SPANCO - Gantry Cranes Play Role in Seattle Light Rail Project
One of the largest suppliers of light rail mass transit vehicles in the northern United States operates as a ‘set-up site’ manufacturer. Once awarded a contract, a building is located, they set up their equipment and a production process, and then move on to the next site as another contract becomes available. Skender Nezaj, production manager with the company is responsible for overseeing site set-up, and ensuring that production is efficient.
In 2007, Skender was asked to head up a major project in Seattle, Washington. His company was awarded a contract to build 35 light rail cars for the regional transit provider in Central Puget Sound. The cars will eventually operate as part of the City of Seattle’s new light rail transit system that will connect the city of Seattle to SeaTac Airport. Skender researched the area and chose an old Boeing 787 production plant north of Seattle as the set-up site. As Skender set up the production process, he chose SPANCO Gantry Cranes to solve his challenging lifting problems.
The production of the light rail cars happens in sections. Drive trains and internal components are assembled in the facility through a long series of stations. A 7 ½ ton SPANCO PF Motorized Gantry Crane with a 20’-0” span and a 20’-0” underbeam height is used to provide ergonomic and efficient movement of the large drive train chassis as they move through the assembly process.
Once completed, fiber glass car shells imported from Japan are mounted onto the components and drive train chassis with the help of two 10 Ton SPANCO T-Series All Steel Adjustable Gantry Cranes. The cranes are used in tandem with a webbing sling to lift the shells onto waiting chassis.
When asked how SPANCO Gantry Cranes have helped him on the project, Skender states “Portability of equipment is a significant factor for the Seattle Light Rail Project. SPANCO Gantry Cranes have really helped our business because of their portability; we can break them down with little or no effort and take them with us. The gantries have truly helped our productivity. The building we are in now did not have cranes in it, so we installed gantry cranes for the production line. The SPANCO gantry cranes offer quality, met our budgetary needs, and were delivered on time. They were simple to install, were extremely rigid, and had a solid base. Technical support was also easy to get to”
Skender has been very pleased with the role that SPANCO Gantry Cranes have played in the Seattle Light Rail Project. He has even recommended SPANCO Gantry Cranes to other “set-up site” project managers within his company.
SPANCO sells a wide range of motorized gantry cranes with pre-engineered spans of up to 60 feet and capacities of up to 15 tons. Our motorized gantry cranes are trackless and motorized directly on the floor. Consider a SPANCO Motorized Gantry Crane as an economical addition to your production facility or process.
To view the SPANCO PF Motorized Gantry Crane that is helping to build light rail transit cars for the City of Seattle, go to YouTube and search “SPANCO Motorized Gantry Crane.”
SPANCO - Gantry Crane Provides Secure Unloading of Steel Bundles from Flatbeds
Application
A housing material supplier receives daily shipments of steel bundles. The bundles arrive on flatbed trucks that are backed into a large warehouse and unloaded. Shipments can range from one 500lb I-beam to a full truck load of 40 thousand pounds. The steel is then transported from the warehouse to existing indoor and outdoor stockpiles.
Problem
For several years the method for unloading the steel from flatbeds involved using forklifts. The number of lifts used varied depending on the size of the load, but a full shipment might require up to four 6,000lb forklifts for unloading. Trying to coordinate the transfer of a large steel load with four forklifts became not only time consuming, but also very dangerous. Some of the steel beams were of considerable length and became difficult to unload safely.
Solution
The site manager came to the conclusion that the steel transfer process was inefficient and putting his employees in harms way. In seeking a solution, a SPANCO distributor suggested the benefit that an overhead material handling device like a SPANCO Gantry Crane might provide. After seeing the value that a SPANCO Gantry Crane would provide, one was installed. The crane has an overall span of 58ft and an under the beam height of 23ft. It is rated at a capacity of 7.5 tons. The crane is also motorized with 2 speeds for indoor operation on a v-groove track that runs the length of the warehouse. With the use of a SPANCO Gantry Crane, employees can now unload steel securely and efficiently. They can also move stockpiles within the warehouse with limited effort. The SPANCO Gantry Crane also provides the user with a versatile system that doesn’t require permanent installation and can easily be moved to a new location.
Wrap-Up
A SPANCO Gantry Crane provided this housing material supplier with a safe and economical material handling alternative to forklifts. If you have a material handling problem, consider the benefits of an overhead material handling device like a SPANCO Gantry Crane.