CRANES SPEED UP GRAIN-PLANTER PRODUCTION
BB Cranes has completed the installation and commissioning of five overhead cranes at Rovic’s new agricultural machinery factory in Blackheath, Cape Town.
Manufactured by BB at the company’s works in Rivergate Industrial Park, Rovic ordered the cranes as an essential part of workflow re-engineering to achieve shorter assembly times and improved staff safety. These changes will increase production of the company’s large and small-grain planters.
BB manager Jan Nel explained that the design of the cranes for Rovic simplifies planter manufacture, allowing simultaneous assembly of individual machines at multiple points.
“We achieved this by fitting twelve independently operated hoists to each of two identical double-girder overhead cranes that we made for Rovic,” Nel said.
“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 in a separate factory used to move components on an as-and-when-required 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 for fitting 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 1-ton hoists fitted two to each girder for the planting units. All hoists work independently, the girders themselves being spaced at a wider-than-normal 2,5 metres to allow the dedicated chassis hoists to adjust component positions, again without any need to move the cranes.
All hoists are fitted with Optidrive variable-speed drives supplied by iTek.
A third BB overhead crane, a 20-tonner, moves completed planters out of the factory for shipping.
There are two additional 2-ton single-girder BB cranes in the Rovic factory, bringing the total to five.
Rovic manufactures a range of agricultural machinery marketed to customers worldwide under the Syncro brand. Products include large and small-grain planters, mist blowers, spreaders and tillage equipment.
BB Cranes is a subsidiary of South African crane and hoist manufacturer Condra.
Rovic’s new factory in Blackheath, Cape Town, with the overhead cranes manufactured by BB Cranes installed and commissioned.
BB manager Jan Nel explained that the design of the cranes for Rovic simplifies planter manufacture, allowing simultaneous assembly of individual machines at multiple points.
“We achieved this by fitting twelve independently operated hoists to each of two identical double-girder overhead cranes that we made for Rovic,” Nel said.
Jan Nel, manager at BB Cranes.
Rovic’s improved assembly sequence replaces the use of forklifts, which in a separate factory used to move components on an as-and-when-required 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 for fitting 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 1-ton hoists fitted two to each girder for the planting units. All hoists work independently, the girders themselves being spaced at a wider-than-normal 2,5 metres to allow the dedicated chassis hoists to adjust component positions, again without any need to move the cranes.
All hoists are fitted with Optidrive variable-speed drives supplied by iTek.
A third BB overhead crane, a 20-tonner, moves completed planters out of the factory for shipping.
There are two additional 2-ton single-girder BB cranes in the Rovic factory, bringing the total to five.
Rovic’s new factory in Blackheath, Cape Town, with the overhead cranes manufactured by BB Cranes installed and commissioned.
BB Cranes is a subsidiary of South African crane and hoist manufacturer Condra.
