ELS helps metal company find crane solution for laser-cutting application

A manufacturer of farming equipment invested in ELS jib cranes, with success.

Manufacturing companies have turned to Engineered Lifting Systems & Equipment Inc. (ELS) for top lifting and moving solutions for years. And the ELS team is always ready to work with customers to find the right product for a unique application. A metal-fabrication company reached out to ELS to find a solution to help with an important laser-cutting task – and ELS found the ideal jib cranes.

Loading and unloading cutting tables

This company, which produced agricultural equipment, bought an existing building to expand their production area. To cut profiles from sheet materials, it needed to set up three laser-cutting machine work cells with cranes for sheet handling to load and unload three cutting tables.

With ELS’ help, the customer explored several options. Gorbel freestanding workstation cranes were considered for straddling each machine. However, column locations and workflow issues made them less than ideal. Next, the company considered ceiling-mounted cranes. However, the building was not strong enough to sustain the weight of the crane and below-the-hook loads. Reinforcing the building would have been too expensive.

Another possibility the company explored was workstation cranes with supported cantilevered bridges, but a review of the crane design revealed problems with capacity and bridge width. The next option on the table was Gorbel FS300 jib cranes. This type of crane could offer radial overhead lifting coverage for loading and unloading the cutting tables, but there was requirement for floor foundations, and excavation would have interfered with in-floor heating wires. Locating and relocating wire runs would have been expensive and time-consuming.

Finally, ELS suggested its column-mounted Tie Rod-style jib cranes for each work area. This turned out to be the most economical method of loading and unloading the laser tables. ELS mounted the jibs onto custom columns tied back to the building structure and braced them to roof trusses. For extra stability, ELS made reinforcements to the building for additional stability.

The Tie Rod-style cranes were a success and another illustration of how ELS’ expertise and experience lead to the best solution for applications requiring lifting.

To learn more, contact ELS.

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