It may not register an industry-changing transaction, but
sales manager Jacob Schönberg says it’s his company’s hope
that the deal will help SPD establish a firm foothold in the
Canadian market.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what it is,” Schönberg said when
asked of the significance of the deal. “Preco is a big company
in Canada and they’re well-known in the business. We hope
that if they use the machine and they do a good job with it,
people will look at it and say, ‘That’s a nice machine,’ and we
can sell some more in Canada.”
Entering the market
SPD had been looking to break into the Canadian market for
several years prior to signing a deal with Preco-MSE. The deal
closed prior to the start of Bauma, the world’s largest trade fair
for the construction industry that is held every three years in
Munich, Germany, and where the DT145 was on display.
The two companies were a natural fit for one another.
Preco-MSE already had a close working relationship with
SPD’s parent company, German-based ABI Maschinefabrik,
having purchased several rigs from the latter’s line of drilling
systems. In fact, more than half of Preco-MSE’s $30 million
fleet was manufactured by ABI.
Preco-MSE CEO Marco Lessard was invited to tour
SPD’s Swedish operations last year and was so impressed
by what he saw, he ordered the DT145 soon after. So far, the
Vaudreuil-Dorion-based company has used the unit, along
with a reverse circulation system, on a handful of projects to
drill piles for lagging walls that prevent soil from shifting into
excavation sites.
Lessard has nothing except positive things to say about
the unit’s performance.
“So far we have had very good results. Even though we had
never used that kind of machine before, after a couple of days my
driller was already feeling comfortable with the machine. The
machine is very easy to learn (to operate). You can learn all of
the functions almost by instinct,” said Lessard, whose company
does more than $100 million in annual business across Canada.
One of the primary reasons Preco-MSE chose the DT145
unit, according to Lessard, was the fact it offers a completely
remote-controlled operating system for both the mast and
the excavator units, which he says significantly increases
operator safety. It was also adaptable enough that it could be
modified to incorporate a reverse circulation drilling system
that collects all of the cuttings or spoils from construction
sites into a single location away from pedestrians and motorists
as well as features such as an automatic greasing system and
a winter heating system to keep its hydraulics warm.
“Even though they are a big company in Sweden and have
sold…machines all over the world, they are still listening to
what their customers’ needs are and adjust. That’s what I liked
from Day 1. They were sensitive to our needs,” Lessard said.
COMPANY PROFILE
Magnus Andersson, CEO of SPD (left) and an employee
Preco-MSE’s SPD rig on display at Bauma Interloc AN150 – the first built in Sweden – on display at Bauma
18 Q4 2019 www.pilingcanada.ca
/www.pilingcanada.ca
