Plazar Manutention assists customers in the design and the choice of handling solutions, carrying out preliminary studies for the installation and maintenance of new equipment and modernisation of existing installations.
Amada has contracted Plazar Manutention for the last ten years to maintain and upgrade its overhead cranes and lifting equipment at its Loire Valley facility.
For this latest project a custom-designed overhead crane was required for the handling of machine tools. This included installing a new overhead crane with a load capacity of 30t in an adjacent building where machine tools are stored and loaded on trailers.
Amada recently initiated the production of new machine tools which also increased the unit weight from 17t to 25t, exceeding the 20t load capacity of its existing overhead cranes. The plant produces 20 machines per month.
The company specified Verlinde VT4 hoist from the Eurobloc range. This range handles loads from 800–80,000 kg. The hoist is fitted with variable speed travel for more accurate positioning of loads together with short pulley block vertical movement enabling almost TVL. It is fitted with an e-monitoring system for the recording of types of duty of the hoist (MT2 unit) and four streamlined travel wheels.
As part of the installation the structure of the existing building needed to be assessed. A surveyor ordered a 6m bore hole to determine the thickness required for the concrete layer at the base of the overhead crane, along with its steel runway.
The crane was transported partially assembled and assembled on site in one week. From the boring operation to commissioning in April 2020, the project took just 45 days.
