Manufacturing Today Issue - 218 November 2023 | Page 45

____________________________________________________________________________________________ Econ
Engineering system . Pulling it all into one place is going to be a sizeable implementation process , incorporating finance , manufacturing , servicing , and so on , and we must time the process correctly , given the seasonal nature of the hire side . There ’ s always a painful period of implementation on a project such as this , but it will be fantastic when it ’ s all working .
“ Overall , I ’ m only dipping my toe into production and trying to learn a bit of everything as we go along , while currently influencing very little because they all know what they ’ re doing . I don ’ t want to start off as the new boy and make a wrong decision !”
Having been a part of the development of Econ ’ s new Electric Quick-Change Body ( E-QCB ) truck via his work at Volvo , Gareth goes on to give some further details about this project . With electric trucks being a major focus point for Volvo , the brand made a perfect partner for Econ , and the E-QCB has been created through Econ Engineering ’ s R & D team , and product specialists from Volvo Trucks UK & Ireland , and Crossroads .
“ It is based on a Volvo chassis , and we ’ ve put three body options on it , to ensure that it has the capability to work 24 / 7 , 365 days a year . There ’ s no getting away from the fact that electric vehicles are more expensive to purchase than their diesel counterparts – that ’ s just a fact . We must make sure that this investment is operationally viable , as an electric gritter that is parked up for six months would not justify the investment despite the carbon benefits to the operator . It is not economically viable .” Addressing this , Econ offers a caged tipping body and a highway maintenance tipping body , as well as
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