How to Avoid Crane Downtime
/ Blog
Crane downtime not only has a negative impact on productivity but can also pose safety risks as well. It can be easy to ignore small issues if the crane is still operating. However, those small issues can rapidly develop into big problems, possibly taking the crane out of production or worse, but let’s talk about what consequences this can have.
Performing Routine Crane Inspections
Health and safety risks are commonplace while working with overhead cranes. However, regular crane inspections can minimize these risks. It is important to understand the life expectancy of the equipment so that it can be serviced or replaced before it fails. Serious injuries and deaths are not something to gamble on. Conducting inspections with a safety-first mindset is vital. Small tasks like routine inspections can add up to improved, long-term crane performance.
Maintaining a Crane Maintenance Schedule
Crane inspections aren’t the only important aspect to keeping cranes running. Proper application of equipment based on duty cycle and operating environment ensure that there will be minimal downtime. Improper application of equipment can lead to premature failure, loss of production, and possible risk to health and safety.
When a failure occurs, depending on the severity, it is important to isolate and mitigate potential danger to personnel and equipment. This applies that safety-first mindset. It is important to understand that crane downtime is preventable by nature if proper routine and preventative crane maintenance schedules are adhered to over the long-term.
In general, OSHA 1910.179.j outlines that inspections should be done frequently and periodically so that applies to all cranes. However, certain applications require special care. High-duty cycle cranes will require more frequent inspections as well as cranes that operate in harsh and demanding environments.
Utilizing Crane Management Insights and Alerts
An underlying part of a crane operator’s job is to receive and analyze data given by the Crane Management software. Central to our safety here at Morgan, is our proprietary Crane Management system.
Crane Management allows for an in-depth look into the operation and performance of the crane. We are able to gather real-time data to monitor the performance of the crane over a long period of time, as well as allow our customers to evaluate its productivity. It can also give information about past issues that allow maintenance to see patterns.
Crane Management can give us the insight needed to determine if a piece of equipment is on the brink of failure. Motor temperatures and currents, bearing temperatures, oil levels, etc. are all examples of data that Crane Management monitors and will alert the operator when the monitored information is out of spec. Additionally, Crane Management will alert an operator to a faulted condition so that corrective action can take place.
Placing Crane HMI’s in the operator cab has been an increasingly common practice. The relationship between the operator and the crane is vital. It is mutually beneficial for both the crane and the operator that this data is seen. The operator must know how to interpret the data Crane Management provides so the two can work together to become the most productive team possible with the best kept cranes.
Find Out More About Our Crane Management System
Morgan CM is customized for each crane to help you know when a component needs preventative maintenance or when a fault occurs. Help your operators concentrate on production instead of learning to be crane mechanics. With Morgan CM, every operator can become a diagnostics expert, which reduces onboarding time and costs for new operators.
Contact us today to learn more about a custom crane management solution for your crane. Or watch our demo video here.
