CEO DIARIES
One retrofit that has stayed with me involved an
existing EOT crane at a precast concrete plant. The crane itself was mechanically sound, but every production cycle placed heavy demands on the operator. Long concrete elements had to be lifted from parallel moulds with a mechanical gripper and placed precisely on a loading wagon. The operator walked alongside the crane with a radio controller, making small corrections throughout the movement. At both ends, they often had to wait for the multi-tonne element to stop swinging before it could be picked or placed safely. It was clear that time and concentration were being spent on controlling the load instead of moving the process forward. The customer did not need a new crane or a fully
automatic system. Our task was to make the existing process calmer and more repeatable while keeping the operator in control. We retrofitted the crane with a semi-automatic travel function and mounted the NS100 sensor directly on the gripper, close to the load. The operator remained responsible for handling the load manually. Once the load was clear, holding a designated radio button initiated controlled bridge and trolley movement towards a stored position. Releasing the button stopped the movement, and the operator could return to manual control at any time. The improvement was easy to see on the factory floor. The concrete element arrived with less residual sway and required fewer corrections before placement. That reduced waiting time and lowered the risk of the concrete edges striking nearby equipment. For me, the project shows how we approach modernisation. We start with the existing crane and focus on the part of the operator’s work that causes the most difficulty. The right level of automation follows from that.
Crane automation in an industrial precast- concrete application, illustrating the type of existing crane system Noswing works to modernise.
follow that model perfectly. The load may change, or an external force may disturb the movement. By measuring the rope angle, the controller gains information about what the load is actually doing and can respond accordingly. This closed-loop approach helps the crane stop smoothly with minimal residual sway and reduces the time the operator would otherwise spend waiting or correcting the movement. Integration is equally important. Customers often
have robust mechanical cranes and established control platforms that they do not want to replace. Our solutions are, therefore, designed to complement familiar systems such as Siemens PLC-based controls and ABB ACS880 drive applications. The customer or integrator keeps the existing control architecture and adds only the level of assistance the application requires. We also offer a solution that can evolve with the
customer’s needs. A project may begin with anti-sway on a manually operated crane. The next stage can add semi-automatic positioning, while applications with suitable process conditions can progress to fully automatic operation and integration with production or warehouse management systems.
16 | October 2026 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
What do you like about the industry? I appreciate the visible, practical impact of the work. Crane control combines very large physical forces with precise software. A change to an algorithm or drive sequence is immediately visible in the movement of the crane and the load. When we improve ramp control or introduce anti-sway, the result is not confined to a dashboard. Operators feel the difference as soon as the crane moves. It accelerates and stops more smoothly, leaving less sway for the operator to correct. The whole lifting process becomes calmer and more predictable. The industry is also going through an interesting
technical transition. Overhead cranes were traditionally treated as largely independent machines, but they are now becoming connected parts of production. Instead of moving only when an operator gives a command, a crane can receive work from a production or warehouse system and report back when the movement is complete. What makes the work especially engaging is that
progress still requires respect for traditional crane engineering. Software cannot ignore mechanics, and automation cannot ignore the operator or the process. The best results come from combining these disciplines.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79
