REGIONAL REPORT | SOUTHERN EUROPE
SELF-ATTACHING HOOKS Irizar is not the only major Spanish maker of hooks: Barcelona-based Elebia is also a world leader. Its speciality is in automatic self-attaching hooks – aids to efficiency and also to safety, as they eliminate the need for a human operator to get fingers, hands or any other part of themselves into the danger zone where the hook meets the shackle or load. Until now, Elebia’s automatic
latching systems have been operated magnetically, mechanically by contact with a spring-released probe, or by using the company’s remote control systems eMini, eMax, and eInst. In January this year, Elebia launched eLink, a central control system for its automatic hooks that can be operated from mobile and smart devices. The innovation is that it is based on the web. It is a huge advantage. The system is a plug-and-play concept
that allows users to automate material handling processes, monitor hook status, conduct remote service, create reports, and oversee lifecycle management. It is installed in the crane panel and features user and password logins, different profiles and access levels, and central data acquisition and control systems. It communicates with the user through a web application interface. “There are multiple scenarios where
controlling hooks via a web-based system is advantageous,” says Oscar Fillol, founder and CEO at Elebia. “For example, you can control all hooks with the same remote control of the crane, or on a multi-hook lift you can block lifting action with the ‘safe lift’ function, which does not allow the load to be lifted if even one of the hooks is not closed. Another common situation where eLink is very useful is in the case of alarm settings: either when a load is unbalanced or when there is an overload. “It takes an already state-of-the-art lifting
portfolio one step further, to facilitate hook control, automation, adjustment of working parameters, and integration with cranes and other devices,” says Fillol. “In short, Elebia products are now Industry 4.0 ready.” It is compatible with the entire Elebia
range of hooks, clamps, grabs and shackles. “It complements the eMini, eMax, and eInst systems; so a customer could be using eMini to send the open/ close instructions while the eLink is used to log the data, avoiding unsafe lifts, and trigger alarms.
42 | April 2023 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
R Elebia’s eLink controls multiple hooks from mobile or smart devices. “But the aim of the eLink is not to
eliminate the user; it is to assist them and make everything easier and safer,” Fillol adds. “ It allows automation and safer lifts, but the user is still needed. He or she must always be able to see the lifting operation. The next step will be adding cameras and expanding beyond eight the number of products that can be connected at the same time.” Moving eastwards, Italy is renowned for its engineering, and has enough makers of cranes and hoists to fill an article by itself, which is exactly what it shall do, at a later date in this magazine. So, for now, let us move on eastwards again. Bulgaria has an established crane- making concern that has been in existence for more than 60 years and that has sold a very large number of units over that time. Podem has its roots back in the 1960s, in the era of the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc. Back then, of course, its industry was state-controlled. In April 1961, the relevant state ministry decided to build a production company to supply the crane manufacturers in Eastern European countries and the then Soviet Union with electric wire rope hoists. Within the year, Podem started production of its type T hoist. Since then it has sold more than 1,900,000 units, which it says, with probable justification, is the greatest number of a single type ever sold in the world. In the 1970s, it began selling in
Western Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America, and production
capacity reached 100,000 wire rope hoists per year, making it the largest global hoist manufacturer. Today, it has a history of more than two million hoists produced and a footprint in more than 60 markets. Podem has developed a complete range of crane components from a fully renewed production facility and supplies and covers the needs of independent crane manufacturers as well as own- brand products. “The past years of the pandemic have been easy for no-one, but despite the difficult times and the rearranged world, Podem has managed to stay focused,” says Miriam Kleytman, Podem’s director of industrial cranes. “We celebrated the company’s 60th birthday in 2021 and by the end of 2022 Podem had achieved its goal of full recovery to the business level of pre- Covid years.” The company has chosen an individual path: “Many manufacturers opt for standardisation in all their markets,” says Kleytman. “Podem has chosen a different way, more difficult but more rewarding. Instead of offering the same, standardised products to everyone, we cater to the requirements of individual markets; our strong engineering and flexible production planning allow us to do this and we are proud to do so. It is a true challenge, but our manufacturing holds high diversity and standardisation is not a primary goal. “The range of wire rope hoists that we
offer therefore aims to satisfy different needs. Customers can opt for cylindrical
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