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216 
WE THE POUNDS
Page 84
Page 85
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Runcorn, Cheshire-based Axtec is that rare thinga British-owned firm designing CV gadgetry and manufacturing it in Britain. The company, which produces on-board weighing machines and portable weigh pads, as well as dispatching its own civil engineering teams to install static weighbridges (se.e panel), turns over £2.5m a year and employs 25.
CM joined MD Keith Gresham and sales manager Derek Hack for the launch of the Axtec On-Board axle load indicator with a preview held at TDG's Luton site.
"All the design and manufacturing is done in the UK," says Hack."We keep evelything simple, so we are in control." He says this makes life easier for customers because if the■,, do encounter any problems, they only have to call one number for assistance.
Axtec also installs weighing machines in customers' vehicles, There are no subcontractors-Gresham prefers to nurture in-house expertise. He and I lack demonstrate the new axle load indicator. "It's a completely redesigned version," says GresInam,"and the dash display is pictorial." He believes this is the first graphic weigh display in the world; the complete system costs £999. The demonstration is conducted on a Daf LF 45 7.5-tonne curtai nsider, which unladen weighs 4,600kg.
A 2,900kg load of bitumen is loaded onto the truck. It is a dense consignment, taking up surprisingly little volume, but the truck has hit its GVW. We peer at the dash display unit. It reads 7.500kguntil Gresham steps aboard and instantly the vehicle is overloaded. The indicator has an accuracy rate of +1-2.5%, says Gresham.
The display colours change as the axle and gross weights increase. "When the vehicle is empty, the weights are shown in green," says Gresham."As the load increases through 80% payload, the weight display changes to amber. When the axle or gross weight reaches the maximum permissible, the colour of the weight reading changes to amber or red. An audible alarm comes on at the same time."
The On-Board load indicator is programmed to use French, German, Spanish, Polish and 'tali an, and Gresham confirms that he is keen to export his gadget.
Axtec is also spreading its production base internationally:Ibis month it will begin manufacturing some of its components in Estonia. But Gresham stresses that production will not be transferred to that part of the world -the Eastern European arm n will work in conjunction with the British one."' went over to Estonia fora pre-production visit with Peter Lash, our technical director," he says Gresham is keen to highlight the On Board's simplicity. "Another selling point is that it has no external controls, so drivers can't interfere with it. And any competent LGV litter can fit it in less than half a day. There are only three components: the display and two sensors, one for each axle."
On the day we meet Gresham and Hack, Langdons' fleet engineer Graham Millard is in town (see panel). "We decided to retrofit our 7.5 and 18-tonners. Now Axtec is part of our specification," he says.
Millard likes the noise made by the OnBoard display unit. However, operators who disapprove of the warning sound can disable it with a security code. says Gresham, who adds that the system's software is written in-house.
The Axtec managing director takes a holistic approach to design."' didn't set out to create one product. I set out to provide a range of products and services to combat vehicle overloading," he explains.
ww.u.axtec.co.uk