Manufacturers are expanding their industrial hoists portfolio by introducing new series of products which are manufactured for particular usage. Jenny Eagle investigates.
Chains and manual hoists are used for lifting smaller loads rather than
overhead cranes as they can be fixed into one position rather than mounted onto a runner or girders. They are often used for lifting and handling components and come in various types such as manual, electric and hydraulic and can be used with a rope, chain, cable, or wire, rather than ‘pick and place’ applications that overhead cranes are often used for.
We round up the latest chain hoist technology, as well as looking at new products and the trends that are driving developments, such as digitalisation (data transfer, real-time load monitoring and display), ease of maintenance (with features such as easy access to parts that need replacing regularly), and capacities getting larger, due in part to stronger, lighter chains.
According to Transparency Market Research (TMR), industrial hoists are expected to see an increasing demand in various industries due to their reliability, performance, and low failure rates.
Growing safety, quality, and service concerns related to
lifting equipment will drive this market over the next ten years.
TMR claims in its report; ‘
Electric Hoist Market – Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2018 – 2028’, the growing number of manufacturing industries in various economies are likely to generate demand for high level material handling processes, which is anticipated to boost the industrial hoists market.
A thriving construction industry, the trend of shifting production facilities to developing nations, and a need for warehouses due to the growing popularity of e-commerce has led to global manufacturers entering local markets and selling their products. One example, in response to this, is Liftket based in Germany, which recently launched an Industrial Hoist Shop so that customers can order electric chain hoists for industrial applications online and configure their hoists from a large selection of additional options, by activating a user account on its website, available 24/7, in four languages, with a live chat and 2% online discount.
But with this growth in the market is a change in the cost of raw materials hampering the production cycle and overall costs. Socio-political and economic instability may also act as a restraint to the market. The maintenance of industrial hoists is also an important factor that customers need to consider including periodic maintenance to make sure it functions efficiently over time.
Reducing operating cost while increasing productivity and overall performance are key factors anticipated to influence the demand for industrial hoists and manufacturers are expanding their product portfolio by introducing new series of products which are manufactured for particular usage.
One such company looking to expand into other markets is Tiger Lifting UK. The company’s technical manager, Andy Sutherland, says while its CSS (Safety Screw Cam Clamp) is not a new product as such it is looking to push it out into other markets because it is suitable for other industries not just offshore.
“There’s been a lot of challenges caused by the covid pandemic both in the UK and on a global scale, we’ve been fortunate enough to be in a position where business has continued but with limitations and restrictions in place to protect everyone. Some of the key issues we have faced is trying to keep up with supply and demand and at the same time deal with logistics,” explains Sutherland.
“Within the industry, people are looking for upgrades, they want the equipment to be more protective and robust and as a whole, are always on the lookout for products to be improved and new technologies. Customers are always looking for safer and better products, but with that comes a cost factor.
“The CSS clamp is starting to gain traction where it has not been commonly seen in the past. It’s a versatile clamp that doesn’t fix to a beam typical of a heavy duty clamp but to the side of a flange. This gives the end user that versatility of being able to lift more objects, pulling activities, and lift sections of plate. A key safety factor of the design is on the clamp section itself where we have torque markers, where the operator doesn’t need to know what torque value that clamp has to be set to, he just tightens the clamp section onto a beam, and when the torque markers are fully aligned with each other he then knows that it is the appropriate torque level and will not dislodge itself. It’s a patented system, in that it’s the only one in the world that has this design, and makes the operation for the end user that little bit quicker and easier. So, with safety innovations you want the products to be more reliable and robust but also you want to find ways to make the job quicker for the end user without compromising safety.
“We see great success with the CSS clamp in the Scandinavian region at the moment, again in Australasia, South Korea and Singapore where the large ship building yards are, it’s a popular product but then we have to look at the UK sector, the North Sea, the offshore rigs, construction sites, the renewables sector, there are so many variant sectors and because it’s such a versatile clamp it doesn’t have to be restricted to one specific area.”
Sutherland adds, one of the main drives in the future will be ease of use and the safety of products, but challenges will come as technology improves, as the digital age advances, but there will always be a market for manual hoisting. “Certainly, in the current climate, budget will play a significant factor in project planning, and from a manual hoisting point of view, that will always provide a cost efficient means to do the job and when you compare that to pneumatic and electric systems that’s a significant increase in costs, whether that’s generators, or power backed up or the actual units themselves or fully automated systems, none of these will come in at the same cost as manual hoisting so for us it’s difficult to see a time when manual hoisting will become obsolete. At the end of the day everything has to get lifted into place by something,” he says.
“The difficulty is, everyone is used to the types of clamps they use but we are trying to break that mould and get away from tradition by offering something that’s different, that is more versatile. That’s the challenge we have, trying to break that norm to try something new instead of using a clamp or piece of equipment they have always used.”
One of its clients is an oil and gas company in Denmark, which orders the clamps in their hundreds for their offshore projects, supplied through its supply chain distributor, which is a key contract for Tiger Lifting and a major driver delivering that clamp to the marketplace. The company was open to using the clamp because it was similar to ones they had used before, sold in Scandinavia.
Sutherland says aside from offshore applications, the CSS could be used in the rail network sector and Tiger Lifting recently had a meeting with the stakeholders on the HS2 High Speed Rail Network project in Ryslip, UK, to discuss the versatility of its clamps.
It also launched some new product lines and upgrades last year including its TAH21 Air Hoists and ULT series hoists, designed for mining, industrial and general engineering applications where headroom is limited such as locomotive battery bays, pump chambers and underground workshops.
The industrial air hoists are also used in shipyards, offshore construction, power stations, automotive plants, foundries, and heat treatment plants. The hoists operate at air pressures of between 4 and 6 bar and comply with the requirements of ASME B30.16 and EN14492-2.
Manufacturers are expanding their industrial hoists portfolio by introducing new series of products