Simex – The road to ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023
Published 6/3 at 11:28The road to ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023 began for Simex in January 2021, when the first North American branch was inaugurated in Corpus Christi, Texas. Therefore, participating in North America’s largest exhibition for the earthmoving sector will not only be an exhibition opportunity for the company, but it will also mark the beginning of a new strategic and commercial phase for Simex products in the US market.
The opening of the new Simex US branch office in 2021 has resulted in a stock of equipment and spare parts and, consequently, faster delivery times, prompt pre and after sales service, and onsite installations supervised by qualified staff. At the same time, the expansion of the sales and dealer network has paved the way for Simex’s participation at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023, with the company now more aware of the market needs when it comes to doing business in the vast territory of the United States, with a clear strategy for penetrating the market.
The investment in the American market is the result of a broader expansion plan that started from its Italian headquarters, in San Giovanni in Persiceto, just outside Bologna. The Simex production plant now covers a total area of 54,000m², where a large amount of space is dedicated to testing equipment so as to ensure the highest quality standards. The new logistics warehouse of over 7,000m², inaugurated at the end of 2019, has increased stock capacity and shortened delivery times. Among the many structural implementations are the automated vertical warehouses, robotic boring and welding stations that enable the improvement of the quality of components, such as drums and cutting wheels, while ensuring high safety standards. And finally, a vast demonstration area that allows the R&D office to test and develop new products, simulating various fields of application.
Simex for the road maintenance and utilities sector
ConExpo- Con/Agg 2023 marks a change in Simex's approach to sales in the US market. From now on, the entire range of ‘PL’ asphalt cold planers and wheel saws from the ‘RW’ and ‘T’ ranges will be marketed, opening up a new direction in the field of road maintenance and underground utilities with over 30 models for loaders, compact loaders and excavators. Starting with the consolidated Simex milling technology, developed and fine-tuned over 30 years in the business, the entire PL line will be oriented to American road maintenance operators, from 250mm to 2,000mm in width and up to 350mm in depth. In this regard, on the occasion of North America’s biggest trade show in the earthmoving sector, Simex will provide focus on what it says is the widest road cold planer on the attachment market, the PL 2000, which, with its 200cm drum, can reach 4 milling meters in just two passes.
In the mini and micro trenching sector, Simex believes that its range of ‘RW’ and ‘RWA’ wheel saws will steal the show due to their special characteristics. These include the self-levelling system, which automatically adjusts to the surface; the segmented wheel (which makes it possible to quickly change the trench width, while maintaining the same base wheel) and the hydraulic lateral tilt of the RWA 500 model (to be showcased at the show), which keeps the cutting wheel always vertical, even when the prime mover is not parallel to the road surface.
Innovative skid steer equipment, designed for roadworks applications, will also be presented at Conexpo- Con/Agg. The D-Blade 200 is a floor saw with a diamond blade for cutting depths up to 200mm, with the range being created with the intention of incorporating asphalt diamond saw technology into skid steer loaders, ensuring increased safety for operators. As the name itself suggests, the Simex asphalt saw is ideal for linear cuts on road surfaces, for concrete, and for creating expansion joints on continuous surfaces. One of the most frequent uses of the ‘D-Blade’ is the removal of predefined sections of asphalt for subsequent restoration or for opening new road manholes. However, it is often used to make sharp cuts for laying fibre optic cables. The clean and burr free cut produces minimal waste material and avoids trench deformation, facilitating the filling phase and ensuring restoration quality.
Simex also aims to be at the forefront of the development of new solutions for mini and micro trenching. ‘No-dig’ technologies are a set of techniques ideal for relining, repairing and the renewal of underground utilities networks, minimising the impact on roads and pavements. Simex now offers for the US market 15 models of wheel saws specifically designed for reduced set section trenches. The attachments are included into four product ranges: RW, T and D-Blade for loaders and skid steers, and ‘RWE’ for excavator boom mounting.
Simex for demolition and recycling
In recent years, Simex has made efforts to offer useful solutions for materials recovery from a sustainable perspective. From crushing to selective separation, from cutting to controlled demolition, from quarrying to backfilling pipelines, Simex has a range of buckets and drum cutters that facilitate demolition and the recycling of waste material. Simex aims to expand the concept of materials recovery which, once crushed, volumetrically reduced or screened, can be recycled immediately onsite or easily transported away.
In this regard, at ConExpo-Con/Agg there will be a thematic area dedicated to Simex buckets for demolition and recycling purposes. The ‘VSE’ range of screening buckets has an exclusive patent for the instant variation of the output size of the screened material. Another patent is the new ‘FIT’ screening tools. These are easily customisable and replaceable directly onsite, and aim to guarantee up to 75% less maintenance costs when compared to the previous system. At the Simex booth, it will be also possible to see the ‘CBA’ asphalt granulator bucket, designed for the volumetric reduction of asphalt slabs to a certifiable grain size, due to its configurable rear grid. The CBA bucket has been specifically designed for the recovery of milled asphalt material, classified in national regulations as bituminous conglomerate granulate (otherwise known as RAP - Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement). It has the dual advantage of combining reduced construction site costs (less supply of new raw materials) and the possibility of reintroducing the milled material into the production cycle of new asphalt. The line-up is completed by the ‘CBE’ rotor crusher buckets range which has been developed for the volumetric reduction of aggregates directly onsite. It is said by Simex to be high performing even in the presence of rebar and other troublesome materials.
In the central part of the booth the ‘TF’ double drum cutter heads will stand out.