The M-3 was one of the first small computers to be mass-produced. It was so simple to operate that a number of organizations could independently assemble and employ it using only the documentation provided by the Institute of Electro-mechanics. In 1958, M-3's blueprints were delivered to the Minsk computer factory for a small production run, and the first model was completed in September 1959. Its operational storage was on a magnetic drum (2048 31-bit length words), which limited its productivity to 30 operations per second, despite the fact that the arithmetic unit had parallel operation.

This computer earned a good reputation and the government decided to modernize it. Ferrite cores were added to the storage device on the magnetic drum memory, which increased the computer's productivity to 1500 operations per second. Earlier-manufactured M-3s were also given this ferrite core supplement.

One year later, the SKB was given an order to design a new computer that would be inexpensive, simple to install and operate, and easily adaptable to customer's requirements. George Lopato supervised this project, producing the Minsk-1, a two-address machine with a performance speed of 3000 operation per second. Its structure was made up of autonomous functionally completed modules. When its simple logical schemes and modular construction were combined with the great enthusiasm of its developers and factory workers, the first Minsk-1 was completed in only 14 months.

This machine's modular unit construction significantly reduced the debugging time and considerably simplified the safety measures needed for its users. Beginning in 1961, Minsk machines went through a period of rapid development, with a series of modifications based on end-user needs: Minsk-11, for work with communication channels; Minsk-12, with extended storage; Minsk-14 for communication channel work with expanded memory; and Minsk-16 for processing telemetric information from space satellites.

These models were the most popular first-generation small computers in the Soviet Union. They were used in higher education institutes, colleges, research institutes, and construction bureaus. Some of them were employed in factories for solving engineering problems.

The second generation of Minsk computers was divided into two groups. The first group included the basic computer Minsk-2 and its derivative models Minsk-22 and Minsk-22M. The second group included the Minsk-23 and Minsk-32. Two additional variants, Minsk-26 and Minsk-27 were also created in order to broaden the applications of the Minsk system capabilities. The Minsk-26 was used for processing meteorological information gathered from the Meteor earth satellites. Minsk-27 was used for processing telemetric information from the high altitude balloon probes in the atmosphere. Both of these models were the first in the Soviet Union to combine magnetic tape transport mechanisms and telemetric data processing.