Construction World August 2016

TRUCKING

It was during this event that Scania relaunched its range of construction vehicles to the Southern African market, taking the opportunity at the same time to illustrate its holistic view of the transport system in which different forms of transport, infrastructure, policy and business models are linked. The two mixers on display illustrated this. One was a traditional mixer in which all the concrete components are mixed while en route to site and the other mixer that transports the dry components of the concrete (cement, aggregate and additives such as fly-ash) to site where they are then mixed with water. This is what Alexander Taftman, general manager product & marketing of Scania South Africa means when he says that for Scania there is no typical solution. “Each customer is unique. Nothing in predefined – from Scania’s comprehensive needs analysis, through finance or insurance to after sales service,” he says. Both concrete mixers – but needs-specific Both of the concrete mixers are typically used by construction contractors, but the applications they offer for mixing are very different with the traditional mixer being the more widely used method of mixing concrete for urban applications. The specialised vehicle is suited for long distance travel to remote sites and is housed on an off-road 6x6 truck and chassis. Tradi- tional concrete mixers use weight batching, “Each customer is unique. Nothing in predefined – from Scania’s comprehensive needs analysis, through finance or insurance to after sales service.” Best possible concrete mixing SOLUTION Scania South Africa’s impressive stand at BAUMA CONEXPO AFRICA 2015, displayed mixers, tippers, a stemming truck, staff carriers, infrastructure support vehicles and a containerised genset. >

The Scania G410CB6x6EHZ, fitted with a Reimer concrete mixer.

that the maximum carrying capacity was spread across all the wheels. At the time the specialised mixer truck had to be produced Scania was the only OEM that had 6x6 trucks available for sale. The discharge chute and the auger needed to turn freely from side to side and up and down, which required modifications to the sub frame. The Reimer technical staff spent most of the conversion period with Scania’s engineers. Improvements in volumetric batching Fivaz maintains that improvement in volu- metric batching has required significant innovation over the past decade. “Accuracy is the most advanced feature on the Reimer – followed closely by its safety features. Its reliability and relatively low maintenance costs (versus a conventional batching plant) ensure competitive prices in the market,” he explains. “The versatility in producing various strengths of concrete from one load of mate- rial, outperforms drum mixing operations. Its ability to produce a constant product with minimal or no waste, makes it a leader in volumetric batching and is unmatched when competing against very sophisticated batching plants,” Fivaz adds. Illustrating how Scania assists Taftman says the truck that was handed over was chosen for its off-road capabilities. “This very same truck can be configured for an urban context. This emphasises the impor- tance of a needs analysis beforehand. We try to minimise the customer’s total operating cost,” he adds. “In the current climate where margins are getting tighter and tighter, it is imperative that we provide our customers with the best possible solution. The two mixers are exam- ples of how this can be applied to the rest of Scania product range,” says Taftman . “Our construction customers are experts when it comes to their core business, but not necessarily experts when it comes to their equipment’s mobility. That is why we analyse their needs, communicate with our body- build partners and then provide the customer with a comprehensive solution proposal,” he concludes.

whereas the specialised vehicle uses volume batching. The latter has a load capacity of 9,5 m 3 and can produce 60 m 3 an hour. A traditional mixer has an average load capacity of around 6 m 3 . The specialised concrete mixer At the 2015 expo, Scania handed over a G410CB6x6EHZ off-road mixer truck to client Desert Fruit Namibia. The truck was fitted with a Reimer concrete mixer. The fitting of the mixer onto the Scania chassis took eight to 10 days. “Scania was chosen for this project because of our great dealer network in Namibia and the rest of Southern Africa,” says Theuns Naude, key account manager construction, public and special for Scania South Africa. This specialised vehicle can achieve a high production rate when the components of the mix are available on site to replenish the load bins as needed. It is capable of mixing exact volumes of specific strength concrete through programmable computer software. The software enables the operator to print an analysis of the concrete mixed that indi- cates volume, specification and component mixtures for reference and quality control. “The most important feature of the Reimer mixer is that it produces fresh concrete at the point of discharge. This on its own brings many advantages to the contractor: workability, finishing off the end product, and slump. Waste management is easier and pollution is minimised,” says JJ Fivaz, projects manager for Reimer SA. The specialised mixer requires almost no water to clean – as opposed to traditional mixers that require a lot of water. It is therefore more environmentally friendly. “The mixer provides concrete on demand, has almost no setting up costs, and when pre-loaded, can produce concrete within five minutes of arriving on site,” says Fivaz. Concrete is produced and poured immediately and there is no danger of concrete potentially curing while being transported to site. The concrete mixer Naude says that care had to be taken with the positioning of the Reimer mixer to ensure

48

CONSTRUCTION WORLD AUGUST 2016