RCM Story – Experience cannot be improvised

RCM scraper/sweeper produced in the 1980s

18/04/2023

In the long history of innovative RCM projects, the memory of the creation of a scraper/sweeper requested by Fiat in the 80s has been lost.

In the Fiat factories in Turin, where mechanical parts and bodywork were produced, the floors were made with wooden posts driven into the ground. These floors were non-slip and elastic when new, able to absorb vibrations from large presses and forklifts that carried considerable loads.

However, the oil from mechanical work combined with metal dust and forklift rubber quickly formed a slippery “crust,” dangerous for people and the stability of the transport vehicles. Continuous maintenance work was required to scrape the floor, which was done manually with individual scrapers, and the material was then swept and collected with a sweeper.

The work was long, demanding, and expensive, so Fiat’s maintenance managers requested the creation of a new cleaning machine, operated by a single person, that could simultaneously scrape the floor and collect the material. The prospects for a new machine with these features were excellent because it could be used in many other industrial sectors, in addition to being used in all Fiat factories and at other automotive manufacturers.

In a short time, RCM technicians identified the BOXER sweeper, a robust and manageable sweeper with a rear load, as the most suitable for collecting large quantities of heavy material, and applied three independent scraper heads, controlled by hydraulic motors, to the front of the same sweeper.

The innovative RCM scraper-sweeper, called the R SCR, was a powerful, very compact, and extremely manageable machine powered by a Fiat four-cylinder engine fueled by liquid gas (propane) with a catalytic muffler, to be used indoors. A first specimen was delivered and worked perfectly. However, for reasons still unknown, the project was suspended and later definitively abandoned. Nevertheless, the considerable experience accumulated in the R SCR project subsequently allowed us to create disc scrubber-driers (which today represent one of the best-selling RCM products worldwide) and the large roller brush sweeper-scrubber-drier COMBO, which we have been producing for over 10 years.

For RCM, the Research and Development department has always been at the center of the company’s future evolution and is a guarantee for the customer. Our Research and Development department is still at the center of our interest to continue offering the market one of the world’s most complete ranges of sweepers and scrubber-driers, more competitive and sustainable.