Back in the fall of 2001, when I was a component manufacturer, Bevan Lines, Director of Spida Machinery, came to a sales meeting in Southaven, MS, to introduce our sales team to the first automated pull saw in the truss industry — the Computerized Spida Saw, better known as the CSS. The CSS is the great-great-great grandfather of today’s incredible Apollo Saw. Bevan showed our sales team a video of the CSS in action and explained its many operational features and benefits. After listening to Bevan’s presentation and seeing the abilities of the CSS in the video, I knew this saw would have a big impact in the truss industry. After this most important meeting, my truss company worked together with Spida Machinery and in the following 12–18 months we supplied more than a dozen CSS saws to our various truss plants.
The CSS was one of the most reliable and durable saws on the market then, and now the Automated Apollo Saw is carrying on this tradition.
Just as big linear saws and component saws will always be a staple in the industry, so too is the Automated Apollo Saw — it complements any plant situation, large or small. Its multiple uses means it can cut roof truss members, wall panel parts, and floor truss members. For smaller plants, this saw is a perfect addition as a primary production saw or a supplemental saw cutting odd pieces. The Automated Apollo Saw works with all plate supplier software, including wall panel software.
The Apollo can cut most truss members, including short wedges and sliders, in a flat 2x4 orientation, chords and webs single or double stacked, floor truss webs in a 4x2 orientation, and even material for wall panels — and then it can label the parts with an optional ink jet printer. The Automated Apollo Saw can be set up in a left-to-right or right-to-left orientation for the best material flow in your facility. The saw has a moving stop/trolley that positions truss members for precision centerline or off-center cuts. Whether cutting centerline webs or offset scissor bottom chords, this saw takes away all of the guess-work. It does not make mistakes, so recuts are never a problem. Training is straight-forward, and the software UI is intuitive and easy to learn. The Automated Apollo Saw will be the most reliable piece of equipment in your operation. To date, I have never heard of an Automated Apollo Saw calling in sick!!!
The Automated Apollo Saw can be tied directly into your network for easy uploading of jobs, or you can use a USB thumb drive to transfer jobs. In the old days we called that network “sneaker-net”. I’ll explain that in another article, LOL!
Even today, I still see old CSS and Mango saws in manufacturing facilities around the country. Knowing how reliable the Spida CSS was, when developing the Apollo Saw, Spida knew we had to plan for the future. Over the years, we have developed and continue to offer upgrade kits for the older saws and we have a crack service team ready to complete the upgrade process. Spida also carries an inventory of wearable parts such as blades, motor brakes, and drive belts.
Our cutting technology has continued to evolve since the first CSS was introduced to market. In fact, that Generation 1 CSS introduced in 1997 has been upgraded many more times, all the way to Generation 9 in 2021. And we’re not stopping now! We’ll keep making our products better, and we thank you for making us a top provider in this industry. The Apollo Saw has found worldwide success in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and New Zealand.
When you’re ready to learn more, call your regional Spida Machinery Account Manager for more information and pricing. They can answer your questions and get you pricing information right away.
In next month’s article, we’ll take a closer look at the features that make the Automated Apollo Saw one of the best on the market today.