[INDUSTRY NEWS] Dunville has held a number of high-
profile positions in the electric overhead traveling (EOT) crane and material handling markets, most notably as chief financial officer at Dearborn Crane & Engineering, a crane builder, and director of corporate development at manufacturer Ace World Companies. Airpes has three principle lines of
business, namely engineered lifting devices for wind turbine erection and service; weighing and monitoring systems for overhead cranes, including load cells, overload protection, readouts, and data loggers; and engineered below-the-hook devices, such as coil grabs and magnets. Dunville said: “Our goal is to be a
seamless part of a crane company’s supply chain. We make complete weighing and monitoring systems, starting with load cells, overload devices, and readouts, and finishing with interface to PLC or other highly customizable solutions. Because we aren’t a load cell supermarket servicing any kind of scale needs, we can afford to specialize in crane and lifting applications. Our people think like crane people, not scale people.” Airpes’s immediate customer base is
wind turbine manufacturers and EOT crane service or manufacturing companies, including those who operate overhead lifting equipment in steel, aerospace, power, paper and automotive facilities. The new U.S. operation will look to build on successful lifting and handling equipment installations in steel mills and service centers in both Central and South America. The company’s first notable U.S. installation was in a rolling mill in Kentucky, which opened in 2005, but despite securing consistent business since, awareness is still a big hurdle to overcome, Dunville acknowledged. Airpes is credibly an international
business, with an install base on every continent except Antarctica, but its product range is particularly suited to the North and South American markets because of the robust design and steel mill customer base. Dunville’s appointment marks a zeroing in on the Americas, where it will eventually open a facility outside Chicago, Illinois, strategically located near the steel mills of northwest Indiana. Initially, he will spearhead a recruitment drive and develop relationships with potential key accounts. Dunville said: “We’re building an
organization, not trying to row a boat upstream. This endeavor only works if we have a team of skilled people that can play
16 NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2019
well together. Because the U.S. and Canadian markets are so big, we have to treat it as its own eco-system. Products cannot just be shipped over; we need to have a full service support mechanism.”
He added: “It’s a rapidly growing
company that has no sacred cows and the management team is young, well-educated, and asks good questions. I think that’s absolutely critical to growth—asking the right questions and having a strategy in place rather than just ‘selling stuff ’.” y
ACCO Explosion Proof Crane, Runway Extension
> Cedar Falls, Iowa-based AFE Crane has installed a 5-ton capacity ACCO explosion proof crane for lifting bulk container bags in a hazardous area at a facility in Nebraska. AFE, a distributor for ACCO Material
Handling Solutions LLC, a manufacturer of material handling products, accepted a scope of work to install a replacement custom motorized underhung single girder crane and double the length of the runway from 60 ft. to 120 ft. The confidential site was classified because of electrical equipment installation in an atmosphere with combustible dusts representing a risk of fire and explosion. The existing (ACCO) crane was built in
1999 and AFE, which conducts most of its installations in the U.S. Upper Midwest, was called upon to overhaul the lifting system, whilst conforming to the requirements of a crane system working in a hazardous environment, and to the tight confines of the building. The runway extension was required to allow access to new machinery in an extended work area. The Class II, Group G, Division I crane
has a 14 ft. span and 17 ft. 6 in. overall patented track bridge. The ACCO-Wright electric wire rope hoist offers 30 ft. per minute in single speed and a lift height of 66 ft. Nick Burns, applications engineer at AFE Crane, explained that this was the fastest possible without sacrificing headroom. The trolley is also single speed, offering 50 ft. per minute. Jim Orme, District Sales Manager at
ACCO, explained that Class II covers combustible dusts; Group G relates to grain dust; Division I means there is ignitable concentrations of dust present all of the
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
time or some of the time under normal operation conditions. He added: “All hoist components for use
in classified areas are marked as such. The hoist motor, motor brake, conduit fittings, etc. are all labeled for Class 2, Group G, Division I. The Work-Rated hoist model includes an overload device as standard, as well as a Weston-style mechanical load brake as a secondary means of braking.” Burns said: “We increased the speed
for the new hoist due to the long lift. The installation provides high speed and capacity in line with the demands of the facility. Radio remote controls provide further safety and efficiency benefits as the end user can operate the crane and hoist at a safe distance from the hook.” Other notable features of the crane,
which operates to Monorail Manufacturers Association (MMA) Class C duty cycle, include ACCO-Louden 585 style end trucks with eight (8) 4.5-in. diameter wheels, steel wheel drives and a 6 ft. 0 in. wheelbase. Dual gimbal rod assemblies, a suspension system for under-running crane runways, completed the installation. Orme said: “Dual gimbal rod assemblies
allow the system to ‘float’ with an allowance for the runway to move to adjust for movement in the building versus a ‘rigid’ suspension system. The system offered greater capacity and better headroom than a single rod alternative. It also allows for a higher tread elevation when headroom is critical. “Besides our standard offering, this installation demonstrates our ability to deliver material handling solutions to meet requirements of special applications.” y
LEEA Academy Receives Prestigious Recognition
> LEEA - the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association – received a Bronze Award in the ‘Best Learning and Professional Development’ category at the Association Excellence Awards 2019, which took place recently in London.
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