Life cycle cost

Norba customers will have the lowest user costs in the business

One of Norba's most important tasks is to help our customers to lower their costs for refuse collection. We do this by manufacturing refuse collection vehicles with maximum functionality and minimal down arial.

The work of developing the market's most reliable refuse collection vehicles started in 1996 with a project whose purpose was to analyse costs for servicing and down time for users with a high level of vehicle utilisation.

A package of measures that makes Norba vehicles unique

The project "The Life Cycle Cost" (LCC) started by looking for the most important causes of costs for the user. The study encompassed operation and maintenance data from a large number of different vehicles. A list of all the most important areas for improvement was put together and analysed in detail by a group of specialists consisting of spare parts experts and designers from Norba. The group came up with a number of design changes which have now been introduced in Norba's new models and which have helped our customers to lower their maintenance and user costs.

What is unique about Norba's package of measures is not any individual improvement but the whole concept with the focus on user costs. The package of measures covers improvements, for example, in the following areas:

the refuse body floor and ejector guides
the tailgate's mounting attachments and its geometry
the ejection cylinder
packer and carriage plates
binlifts
the carriage plate's cylinder attachment
protection of the pneumatic cylinders
servicing of the hydraulic pumps

The secret lies in the new materials and design solutions

Studies have shown how we can adapt Norba's vehicles to an ever-tougher user environment, with its increased demands for effectiveness and level of use. In order to aid our search for new and better-adapted materials, we carried out more detailed solid mechanics calculations (known as finite element measurement) on the most sensitive components in the vehicle. In addition, a series of comprehensive improvements were made in the design that, together, have resulted in a considerable decrease in user costs.

Interesting co-operation in Sweden

Norba follows up customers' user costs on a continuous and systematic basis. In Sweden we have started development work with one of the larger refuse collection companies. We have a continual dialogue with them concerning problems that arise in the vehicles. If anything does occur, we carry out a direct analysis of the situation. After this we give our designers the task of improving the design as far as the critical point is concerned.

A Norba vehicle will travel further, work better and cost less than any other vehicle on the market

The refuse business is constantly faced with new challenges which also result in changing demands being placed on vehicles. For our customers the demands are very clear. As one of Europe's biggest manufacturers, we want to be part of this development and at the same time send a clear message out to our customers; if you choose Norba as a supplier you get the unique opportunity to combine function with low user costs.