The importance of evolution

SCAIP S.p.A, Italy, discusses how the company’s padding machine line has been improved over the course of two decades.

SCAIP S.p.A is an Italian OEM manufacturer that has been designing and producing heavy machinery and equipment for over 60 years. The company was founded in 1958 as a service, maintenance, and repair shop for agricultural machines, specialising in crawler machines usually branded FIAT. As a result of the knowledge and know-how gathered by the firm in the heavy equipment machinery sector, partnerships with large Italian infrastructure construction companies emerged starting in the 1970s. These partnerships with large EPC companies such as SAIPEM and SICIM led SCAIP to begin manufacturing custom machinery and equipment, especially for the construction of pipelines. After years of experience obtained in this sector through these partnerships, SCAIP then began in the early 1990s to develop and engineer its own line of machinery aimed at the construction of pipelines. The first machines made by SCAIP that had been fully designed and manufactured in-house were the pipe bending machines available to the market by 1991. This was quickly followed by the conversion kits that SCAIP started offering in 1992 to convert regular mechanically winched pipelayers into hydraulic winch powered pipelayers, a product that increased SCAIP’s brand reputation and recognition significantly. To date, over 1000 of these kits have been fabricated and installed by SCAIP, demonstrating the popularity of the product. Another product fully developed, designed and manufactured in-house are the padding machines which SCAIP started manufacturing in the late 1990s. These introduced a new machine design compared to the standard in the industry, also proving to be a success

amongst the company’s customers. Throughout the following years of the late 1990s and early 2000s, SCAIP produced a full line of custom pipeline construction machinery, including their own design of pipelayers, pipe carriers and flatbed tractors. Heavy equipment used in pipeline construction such as internal line up clamps, beveling machines, padding buckets and vacuum lifts were also designed, developed, and manufactured in-house.

Since the initial design of each new product line, SCAIP has constantly been revising and updating their design, always striving to achieve better performance and efficiency. On average, 10% of the company’s revenue is reinvested in research and development of the product lines. Such investments in improvements can be clearly seen when looking at the evolution of SCAIP’s padding machines. The product line began in 1997 with the first padding machine called the SPD-45. After some design changes and improvements, the original SPD-350 padding machine was constructed in 2002 and first put to work on a project in Russia before being sent to the US. This initial machine did not include a cabin and had a simple platform where the operator controls were located. The machine utilised pilot operated controls and a 3306 Caterpillar engine along with the original design of the escalator system. SCAIP’s first padding machine opened a new pathway for greatly improved padding machines over the past two decades. Since the first SCAIP padding machine, several technological advancements have been accomplished. The SPD-250/350/450 models now include a greatly improved cabin with ROPS/ FOPS for operator safety. The cabins are air conditioned and heated for the operator’s comfort. An ergonomic seat is also included whereby the operator is able to sit down and operate the machine compared to standing all day as with the previous models. Hydraulic functions have progressed to electrical displacement control and electric components from the previous hydraulic pilot controls. This particularly allows for the operator to control most functions with the use of only two joysticks compared to the multiple handles of the previous models. Another huge SCAIP improvement targets the cabin. The cabin can now raise up and down to allow for transportation of the machine without removal of the top cabin section, as with earlier models of the padding machine. The new style cabin can also be rotated 90˚ when in operation mode to allow the operator full view of the pipe and padding operation, regardless of whether the machine is being utilised on the backfill or ROW side of the trench.

Figure 1. SPD 350 in Texas, USA.

Figure 2. SPD-350 EHD in New Mexico, USA.

Respective of safety considerations, SCAIP has now included an ergonomic remote control system on all of the padding machine models. This allows the operator to safely control the machine in adverse conditions where it may be safer to conduct operations from the ground. All machine functions can be controlled by the operator from the remote control. Emergency stop buttons are located on the machine and in the cabin along with one on the remote control. Another safety feature on the new machines is cameras that are installed on the machine to assist the operator in observing critical areas of the machine. The padding machines with cabins include a digital screen installed in the cabin for observations of these critical areas.

In recent years, SCAIP has added the SPD-160 and the SPD-150 to the padding machine model lineup. The SPD-160 is remote controlled only and does not have a cabin. This machine is not self-loading and requires an excavator to feed material to the separating system. The SPD-150 is also remote controlled and has a greatly improved escalator system since the first machines that were constructed in 2012.

Since the first padding machine was constructed in 1997, SCAIP has produced over 170 units of this equipment line, illustrating the success and customer satisfaction with SCAIP’s padding machines.

One of SCAIP’s newer goals has been to enter other markets apart from pipeline construction and agriculture. Some of the machines can and have been used in different applications other than pipeline construction. The SPD padding machines are a great example as they have been sold and used for projects such as solar or wind farm construction, general material separation for infrastructure projects and beach cleaning. Another product that has been extensively used in other construction industry sectors has been the line of flatbed tractors. These versatile vehicles have been used for the haulage of materials and equipment to harder to reach locations, in solar and wind construction projects, as well as for drilling applications. This goal has been portrayed in SCAIP’s most recent distributor contract signed with TA Drilling, a UK based company that focuses on drilling services.

Even though SCAIP machines have already been sold and sent to operate in almost all parts of the world, and in all types of terrain and weather conditions, SCAIP has focused on further developing international sales in recent years. Another of the company’s goals is to establish a strong world-wide presence to facilitate the maintenance and support, as well as the world-wide sales of the machinery. One of the first steps taken to achieve this was establishing a daughter company to take care of the large and strong North American market. This can also be seen with the addition of new dealers and distributors around the world such as Cross Country Infrastructure Services and the latest new distributorship gained in Australia. SCAIP has recently decided to partner with Pipeline Equipment Rentals based in Perth, Australia, to better cover the Australian market.

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