Overhead cranes enhance production of grain planters
Five new overhead cranes installed at the Rovic agricultural machinery factory in Cape Town are set to help the operation increase production of large and small grain planters.
Manufactured by BB Cranes, a subsidiary of South African crane and hoist manufacturer Condra, the cranes are designed to simplify planter manufacture, allowing simultaneous assembly of individual machines at multiple points.
Rovic ordered the cranes to form part of its workflow re-engineering to achieve shorter assembly times and improved staff safety.
“We achieved this by fitting 12 independently operated hoists to each of two identical double-girder overhead cranes that we made for Rovic,” said BB manager Jan Nel. “There are six hoists on each crane. They work to assemble multiple planters without having to move the cranes themselves.”
Rovic’s improved assembly sequence replaces the use of forklifts, which were used to move components on an ad-hoc basis to individual planter assembly points serviced by fixed gantries.
In the new assembly sequence, operators position the cranes over planter assembly points arranged in rows across the factory floor. The hoists work independently to service these points, picking and delivering planter chassis components and up to 53 identical planting units to be fitted to each machine. There are no fixed gantries to obstruct factory movement.
The six hoists fitted to each of the twin double-girder overhead cranes comprise two 3.2-ton crab-mounted units for the chassis components, and four underslung one-ton hoists – with two fitted to each girder for the planting units. All hoists work independently and the girders are spaced 2.5 m apart to allow the dedicated chassis hoists to adjust component positions, without needing to move the cranes.
All hoists are fitted with Optidrive variable-speed drives supplied by iTek.
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