Spanco Custom PF-Series Gantry Crane Provides Secure Unloading of Steel Bundles from Flatbeds
Products used
Overview
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 500-pound I-beam to a full truck load of 40,000 pounds. The steel is then transported from the warehouse to existing indoor and outdoor stockpiles.
For several years, the method for unloading the steel from flatbeds involved using forklifts. The number of forklifts used varied depending on the size of the load, but a full shipment might require up to four 6,000-pound capacity 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 solution like a Spanco PF-Series Gantry Crane might provide. The PF-Series crane has an overall span of 58 feet, an under the beam height of 23 feet, and a maximum capacity of 7.5 tons. The crane is also motorized with two speeds for indoor operation on a v-groove track that runs the length of the warehouse.
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Impact
With the use of a Spanco PF-Series Gantry Crane, employees can now unload steel securely and efficiently. They can also move stockpiles within the warehouse with limited effort. The Spanco PF-Series 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.
A Spanco PF-Series Gantry Crane provided this housing material supplier with a safe and economical material handling alternative to forklifts.