Harbour cranes - a high level of availability |
Wide range of after-sales services keep cranes fit
If an owner wants to use his crane with a high level of availability over many years, he has to make sure this will be possible by means of the "right" after-sales service. Corresponding services are provided by both Demag Cranes & Components as well as Kranservice Rheinberg, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Demag. The company's service sectors complement each other and co-operate when necessary. Both offer the entire range of after-sales services also for third-party products.
Demag Cranes & Components GmbH, Wetter/Ruhr, divides its After-Sales Business Unit into the classic service, modernisation, refurbishment and spare parts sectors. The share of this Business Unit in the company's success is considerable, currently accounting for approximately one quarter of worldwide sales of some 850 million Euros per year.
The services provided by Kranservice Rheinberg GmbH (KSR), Rheinberg, virually correspond to those of Demag. They differ mainly in the products themselves. Whereas Demag mainly supplies crane systems for inhouse transport applications, the KSR product range covers cranes for coastal and inland harbours, such as portal cranes and large slewing cranes.
Classic service
Classic service includes all of the services that help to keep your crane installations, hoists and their components in operating condition, such as maintenance, inspections and repairs. Extended availability can be achieved by means of preventive, active and reactive measures. Demag favours regular preventive measures to stop faults and errors ever occuring and because preventive measures and the resulting standstill times can be scheduled to meet production sequence requirements.
However, this procedure also has its disadvantages. The wear of individual elements, for example, cannot be defined and fully functional elements of the system might be replaced prematurely, thus resulting in higher maintenance costs than are actually necessary. Damage cannot be ruled out completely in spite of preventive maintenance. This where diagnostic methods, such as laser surveys or drive diagnosis, can help. They are designed to help reveal and eliminate weak links in an installation in good time.
Extend service life
Many benefits result from this. The general service life of components and systems is increased. In addition, disgnosis minimizes or eliminates the time needed for each maintenance operation, reduces the costs of spare parts and increases system availability. The result is increased production reliability at minimum process costs.
The laser survey system is primarily used to survey crane runways and ground rails and to detect any non-alignment that requires corrective or refurbishment measures. The condition of crane runways has a significant impact on the service life of various crane components. Deviations from the specified span or from the specified parallelism of the rails result in increased wear on the crane runway and travel wheels. Height differences between the rails can cause damage to wheels, gearboxes and motors. They can even cause excessive load sway that can result in personal injury or material damage. With the patented Demag laser measuring system, accurate measurements can be taken a lot more quickly and efficiently and with the very highest level of quality compared to conventional methods. Thanks to its detailed evaluation possibilities, these benefits can also be utilised for subsequent alignment and repair work. Conventional devices, such as theodolites and levelling devices, are also used to measure the geometry of crane installations and the position of wheels in relation to each other. Misaligned wheels may result in poor crane travel characteristics and therefore cause malfunctions.
The condition of drive components is determined by means of drive diagnosis, which is based on ultrasound measurement. Demag fits acceleration sensors which measure the transmission of structure-borne sound. This can be done without having to interrupt regular operation. The closer the results are to the tolerance limits, the sooner appropriate measures have to be taken. Timely diagnosis provides more time for preparations, which enables the actual maintenance work to be carried out much more quickly.
Remote diagnosis by telephone
Remote diagnosis is also playing an increasingly important role. By means of tele-monitoring, a link can be established in real time with the facility director of a fully automatic crane from any location via any telephone, a diagnosis can be performed and an error that might have occured can be eliminated via telephone or dealt with by one of the owner's employees. In future, a crane monitoring system currently under development will provide access to installations that do not feature facility directors or bus systems. The benefits of remote diagnosis pay off particularly when owners need their crane "around the clock".
If the customer wishes, his crane can be looked after throughout its life by dedicated service to ensure that it always operates efficiently. Demag provides advice on suitable service agreements and stocks of spare parts already when a crane is sold. These parts otherwise might not be immediately available in the event of a malfunction, and the customer would have to face a lengthy period of downtime. In the scope of an on-call standby agreement, the owner would also have access to expert advice 24 hours per day; this benefit further guarantees availability. When a crane has been installed, Demag provides training courses and teaches the customer's employees how to operate the crane and to carry out certain maintenance work for which it would not be justified to call in a service technician.
Modernisation and conversion can pay off
Modernisation refers to the replacement of old systems with new ones, refurbishment involves adapting an installation to match changed requirements. A portal crane for containers is refurbished or modernied if its location or operating requirements change, for example. Modification is often more economical than a new investment, which may amount to several million Euros for a container crane that is operated for 20 to 30 years or even longer. Corresponding modernisation and refurbishment measures, also involving new technology, may even further increase the benefits resulting from the operation of a crane. Examples of this include improved operating conditions and simplified maintenance work.
Demag and KSR not only concentrate their service activities on their own installations, but are increasingly working on other brands. This is because they are increasingly confronted with a mixture of products from different manufacturers at customers' facilities. A benefit in this respect is the fact that they offer "everything from one source" and therefore also have in-depth knowledge of crane production and operation. Demag also continues to maintain installations in the systems sector and storage and retrieval machines; indeed, the company has the expertise required for this work and wants to utilise it further.
Trading with used cranes
Trading with used cranes, as provided by KSR, is only possible with comprehensive service and appropriate expertise. There is often demand for second-hand cranes; and customers frequently want to sell their old crane when they buy a new one, on the other hand. With its experience in the market, KSR can help both sides in many ways. The Rheinberg-based company also accepts cranes in payment or accept downpayments.
