TECHNOLOGY REPORT | OVERHEAD CRANE CONTROLS
operator attempting to get out of the way stumbled and fell. As a result of the fall, he broke his arm.” In the process, the die was also damaged, as was the crane. The company asked Mazzella to determine if there was anything that could be done to mitigate or eliminate the risk in the future. “We met with their safety and engineering team and presented our idea. We completed a couple of test installs for them in the States, proved it out, and installed several units in the Mexico plant as well as in other plants in the U.S.” At last count, Mazzella had orders for
20 or 30 more systems yet to be installed. “The customer’s safety team
appreciated the simplicity of the system.” Many controls manufacturers mention their automotive customers first when asked what sectors most often demand the systems. “Automotive has been a large growth
driver for us because stamping plants are handling frequent die changes every hour,” says Lubeck. “More frequency means less time
between die changes and thus they’re more likely to have an incident.” But the steel industry, and paper and pulp mills are also requesting these types of safety and production products more often. “The automotive sector is an early adopter of this technology,” says Beilfuss of Columbus McKinnon. “Others taking notice are the metal industry - steel or aluminum. Aerospace is utilizing it, and power generation - hydro and nuclear - is taking hold of this safety technology.” Wright attributes it to the fact that the
technology has improved. The market, he says, “is strong right now, and the
R Laser-View Crane Sentry no-fly zone system mounted on a trolley hoist for load dependent zoning across a crane span.
upswing has been noticeable over the past couple of years.” Lubeck believes the market is
strengthened by the demand for products that improve safety in the workplace. “We grew 44% last year and this is
R The LIFT series of handheld controllers from Autec interface with a smartphone app called My Lift Autec.
partly due to the demand for industrial safety systems,” he adds. In manufacturing plants where multiple cranes often operate in tandem, communication among operators and ground crew is critical. Tele Radio America, Miami, FL, has developed a crane-to-crane communication system as an add-on to the company’s line of remote-control systems. “Our Tiger LX system will make sure that the corresponding receivers are in
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