/ MEDIA STATEMENT / This content was not written by Creamer Media, but is an accompanying media statement.
HP Cranes Consulting, a Brakpan-based company specializing in tower and gantry cranes, has received the highly anticipated order to supply coil handling machines to a new South African vehicle factory.
The order includes eight cranes: four 35/10 tonne machines with a span of 22.5 meters and another four with a capacity of 20 tonnes and a span of 13.5 meters, all of which are designed for double-girder overhead travel.
Condra has designed the coil handling cranes to be equipped with special hooks that conform to the standard DIN15401 type of hoists. After commissioning, the several steel coils, which are delivered in bulk to the vehicle factory, are unloaded, stacked and positioned if necessary. Integrated load cells check and verify the weight and quantity of each reel received.
The cranes are particularly feature-rich. In addition to digital load cell displays, all eight will be equipped with card access and data capture controls, anti-sway technology, full-length walkways, remote controls, lights, limit switches, and multiple general purpose plug-in points.
Particularly noteworthy is the anti-sway technology. This technology was configured to maximize productivity and combines variable drives with algorithms that control acceleration and deceleration in all levels and thus prevent the load from swinging during crane movement.
In addition, card access and data logging contribute to efficient maintenance and serve as an incentive for the operator to comply with the operating limits of the machine. The logs identify specific causes of failures in the event of accidental operational abuse and indicate areas where operator retraining is advisable.
For Condra, the contract from HP Cranes Consulting means around four months of work for the Johannesburg plant, a useful contract to supplement an already extensive book. The contract complements a second contract for two more cranes with a span of 40 meters, which were ordered by the tire manufacturer to equip wheels for the finished vehicles at the plant.
The eight cranes for HP Consulting are all high-performance machines of the 3m / M6 class, which are suitable for very high workloads. Despite their size, they are fast and nimble units and reach speeds of 40 meters per minute over long distances and 30 and 20 meters per minute on 35/10 ton and 20 ton machines.
During the design phase, Condra took particular care to limit the recommended spare parts inventory for maintenance work. In addition to the easy interchangeability of the parts within the two sets of four identical cranes, the crabs of the 40-ton machines are designed to be interchangeable with the long journeys of the 20-ton trucks, further reducing the mandatory minimum inventory of spare parts.
One final interesting aspect of this order is the intense competition that HP Cranes Consulting had to overcome to win the order. All of Condra’s main competitors have submitted bids, but Condra’s technically flawless design – and especially its ability to meet the very tight deadline for the first crane deliveries by the end of May – prevailed.
According to the industry, the lost bids could not meet this deadline due to the need to import products. However, Condra manufactures all components on site and therefore regularly wins orders with tight delivery schedules.
