REBUILD OR BUY NEW' HOW TO RENEW LIFTING EQUIPMENT

Reducing equipment downtime is especially important now that certain business segments are growing again. One area of particular importance is in material handling, where Bushman AvonTec (Butler, WI) engineers perform complete in-house and onsite service to keep crane lifting equipment working safely and efficiently, without expensive unscheduled downtime.

Bushman AvonTec designs and manufactures material handling equipment in three product segments: Below-the-Hook lifting attachments for cranes, including C-Hooks, coil grabs, spreader beams, sheet & plate lifters, lifting tongs and more; Floor-based equipment such as scissors lift tables, upenders, inverters, mold & die carts, and transfer cars; and Slit Coil Packaging Lines for metal processing facilities. The company has manufacturing plants in Menomonee Falls, WI, and Hamilton, ON, Canada.

Their evaluation of lifting equipment begins with an inspection process called ReNEW, where the technicians assess how the operation plans to use the lifting device, then determine whether it can be modified to fix a recurring problem, or whether it can be upgraded to handle larger loads, more severe duty cycles or temperature extremes. The technicians perform a complete multi-point inspection of the device. Safety inspections include checking for wear, damage and distortion, and NDT (nondestructive testing).

Different options can occur from their inspection, all dependent upon a plant?s operating needs. If the plant cranes and lifting systems are evaluated to be in good condition, for example, then to help keep operating expenses low these technicians can be subcontracted to install preventive maintenance programs designed to matched plant production schedules to keep the equipment operating efficiently and reduce safety problems and costly equipment downtime.

Or, if the plant cranes and lifting systems are evaluated to be in poor condition, the technicians can convert tired or damaged lifters into safe, usable tools that cost a fraction of what new equipment would cost by repairing and rebuilding them in Menomonee Falls and Hamilton.

In any case, all of the services performed during this process conform to national safety standards for lifting devices, ASME B30.20 and ASME BTH-1. In Canada, certified mag-particle NDT inspectors perform on-site and in-house magnetic-particle, non-destructive testing. In the U.S., technicians perform in-house, die-penetrant, non-destructive testing and third-party NDT inspectors perform mag particle and ultrasonic testing when needed. The evaluation stage provides plants with a professional inspection report including photos, itemized work scope, firm price, and scheduled completion date. Inspection turnaround time ranges from two days to two weeks.

When the repair work is authorized, experienced service technicians, licensed electricians, certified welders, millwrights and machinists completely disassemble and clean the device. Deficiencies will be repaired. All welders are certified to AWS D1.1 and AWS D14.1. The device is reassembled, tested, repainted and new warning and capacity labels applied. The technicians provide a written Certification of Equipment Inspection and Test for Continued Safe Use, compliant with Section 51(1) of OHSA Regulation 851 Annual Inspection, as is required for Canadian operations. All of the repair work also complies with the latest revision of ASME Spec. B30.20 and BTH-1: Design of Below-the-Hook Lifting Devices.

All process work is directed by licensed professional engineers and is performed by fully qualified and experienced personnel who fully understand the equipment. The Canadian location is ISO 9001-2008 registered, and there is a full QA program in the U.S. All work is guaranteed. The company repairs all brands of below-the-hook devices and handles cross-border documentation when needed.

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Bushman AvonTec, P.O. Box 309, Butler, WI 53007-0309, 262-790-4200, Fax: 262-790-4202, www.BushmanAvonTec.com.