Service Center

• Efficient operation of your crane systems
• Crane optimisation
• Increase in availabilityt
• Prompt maintenance

• New components
• Spare parts packages
• Recurring checks

• Modifications to mechanical and electrical components to meet state-of-the-art technology
• Increase in load-carrying capacity

• Welding post-treatment (HiFIT process)
• Retrofitting of additional components

• Conceptual designs, detailed 3D constructions
• Creating constructions, which meet production needs, for individual assemblies
• Technical reports in the event of damage
• Calculations for new and old crane projects

• FEM calculations of components
• Statistical calculations of supporting structures
• Calculations for duration of residual use
• Dynamic simulation of swing processes

• Crane acceptance using in-house, trained crane specialists, in accordance with BGU V52 and DGUV objectives 309-001
• Recurring checks in accordance with § 26 of BG Directive D6

• Crane gauging, crane runway measurements
• Destruction-free material and weldseam checks

• Any kind of assembly services, specifically those faced with challenging conditions in terms of time and space restrictions
• Installation of various models and makes

• Drawing up and execution of maintenance contracts over a set time frame
• Servicing and maintenance

• Manufacturing of
• Slat hooks (including with safety catch sensor system)
• Hoisting drums
• Drum vertical bearing with weighing technology
• Chassis rockers
• Crane bridges or top section supports
• Load traverses
• Other components according to your specifications

• Delivery of a range of machine components such as
• Couplings (drive couplings/drum couplings)
• Brakes (drum brakes and disc brakes)
• Crane running wheels/guide rollers
• Joint shafts and their flanges
• Crane buffer
• Compensation rollers/adjusting lever/rope securing points
• Cable pulleys
• Hoist ropes
• Components for recording lifting load, monitoring and visualisation

Cranes are indispensable tools that enable companies to easily handle heavy loads. If existing systems are in operation over extended periods of time, however, critical components will at some point reach the end of their service lives. Extreme environmental conditions speed up this process. The ideal solution would be to procure a new, more specialised crane system. However, due to increasing cost pressures in companies, updating an existing crane is usally a more cost-effective alternative.

Customers expect more and more from new cranes. However, smart systems and software solutions can quickly push prices up.

In the past, producers tended to manufacture specialist solutions. Today, manufacturers of cranes and lifting apparatus generally use standard compontents to hit the right price-performance ratio. In many cases, the hall is built first; then, when the crane is ordered, it is integrated in the production process.

A process crane that is regularly serviced can be used by a company for decades, until the customer starts to consider buying a new model. If the original manufacturer did their job well, the customer will go back to them. However, the market has changed. Many of the well-known crane manufacturers do not exist today and, in some cases, this means that customers have fewer manufacturers to choose a suitable crane from.

Production processes are also becoming increasingly specialised in companies. Not every crane manufacturer can meet specific customer requirements, which can also include requests for smart lifting apparatus and automatic cranes - a trend that is even forcing conventional crane manufacturers to change their way of thinking. Traditional metal construction and engineering systems are becoming less and less prominent as we see more and more electronics and electro-technology is being used.

Crane systems have been integrated in process-controlled systems for many years now. Nowadays, however, customers want to be able to monitor and control everything via tablet PCs.

Modernising old cranes: The benefits of a new crane with fewer costs

As mentioned above, updating the mechanical and electrical components of an existing crane is good alternative to purchasing a new crane. In combination with new crane components, this can often extend the economic service life and increase the system's productivity.

Before any of this can happen, though, a reliability study must be carried out to determine the curent condition of the crane. This check includes a technical assessment regarding further operation and/or modification. It also provides information on wear and tear, corrosion, aging and fatigue for the crane system. This check produces a theoretical estimate of the remaining service life and a recommendation (in the form of a modernisation plan) for the next steps.

The supporting steel structure is also investigated in conjunction with the reliability study. A high-frequency impact treatment (HiFIT) process, for example, can be used on weld seams to extend the service life of steel support structures. This HiFIT application is effective and used on older structures that have already completed a large number of load cycles.

It should be noted, however, that a poor weld seam cannot be turned into a good weld. However, HiFIT treatment can extend the service life of a good weld seam from five to fifteen fold. This was proven during tests as part of the "REFRESH" research project.

Once the steel support structure is up and running again, the mechanical and electrical components can be modified and/or replaced. Additional components can also be retrofitted – even making the entire crane system fully automatic.

The reasons for modifying/updating a crane include

• Extending economic service life
• New or changing market requirements
• Meeting higher production requirements
• Modification for a different application (use of new technologies)
• Ensuring operational availability (minimising downtime)
• Reducing operating and maintenance costs
• Technical diagnostics on operational cranes
• Changes to legal regulations
• Increased ease of use
• Partial or full automation
• Optimising safety

Conventional modernisation measures include

• Repairing the steel support structure
• Changing performance targets (reloading performance, load capacities)
• Optimising drive trains (crane chassis, hoists, etc.)
• Replacing and modernising crane cabs, control stands, trollys and lifting apparatus
• Deploying variable drives with frequency converters
• Installing distancing equipment
• Deploying power system stabilizers

If there is sufficient leeway in the budget, purchasing a new system for manufacturing, warehousing or commissioning is the best solution. This because a crane is always individually adapted to a company's future requirements – just like a tailor-made suit. Modernising an existing crane, however, is a more cost-effective way of making your crane fit for the future.

Regardless of whether you purchase a new crane or decide to update an existing system, the goals are always the same: to increase productivity and availability. Contact us.