FOCUS | CANADA manufacturers like Demag.
Century works in such varied industries as aviation, railways, and manufacturing. And it can assemble of variety of cranes, including top- running, under-running, or monorail-beam styles. One trend Lucenkiw has noticed is Bluetooth
technology, which has also captured the attention of Keith Ellis, general manager of Norelco Industries on the Pacific coast, in Surrey, B.C. “You can basically diagnose and troubleshoot
from the floor without going up to the crane,” Ellis said.
The VS1, shown here in its one-ton version, is the latest hoist from Montreal-based Vulcan Hoist Company. Photo courtesy of Vulcan Hoist Company
and the bridges,” Demer-Olver said. “And then they put on whatever the client wants.” Many Alberta crane companies will also
purchase pre-engineered kits and install them. “You’ll see them in the oil fields for their
compressor stations and their batteries,” Demer- Olver said.
In addition to training overhead crane operators, Demer-Olver is chairing a subcommittee of the Canadian Standards Association that is reviewing and updating an existing national standard for overhead cranes, CSA B-167. “It should be ready for public review in 18 months,” Demer-Olver said.
Winnipeger cites technician challenges In central Canada, Holly Lucenkiw, general manager of Century Cranes & Services in Winnipeg, said the biggest challenges are sourcing materials, such as electronics parts, and finding skilled staff, particularly for the service and inspection side of the business. “No one really goes to school to be a crane
technician,” she said. Despite having only four employees, Century covers all of Manitoba and also does work in Saskatchewan and northwest Ontario. The company, which has a 15,000 square foot facility in Winnipeg, doesn’t export to the U.S. although a lot of its crane components are from U.S.
8 Fall 2024 |
ochmagazine.com
B.C. crane builder goes underground Norelco serves the Canadian market almost exclusively, in such industries as forestry and mining. The latter included installing overhead cranes in an underground cavern at the New Afton Mine near Kamloops. “It’s a challenge to get them down there,” Ellis said. “These are short-span, heavy capacity cranes. And they get them way down, miles underground.” Norelco’s biggest challenge lately is also finding qualified technicians — who are proficient at both electrical and mechanical work. The company, with about a dozen employees, has a 10,000 square foot facility with two bays each with two 10-ton cranes. For much of its work, cranes of up to 25 tons, Norelco installs kits from its hoist supplier, R&M, that also include end trucks and all the electronics. “It’s like a plug-and-play. We’ll fabricate the
girders and then put it all together and paint it and wire it,” Ellis said.
Atlantic company welcomes modular home uptick Across the country, at Atlantic Crane & Material Handling, 99.9% of its business is also in Canada, noted general manager Ian Reid. Headquartered in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Atlantic also has operations at Mt. Pearl, Newfoundland, and St. John, New Brunswick. Since 2021, the company has operated as a division of Hercules SLR. “A lot of our infrastructure across the country, whether it be private or public sector, was built in the 1950s to 1970s,” Reid said. “It’s coming to its useful end of life. There’s a lot of opportunity there.”
Reid also noted that people are looking for
more automation within standard overhead cranes, something he expects advances in artificial intelligence will enhance in the years ahead. “The clients send us a drawing of their building and say they need a solution, and we go from there,” Reid said. Atlantic fabricates cranes of capacities from 50 kilograms to 200 tons for industries ranging from aerospace, power generation, boat building, and modular home construction. “There’s been a huge uptick in the modular home industry because it is the most efficient method, as well as environmentally friendly way to get these homes built,” Reid said. As elsewhere in Canada, a major challenge for
Atlantic is finding certified technicians. “It takes a few years to grow them,” Reid said. “Without a steady stream of those, it’s hard to get that work done.”
Century Cranes & Services installed these two cranes at a precast facility in Winnipeg. In the foreground is a crane from Alberta-based WF that Century supplied and installed. At the back is a Munck crane that Century brought down, modified by shortening the bridge and then reinstalled in a different spot. Photo courtesy of Century Cranes & Service Ltd.
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