A new range of protective guards developed for Hitachi Construction Machinery UK is being officially launched at Hillhead Show Digital.
Plastics manufacturer Norplast developed the Digger Guard product range in response to a project brief from Hitachi to design a new vandal guard to overcome problems with existing systems used to protect excavator cabs.
Norplast’s team achieved improvements which merited a patent for Digger Guard. With manufacturer Hitachi as its first major customer, Norplast is overseeing the roll out of its Digger Guard products on models of excavator across the UK.
“The existing products on the market had a number of problems that Hitachi Construction Machinery wanted to improve upon: they were difficult to install and remove, heavy and prone to wear, noisy and not watertight when stored,” said Norplast’s MD Dave Smith. “It was clear to us that there was considerable room for improvement, and we delivered on that for Hitachi with Digger Guard.
“Construction industry machinery is exposed to extensive risk of costly damage both accidentally and through vandalism. With Digger Guard we have achieved improvements that we’re confident will save operators time on the job, and reduce both down-time and insurance costs.”
A Hitachi Construction Machinery spokesperson commented, “Norplast successfully addressed every problem we originally set out for them to tackle. They’ve designed vandal guards for various models of our excavators and fit-test them at our sites as part of the service. We’re pleased to pass on the benefits of the Digger Guard system to our customers and end-user operators.”
