2013 marked 85 years since CIFA was founded and five years since its acquisition by the Zoomlion Group. To celebrate these events, CIFA inaugurated its testing European centre (TEC); a centre where experimental activities and tests are carried out on machine bodywork and components.
This is a technological frontier that CIFA has been exploring for several years, since the launch of its Carbotech range. The TEC is situated in one of the factory buildings at the Senago site and spreads out to an external area. It includes a laboratory where micrographical analyses and tests are carried out on the mechanics of new materials. Fatigue resistance tests are performed on the concrete pump structures and pumping unit components at the equipped test benches. The TEC has a testing area dedicated to the main hydraulic components and the cylinder structures, stabilisers and distribution arm parts. It also houses two areas for the control and development of new machine prototypes, one area for the analysis of the potential of composite materials, and another for the experimentation of electronic components of machines and batching plants.
Outside of the building, there is a test bench for fatigue resistance tests that are performed on distribution arm structures; a test bench for testing mixer drums, piping and components, and an area for the experimentation and development of mixers, components and electronic components of batching plants.
CIFA’s TEC was developed in collaboration with Milan Polytechnic and is the jewel in the crown of CIFA’s research and development. The wider research and development department also has a new external area for machine testing, aimed at developing reliable machines that ensure the longest possible lifecycle. This added value ensures that CIFA customers receive quality products that are always top of the range.