments were also made to the 16-bit, PDP-compatible SZM-4 computer.
The group dealing with artillery tasks was smaller in size.

After the completion of each system, everyone had to participate in the commissioning work.

Approximately 60 employees of SZAFO participated in the development of the computer systems introduced in Units III-IV of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, in the factory testing of the equipment and software, in the installation of the equipment, in the troubleshooting, in the implementation of the necessary modifications, and in the conduct of the test run, under the direction of Lajos Ivanyos.

The company's previous outstanding activities:

Design and manufacture of measuring instruments and pneumatic automation elements

Making car dashboards

Design, development and production of telemechanical stations and automated systems

Automation of the Siberian gas lift oil production system

Systems were created with unique software developments for the Budapest Gas Works, the companies of the Aluminum Industry Trust (Ajka, Almásfüzitő, Inota), and also for Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria.

Other outstanding activities carried out today (in relation to the entire company):

petroleum, natural gas and other hydrocarbon pipeline management systems

control systems of electric and thermal power plants

control systems of utility networks

tank farm control systems

chemical and pharmaceutical industry control systems

measurement and control tasks in winemaking, dairy industry and other industries

supply of spare parts and instruments for systems previously implemented by MMG AM Rt.

for the delivery of instruments and parts, including the delivery of replacement types of previously manufactured instruments

solving flow measurement and system design tasks, servicing and maintenance of instruments and systems, on-site installation and commissioning

calibration and verification of flow meters

The first legal predecessor of the Mechanical Measuring Instruments Factory (MMG) was the Marx and Mérei Scientific Instruments Factory, which was founded in 1902 at 60 Aradi Street, District VI, Budapest (this was the location until May 1, 1908). Ferenc Marx started his factory on July 15, 1900. Ferenc Marx was a craftsman. Emil Mérei received the Franz Joseph Jubilee Scholarship in 1898 and went on a study trip to Paris. After returning home, he also joined the business, and the company took the name Marx and Mérei Scientific Instruments Factory. In 1925, at the request of the Air Force Office, they included the production of aviation instruments in their program, and from the mid-1930s they greatly developed the production of teaching aids and optical instruments. The company, which already had 300 employees, adopted the name of the First Hungarian Aircraft Instrument Factory in 1938, and in 1941 they joined the Messerschmidt program. In 1942, two large units were established within the company. The aircraft instrument factory employed only “Christian” employees and workers, while the other department produced the traditional profile. Its new name became: “Marx and Mérei Scientific, Electrical Instruments and Voltage Measuring Instruments Factory - First Hungarian Aircraft Instrument Factory”. From 1943, the factory produced aircraft instruments. In 1943, the Mérei family left the company, as only the Marx brothers remained in the management, and it adopted the name “Marx and Marx First Hungarian Aircraft Instrument Factory”. After World War II, in 1946, it joined the Technical Working Community Production and Sales Cooperative.

The factory was nationalized in 1948, and five instrument manufacturing plants were merged to form the Mechanical Measuring Instruments Factory (MMG). The Béke út site of the Office Experiment Company was annexed to MMG in 1955, the Fire Protection Equipment Factory in 1960, the Air Defense Department of Medicor in 1962, and the Welding Equipment Factory in 1964. They also established rural sites: the Szekszárd Instrument Factory in 1967, the Control Technology Factory in Kecskemét in 1973, and the Tiszaalpár Factory in 1979. In 1975, MMG absorbed the Central Research Laboratory for Measurement Technology and took the name MMG Automation Works.

The former factories in Bicske, Szekszárd and Budapest, Illatos út, have meanwhile separated from MMG Automatika Művek and operate as independent companies. These are:

• MMG Instrument Service Provider Ltd.
• WESZTA-T Industrial and Commercial Ltd.
• Horváth Holding Investment Ltd.

In the golden age:

• MMG Automation Works Headquarters Budapest, District III Szépvölgyi út 41
• MMG Automation Works Control Technology Factory Unit Kecskemét, Izsáki út 8. (1973)
• Tiszaalpár Factory Unit (1979)
• MMG Automation Works Control Engineering Factory Units Budapest, District III Szépvölgyi út 41.
• MMG Automation Works Automation Equipment Factory Budapest, IX. district Illatos út 7.
• MMG Automation Works Research and Development Institute Budapest, XIII. district Rokolya utca 1-13.
• MMG Automation Works Instrument Factory Szekszárd, Rózsamáj vineyard. (1967)
• MMG Automation Works Gas Automation Factory Unit Bicske, Budai Street 2.

In 1942, since the Ministry of Defense demanded new deliveries outside the Messerschmidt program, and the factory was also involved in the production of gun instruments, further expansion was necessary. They applied for a loan of 2.4 million pengő and purchased the one-story “Lőwi Rudolf Mechanikai Szövőgyár Rt.” at 19-25 Szekszárdi út, 13th district. They located the parts production, surface treatment, offices, warehouses, raw materials, and pre-assembly there.

In the 1980s, it was interesting in itself that a company had so many legs (see outstanding projects, activities), that is, that they produced such a wide range of different products. One of the largest projects seems to be the computer systems introduced in units III-IV of the Paks nuclear power plant, which is interesting in itself since it is a nuclear power plant and the fact that it was carried out by a Hungarian company and not a foreign one. 40 people participated in this project. Some interesting data in this regard: The auxiliary power system of units III and IV was made of SAM 85 elements. In the SAM-E configurations of the data acquisition system ordered for these units, the incoming information had to be time-stamped, and the information transmission towards the higher level had to be accelerated. The multiprocessor system also had to switch to the use of elements with higher integration (MP8501).

During the work on the data acquisition system (1983-86): 21 Data Receiving SAM-E terminals per block. 4 Signal Receiving SAM-E terminals, an 8-processor Data Manager MP 8501 concentrator, a 5-processor Event Manager MP 8501 concentrator, a 7-processor MP 8501 Database and Peripheral Management Center, and 9 4-processor MP 8501 Display Managers were put into operation. 81 Intel 8085 processors were used per block.

Data acquisition: For each block, 2688 measurements had to be acquired, 209 of them every second, 433 only every hour (the rest every 6 or 12 seconds). The number of simple status signals was 4022, the number of signals requiring immediate response was 576, the position of the 37 brake rods was indicated by a four-bit number for each rod.

After the liquidation of MMG Automatika Művek, the new building section and most of the buildings, as well as the workshop halls, were demolished. Residential buildings were built in their place. This light-colored building, the commemorative plaque on its side, and some street names preserve the area's former purpose.