Ford’s new Transit van, launched last year, came to market with the aid of UK lifting group HoistQuip which helped prepare the production line in the factory in Genk, Belgium.
Suspended overhead Dematic KBK cranes carrying 23 spot-welding guns and chain hoists were installed along roof-suspended runway beams to carry out the first three stages of the production line.
The first stage of the production line is a turnover grab for the van’s floor panels and a 500kg capacity radius runway for roof panels. Electric chain hoists rated at 125kg SWL with turnover grabs were installed to lift the floor panels. The final stage of the production line needed a system that would lift the completed van shells off the line ready to be finished. HoistQuip developed a runway with a radio remote controlled 1,000kg SWL chain hoist.
All design and installation work had to be completed within a month, and it had to meet the targets of production line operators Ford and GKN.
HoistQuip sales engineer Andy Marpole said: “To meet the production schedules the system had to go from the design screen straight into production in a very short space of time.” Eight engineers worked around the clock in the UK and Belgium to complete the system in time. Tests were carried out on a Transit van in England to make sure that the hoists did not cause any damage or marking.
