The Importance of Lifting Equipment in Factories Today
| Published date | 01 March 1982 |
| Pages | 25-26 |
| Date | 01 March 1982 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057242 |
| Author | Peter Harvey |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
The Importance of Lifting
Equipment in Factories Today
by Peter Harvey
Provision of lifting equipment to handle materials effi-
ciently and with minimum physical effort must be one of
the most important considerations in industry today. On
the one hand there is the growing pressure on management
from workers, their trade unions and safety represen-
tatives, to provide lifting equipment to ease their daily
tasks;
on the other an increasing awareness of the greater
efficiency and reduced costs that can be obtained by
employing modern mechanical handling equipment of all
capacities.
Trend to Mechanisation
While the trend to mechanisation is not as advanced as in
America, where no employee will lift anything weighing
more than 201b, there is nevertheless a marked increase in
the sale of low capacity hand hoists and light duty electric
hoists throughout the world.
For many low duty and light capacity requirements—up
to 20 tonnes where the frequency of operation is
low—hand lifting equipment is often used. However,
generally there has been a movement to powered lifting
equipment for easier lifting. Four years ago when Herbert
Morris Ltd introduced a low capacity electric chain hoist
which extended their range down to 125kg, they did so
with an advertising campaign which asked "Why pull
muscles when you could simply push buttons?"
This slogan reflects the general realisation that industry
is generally under-powered. When Morris in their promo-
tional material talk about "Muscles for Industry" they are
not referring to industrial relations muscle power, but
power for lifting, conveying and moving materials easily
and efficiently.
Pursuing the theme of supplying "Muscles for
Industry", Morris have an ongoing programme of product
development and range rationalisation. In the last three
years they have introduced a number of new products aim-
ed at offering a comprehensive selection of lifting equip-
ment which will provide the best means of handling items,
not only at individual work places, but also in transporting
them from place to place. Lifting equipment now available
ranges from a few kilograms capacity up to several hun-
dred tonnes. At the lower end of the spectrum, chain hoists
are used extensively for plant maintenance, machine
loading, loading bay duties and in construction work.
In many of these applications, hand operated equipment
is not merely satisfactory, but often advantageous. When
loading a turning lathe with a heavy component or
awkward shaped casting an electric hoist is often ruled out
because of
its
relatively high speed and imprecise load posi-
tioning. However, as an alternative to manhandling such
an item, with the inherent danger of injury to the operator
and damange to the machine and component, a hand
operated chain hoist can be suitable for a number of
reasons.
Hand operated hoists are low cost and can give very ac-
curate positioning of loads. They can be mounted from a
fixed suspension point by a hook, or from a trolley which
can run on a beam passing over the machine or can form
part of a slewing jib crane, which is normally the most
satisfactory means of loading and unloading a machine
tool. There are many applications such as this throughout
industry where installation of a hand hoist can provide sav-
ings in time and additional manpower, and Morris cater
for the wide scope of this demand with hand hoists and
cranes up to 20 tonnes capacity.
Availability
Hoists or standardised lifting equipment must always be
readily available so as not to delay a job. Equipment is
widely available throughout the UK from stockists conve-
MARCH/APRIL1982 25
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