Microsemiconductor Blog: Services

Autotech Controls has secured an order from Durr, a supplier of automotive production facilities, to provide the control and electrical solution for a new paint shop for Ford Motor Company in Romania. Andrew Robinson, managing director for Autotech, said: 'Durr has selected us to provide the electrical installation services for all the material-handling equipment being installed in the new paint shop at Ford's plant in Craiova.

'The system includes 3.5km of handling equipment, which will need to be brought on stream within a very challenging timeframe,' he added. The first vehicle - a Transit Connect van - rolled off the production line at the new Craiova factory in September 2009. Ford has since confirmed that it will also build a small vehicle as well as an advanced, eco-friendly petrol engine at Craiova in the near future. Once fully operational, Craiova will employ approximately 7,000 people and have a production capacity of up to 300,000 vehicles and 300,000 engines a year.

This follows the news that Autotech's automated handling system at the Coca-Cola Hellenic bottling and distribution facility in Ploiesti, Romania, has gone live following a rapid installation and commissioning period. Autotech was commissioned by the project's main contractor, Logistex, to provide the conveyor and crane control systems for the facility and has worked closely with Logistex for the past year to ensure that the project's tight deadlines were met. The project includes a high-bay, clad-rack warehouse system - reaching a height of 27m - and the handling equipment includes 11 cranes, shuttle cars, elevators and 2km of conveyors, some of which have been installed at a height of 3.5m above the floor to maximise the use of available space.

Coca-Cola Hellenic - a bottler and vendor of Coca-Cola products in Europe - decided to make the investment to automate the plant's handling processes in order to meet forecast growth in the Romanian market. A critical factor in awarding the contract was the need to minimise downtime during installation, despite a timescale of just nine months. Every aspect of the installation also had to be designed to withstand potential seismic activity in the region.

Richard Short, sales director at Penny Hydraulics, outlines the importance of the thorough examination and testing of load handling equipment. Most companies are aware of the health and safety regulations that require all items of lifting equipment to be inspected regularly. The regulations are a legal requirement and cover all types of lifting equipment, broadly defined as any device used to handle loads in a workplace. This can include, but is not limited to, cranes and tail lifts installed on commercial vehicles as well as similar equipment used in other mobile and static applications.

Goods lifts and hoists are included. The more stringent regulations have been brought in because accidents related to lifting continue to represent one of the biggest causes of deaths, injuries and time off work in the workplace. Official HSE figures show a small but steady decline in these accidents in recent years but there is still much to do. Imposing a more rigorous regime of testing and inspection on lifting and load handling equipment is designed to reduce the risk of mechanical failures that no doubt contribute to workplace accidents.

But this is about more than simply complying with the requirements of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) and Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER). Businesses that take health and safety seriously are also more aware of their corporate social responsibilities and duty of care obligations. They understand the need to provide employees with equipment that is properly maintained and fit for purpose. Even without the regulatory pressure there are sound financial reasons to ensure equipment is reliable and well maintained.

Minor problems are sorted out before they lead to something more serious and unscheduled outages are less likely. The consequential costs of accidents and injuries caused by faulty or defective lifting equipment can have obvious and even more severe implications for the business. Good safety and best practice starts with specifying the right load handling equipment and making sure it is installed to the manufacturer's recommendations. The equipment and vehicle manufacturers will normally work together, or with an approved body builder, to ensure this happens. Incorrect installation can be dangerous and make the vehicle and the load handling equipment unsafe.

LOLER proscribes the testing and inspection regime that must be adopted. The main legal requirement is that all equipment should be subjected to what is known as a regular Statutory Thorough Examination (STE). This is similar to an MOT and is designed to ensure that the structural components and mechanical operation of the equipment meet acceptable standards. All equipment must be thoroughly examined before first use. After that, the frequency of an STE varies for different devices but all must be thoroughly examined at least once a year. Lifting accessories (slings, chains, grabs, buckets and so on) and equipment designed to carry people must be thoroughly examined every six months.

Equipment should also have an STE following the repair or replacement of a structural component, when a change of chassis takes place and when the device is removed and refitted to the original chassis. BS7121 Part 2 complements the LOLER recommendations and goes further in some respects, for example, by stipulating additional full tests four and eight years after first use and an annual 'load plus 10 per cent' test. Thorough examinations must be carried out by someone who is competent and impartial, although this can include an employee, the original equipment manufacturer or an independent service engineer as long as they have the relevant accreditation.

The examiner will have appropriate practical and theoretical knowledge as well as experience of the lifting equipment being examined. They should be able to recognise potential defects that might be a safety risk to people if the equipment remains in use. Load testing is no longer required during every STE although it may be a sensible precaution to include this as routine. A competent tester will always consider whether a load test is necessary after they have inspected the equipment and this would then be carried out to complement the STE. Choosing a competent person to carry out the STE can sometimes be a problem for larger as well as smaller companies.

Original equipment manufacturers and their service organisations are likely to offer this as part of their overall service. Those who supply CE-marked equipment will also meet the recommended standards in terms of design and construction. Look for organisations that belong to relevant industry bodies (such as ALLMI or the SMMT for commercial vehicles) because these will probably have a better understanding of the market and work to official codes of practice designed to promote better safety and best practice. One significant area where the current legislation differs from its predecessors is the way in which attachments are treated. In general terms, and there are a few exceptions, an attachment such as a hook or grab is now considered part of the lifting equipment even if it can be easily removed.

Similarly, the mounting or fixing points are also considered part of the equipment and should be covered by any inspection. Of course, any STE can only check the condition of the equipment on the day of the test. Although the STE is a legal requirement, any responsible owner or operator of lifting equipment will want to carry out basic checks more frequently, for their own peace of mind and to instil a safety-first culture among their employees. The objective should be to maintain the equipment so it is always safe to use. Following the manufacturer's maintenance instructions is an absolute minimum requirement. Daily checks need not be onerous and can often be completed in a couple of minutes.

With hydraulic cranes, for example, this might include looking for oil leaks, damage to steel sections or frays on wire ropes. Although potentially serious in themselves they might indicate a bigger underlying problem. There are other maintenance tasks that should be part of a regular routine. These can include, for example, checking the level of hydraulic reservoirs and topping up as necessary, lubricating components in line with manufacturers' recommendations and giving equipment a general clean or simple wipe over from time to time. It is surprising how many companies continue to ignore even the most basic tasks. Load handling equipment operators are also responsible for ensuring proper records are kept for a minimum of two years about a device's test, inspection and maintenance history.

This does not necessarily mean they must keep this information themselves because the records can be held by a third party, such as an inspection agent or service provider, as long as they can be accessed whenever required. The best service providers will offer this facility as part of their overall contract. The penalties for non-compliance can be severe. Companies that do not complete their STE and maintain records properly can be subjected to enforcement action or fined in a court of law. Penny Hydraulics designs, manufactures and services lifting and load handling equipment for use in a wide range of applications.

Products include the Swing Lift range of medium duty cranes for use on pick-ups, drop-sides and flat-beds and the Step Lift, Load Lift and Tail Lift lifting platform ranges for use on pick-ups, drop-sides and vans. The company also manufactures the Mezz Lift for handling loads between ground floor and mezzanines and specialist equipment for handling wheels, tyres and barrels in vehicles and at customers' premises.

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