New Business Segment for Goznak as it Enters Banknote Processing Market

Russian state printer and mint Goznak has launched its own banknote counting and sorting machine – the BARS-S5. This follows the acquisition last year of BIS (which stands for Bank Innovation Systems), with whom the new machine was co-developed. The first order has already been received from the Central Bank of Russia.

Goznak describes the new BARS-S5 as a floor-standing, fast, highly automated, relatively inexpensive small-sized machine, which can count and sort 20 banknotes per second. Defective or worn out banknotes can be destroyed online at the same speed.

Depending on where the machine is used, it can operate both with one face value (as required by the central bank) or with several (as commercial banks are likely to require). Because the machine is modular, it is possible to increase the number of sorting pockets according to customer requirements.

The system was developed to fill a niche in the market for low cost high speed sorters. As Yuri Sivakov, Head of the Technical Competence Center of the Instrument-Making Directorate of Goznak, said: ‘when we started developing the composition of the new counting and sorting machine we evaluated a lot of variants and realized that it is necessary to create a principally new concept of the counting and sorting machine.’ In addition to its size and cost, Goznak believes the benefits of the new machine lie in its superior image and serial number detection quality. ‘In the BARS S5 counting and sorting machine, we have installed the best scanning devices available now and improved the software’, he added. ‘As a result, we are sure that our machine will surpass all counting and sorting machines installed at the Bank and in the world in the image scanning quality and the serial number detection’.

Multi-level tests of the BARS S5 over a period of two months ensured it met the central bank’s requirements. There it was proved that the machine can process more than 400,000 banknotes per shift, or 67,000 notes per hour. If the destruction mode is on, up to 400,000 notes can be destroyed daily.

The central bank is now recommending the system for the country’s commercial banks. It will also be used at Goznak’s printing works. Furthermore, Goznak will be promoting it to the export market for both central banks and large commercial banks with cash centres). As such it has created a new business segment for Goznak, which is already a large exporter of banknote paper and print.