Vactor HXX ParaDIGm Vacuum Excavator Receives Innovation Award

The Vactor HXX ParaDIGm, a compact vacuum excavator, has been named a winner at the 15th annual Chicago Innovation Awards. The Chicago Innovation Awards recognize the most innovative new products or services brought to market or public service in the Chicago area each year.

The award was presented to Federal Signal Corporation, parent company to Vactor Manufacturing, the industry leader in vacuum excavators, sewer and catch basin cleaners and industrial vacuum loaders.

The Vactor HXX ParaDIGm compact vacuum excavator performs safe digging around sensitive buried utilities with a speed, precision, and safety unmatched by other vacuum excavators currently on the market. The user-focused design of the ParaDIGm combines all the functionality and performance of a traditional large vacuum excavator with the versatility of a multi-purpose work truck. It was introduced to the marketplace in June of 2016. 

“Federal Signal is very proud to have received this honor. As a diverse manufacturing company founded in Illinois in 1901, with more than 1,400 employees and 440 retirees throughout the Chicagoland area, we are extremely pleased to be a part of the Chicago Innovation Awards,” says Jennifer Sherman, President and CEO of Federal Signal Corporation. “We believe that the ParaDIGm, developed with an intensely customer-centric focus and built with features tailor-made for the utility market, is a perfect example of what the Chicago Innovation Awards celebrate.  

“Two years ago, we redesigned a portion of our new product development process with focused efforts by our Environmental Solutions Group Utility Innovation Team, the Vactor HXX ParaDIGm launch team, and valuable input from our dealership network,” Sherman continues. “The Vactor HXX ParaDIGm compact vacuum excavator is the first new product introduced as a result of our collective efforts, and is the latest addition to Vactor Manufacturing’s broad product offering of water and air vacuum excavators serving the needs of the industrial, utility and oil and gas markets in the United States and Canada.”

The winners were announced at an event held at Chicago’s Harris Theater, with nearly 1,500 business leaders, civic representatives, and supporters of innovation in attendance. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel headlined the evening.

Vactor HXX ParaDIGm

The Vactor HXX ParaDIGm vacuum excavator is designed for the utility market to remove soil from around sensitive buried utilities with unmatched speed, precision and safety. Vacuum excavation uses similar technology to that used in sewer line cleaners and catch basin cleaners – high-pressure water and vacuum – as a non-destructive digging medium for a variety of utility and municipal excavation applications, including slot trenching, potholing, water valve box repair and locating of existing fiber-optic lines, cables and other utilities.