2016 CON FINAL LOW

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,

whereas the specialised vehicle uses volume

batching. The latter has a load capacity

of 9,5 m

and can produce 60 m

an hour.

A traditional mixer has an average load

capacity of around 6 m

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

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.

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.

“Each customer is unique. Nothing

in predefined – from Scania’s

comprehensive needs analysis,

through finance or insurance to

after sales service.”