{"id":7742,"date":"2023-01-24T19:43:13","date_gmt":"2023-01-24T19:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.condra.co.za\/?p=7742"},"modified":"2023-01-24T19:43:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T19:43:48","slug":"overhead-cranes-move-toward-full-automation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/overhead-cranes-move-toward-full-automation\/","title":{"rendered":"OVERHEAD CRANES MOVE TOWARD FULL AUTOMATION"},"content":{"rendered":"Growing awareness of the benefits of full crane automation is currently the most noticeable trend in Africa\u2019s overhead crane industry.\r\n\r\nThis is according to Marc Kleiner, managing director of leading South African crane manufacturer Condra, where records show a significant increase in the number of tender documents specifying provision for crane automation post-installation.\r\n\r\nHe was commenting on market characteristics emerging during the year just ended.\r\n\r\nKleiner said that although Condra received no orders for fully automated cranes during 2022, the number of enquiries for such machines was well up year-on-year.\r\n\r\n\u201cRepetitive crane operations such as those in refinery operations offer clear potential for increased productivity through automation,\u201d said Kleiner. \u201cSouth Africa has the technology and local manufacturing capability to deliver it, and now the market is becoming increasingly aware. I don\u2019t think we will have to wait long before automation gains a foothold.\u201d\r\n\r\nFull automation implies zero involvement by machine operators. It is the ultimate step beyond an overhead crane in which the machine executes a limited number of pre-programmed, automated operations, but still needs an operator to control the crane during randomised, non-repetitive lifting functions (semi-automation).\r\n\r\nKleiner stressed that Condra has offered full automation across its product range since 2020, the culmination of continuous development since the company\u2019s first semi-automated crane installation at a Durban spice company in 2003. That machine comprised a grabbing crane installed to pick spices and transport them to specific points for release over hoppers servicing blending and packing operations.\r\n\r\n
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Condra\u2019s managing director, Marc Kleiner<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\nPointing to the motor industry for indicators of anticipated advances in overhead crane technology, Kleiner said that motor vehicles often led technological development in crane manufacture by several years, but that in the case of automation these roles had been reversed, with overhead cranes currently leading the way forward.\r\n\r\n\u201cVehicle manufacturers were first to use computers to monitor certain mechanical functions,\u201d Kleiner explained. \u201cCrane manufacturers lagged this development, and it was a similar case with the control and smoothing out of lifting and lateral movement. It took time for crane manufacturers to introduce variable speed drives, whereas comparable control technologies had been present in motor vehicles for decades.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is not the case with automation, however. With automation, the crane companies are in the lead,\u201d Kleiner said. \u201cThe autonomous crane exists and is already performing useful work, whereas the autonomous motor car is still in the experimental phase.\u201d \r\n\r\nKleiner noted that about one in five enquiries received by Condra now includes specified provision for future automation, a requirement met by incorporating wheels and rails with tighter tolerances, and provision of fitment and wiring points for the future attachment of cameras with cognitive movement control ability, the main requirements for automation.\r\n\r\n

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Fully automated Condra overhead crane, commissioned 2019<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\nAsked about other trends in the overhead crane industry emerging during 2022, Kleiner pointed to the fragmentation of the market into two main types of supplier: those delivering specification-driven overhead cranes of the highest possible quality designed and manufactured to fulfil a specific customer function, and other companies importing lower quality machines for shoehorning into the application.\r\n\r\n\u201cThere are still companies out there hoping to make a quick fortune,\u201d said Kleiner. \u201cThey don\u2019t manufacture locally, so they buy the closest suitable standard machine abroad with an eye getting the job done in the short term. They are not looking to the long term, and these types of cranes generally fail early on under the stress of the application.\u201d\r\n\r\nKleiner noted that this trend has been exacerbated by the formation of small, splinter companies resulting from the downsizing of some of South Africa\u2019s key multinational crane manufacturers.\r\n\r\n\u201cRetrenched staff frequently form small start-ups allied to an external manufacturer in Europe or China. They supply a standard machine, the engineering of which often fails because the design is not suitable, forcing the supplier to redesign and rectify after commissioning with a consequent halt to the customer\u2019s production,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nKleiner concluded the interview on an optimistic note:\r\n\r\n\u201cCondra is in a good position going into 2023. We have a solid order book which includes contracts recently signed with steel companies and mines across Africa both above and below ground. Locally, our factories in Cape Town and Johannesburg are busy.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe market is aware that Condra represents more than just crane manufacture and commissioning, offering design and engineering skills that dovetail with those of architects and structural engineers. We have considerable experience of working with these disciplines to deliver world-class, best possible lifting solutions within tight lead times.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis is a strong foundation on which to build a successful 2023,\u201d Kleiner said.\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Growing awareness of the benefits of full crane automation is currently the most noticeable trend in Africa\u2019s overhead crane industry. This is according to Marc Kleiner, managing director of leading South African crane manufacturer Condra, where records show a significant…","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7742"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7753,"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7742\/revisions\/7753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/condra.co.za\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}