A Goliath Crane (Gantry Cranes) is a kind of overhead crane with a single or double girder establishment supported by separate legs that move on wheels or a rail system or along a track. They are generally taken into consideration when there is a reason not to involve an overhead runway system.

Generally speaking, bridge cranes and gantry cranes are standard equipment in automobile stamping workshops. In this case we encountered some special circumstances, so that they had to customize a new gantry crane for equipment maintenance.

Why did the car manufacturer build a Goliath crane

The manager said the four flywheels that form part of the car press needed to be removed for maintenance and the only access point for these was at the top of the machine.

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He said: “The main concerns were the timelines given by our suppliers. We needed a 15t wire electric hoist with height of lift of 15m, and fast. So we got on with stripping the press and we had to position the Street Crane-manufactured overhead crane to give us space to pull out the fly wheels, which are around 3m wide diameter and weighed 13t. With clearance out of the access hatch only 3 or 4mm, being precise was key.”

“By building a Goliath crane on top of a crane, it was necessary to degrease and clean down the existing Street electric overhead travelling (EOT) crane. We also had our team walking along bridge beams so we installed safety lines and disabled the Street EOT from an electrical standpoint.

“We also had to pass the crab of the Street machine to one side to maximise our working area so it’s safe to say it was an intense period before the start date. As we work with bespoke kit, we also had to manufacture the setup in our workshop, live load test and then install on site knowing that it would work. This install period lasted approximately two-and-a-half days, which we were happy with.”

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The successful project took place in August with the Goliath decommissioned at the end of the same month.

What we learned from this case

From the end of the case, we can know that although this crane has traces of customization, its working status is temporary and will be retired after the work is completed. This may indicate that customized cranes play a far greater role than ordinary cranes at certain critical moments. We do a lot of customized cranes because each customer’s working conditions will be different, but more often than not these cranes are used to meet daily tasks. Through this case, we gained a deeper understanding of the role that customized cranes can play.

• Customized cranes can more accurately meet the requirements of maintenance operations, avoid the limitations of traditional cranes in use, and improve the efficiency and accuracy of maintenance.
• Customized cranes can more accurately meet the safety requirements of maintenance operations. Customized cranes usually have higher safety performance and stability, and can more accurately control the lifting, lowering, moving and other actions of the equipment, avoiding the safety hazards and accident risks of traditional cranes in use.
• Using custom-made cranes can enhance the competitiveness of your business. The emergence of customized cranes allows companies to achieve higher efficiency and precision in equipment maintenance, thereby gaining greater advantages and market share in market competition.

The Stamping Workshop Of Automobile Manufacturers Uses Goliath Cranes For Maintenance Equipment