/ins  Customer demand compelled Colombian garbage truck manufacturer Fanalca to start using Hardox® wear plate and Strenx® performance steel. And now, with the newly designed lightweight trucks, customers can collect more garbage on each round and thus increase their revenue.

Based in Cali, Colombia, Fanalca makes solid waste collection equipment and containers using Hardox® wear plate and Strenx® performance steel. The company started using SSAB steel products a couple of years ago because of customer demand and competition, on both national and global scales.

“We began large-scale production last year when we got a tender for the city of Bogotá, where we delivered 100 garbage compactors,” says Diego Reyes, sales manager at the environmental and bodywork unit of Fanalca S.A.

Fanalca became a Hardox® In My Body customer program member in 2017 because the company wanted to get the most out of its collaboration with SSAB. The garbage trucks’ new, lighter design allows Fanalca’s customers to increase their revenue because they can collect more garbage on each round. The hard-wearing SSAB steel products also offer other positive outcomes and increase replacement time by 100 percent.

“Having the Hardox In My Body sign on our products shows that we are using high-quality steel and we stand out from the competition because we can offer very innovative products,” Reyes says. “The customers know about the program, and they appreciate and value it. Because the steel is much more resistant to abrasion, the time between replacements is about twice as long as with traditional steel.”

Fanalca uses Hardox® 450 wear plate, Strenx® 700 performance steel and SSAB precision tubes in the design of both garbage compactors and containers. Manaseth Gutierrez, head of product design at the company, is constantly trying out new solutions using SSAB products.

“So far, we are using SSAB steel in the entire range of our solid waste garbage compactors, but also in containers for construction waste and for solid waste,” Gutierrez says. “We are starting to introduce it into our whole range of trailers for heavy loads. Our aim is for our entire portfolio of products to be designed using SSAB steels.”

Basically, Hardox® 450 is the steel used for direct contact with the loaded material, and the bearing structure is made out of Strenx® 700. For Fanalca the change to SSAB materials has been a game changer.

“You can always make continuous enhancements, but changing materials has enabled us to make a leap forward,” Gutierrez says. “It's not only the clients who recognize the quality of SSAB steel. We know it's the only steel that guarantees us a uniform hardness all the way through.”

SSAB steel materials used in Fanalca’s products:

• Hardox® 450 in flat parts (ejection, sweep and packer blades), sides in garbage truck bodies, and in floor parts in roll-on/roll-off containers. Some containers are made out of 100 percent Hardox® steel. Reduced weight of between 6 and 10 percent, depending on the model.
• Strenx® 700 in ribs in garbage truck bodies and sides on roll-on/roll-off containers. Reduced weight of 6 percent.
• Precision tubes in ejection blade, sweeping blade, stationary blade and cable winch structures.

For further information, please contact:
Ana Fontes, SSAB Special Steels Marketing, ana.fontes@ssab.com

SSAB is a Nordic and US-based steel company. SSAB offers value added products and services developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a stronger, lighter and more sustainable world. SSAB has employees in over 50 countries. SSAB has production facilities in Sweden, Finland and the US. SSAB is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and has a secondary listing on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.ssab.com. Join us also on social media: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.