THE INTERVIEW
the crane takes away some of the ergonomic advantage of the lifter. At that point, Schmalz decided to develop its own line of aluminium cranes that are matched to the capacity of our lifters to make a complete ergonomic lifting system. That's why we are not a typical crane manufacturing company. Rarely do we sell cranes that do not have one of our lifters hanging underneath it. Our cranes were developed to be part of an ergonomic lifting system.
A tube lifter and crane.
they’re in 31 countries now. It is a privately held company, and the US is its largest subsidiary. The main focus is on vacuum lifting, but the business is divided into two sections: the automation side provides all the components and end-of-arm tooling for robots, the material handling side provides lift assist devices. A company that is not yet ready for automation
with robots but still needs lifting equipment can benefit from something that is on the manual handling side of our business. With vacuum tube lifters for porous products and vacumaster
systems for non-porous products, we can lift almost anything, from loading wood or metal onto CNC machines, to stacking cardboard boxes, to handling glass for window and doors. These types of lift-assist devices, centred around ergonomics, reduce injuries, making things easier for the operator.
About 20 years ago Schmalz realised that the crane being used for in conjunction with these lift-assist devices had a huge impact on their ergonomics. If the moving portion of the crane weighs more than the product being moved,
OCH: What is your view on the future of the overhead cranes business? LB: Cranes will always be an integral piece of equipment in manufacturing and material handling. Primarily, when people think of cranes, they think of large cranes capable of handling many tons. From our perspective, companies also need cranes to be able to move lighter loads as well. This lower weight capacity sector promises to provide growth in our industry. With the ever-tightening workforce it's harder
to find people to do the heavy manual labour that we've seen in years past. Companies are providing ergonomic lift assist for their employees, not only to reduce injuries, but to expand the potential employee pool. Even in my role at MMA, it's not something I sought out, but when you're in a small group, everybody needs to do their part. Leading this group gives me great satisfaction in knowing that I am helping to push the workstation crane industry forward.
Schmalz's main focus is on vacuum lifting.
32 WInter 2024 |
ochmagazine.com
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