There's no denying that aviation puts the "heavy" in heavy-duty industry. Even light aircraft require parts weighing hundreds of pounds, while commercial turbines can weigh several tons. Moving these components for manufacturing or maintenance requires equipment that can move these extreme loads with precision and care.
Process cranes fill this role, allowing for more efficient aircraft assembly and, when necessary for maintenance or repair, disassembly. These cranes are far from one-size-fits-all machines, but several critical considerations are necessary when selecting any crane for use in this highly specialized and advanced industry.
1. Application
Typical cranes used in aviation include bridge cranes, gantry cranes, and jib cranes. Each crane has its specific uses, and it's crucial to understand your application before selecting a crane type for your needs. For example, bridge cranes work best in assembly lines or for material transport, while jib cranes often support maintenance operations or small parts assembly.
Many manufacturing, maintenance, or warehousing facilities will require multiple types of cranes for different applications. Your facility may require bridge cranes to move aircraft parts from staging to assembly areas. In contrast, jib cranes may be necessary at individual workstations where technicians repair or assemble engines or heavy parts.
2. Weight Capacity
Aviation-oriented cranes will need to deal with many potentially heavy payloads. Cranes with the highest capacities usually require permanent installation in an anchored foundation. While mobile cranes can provide high load capacities, outriggers and other stabilization equipment can make them space-prohibitive for workshops and manufacturing facilities.
When considering cranes for your facility, you'll need to look at your maximum potential payload needs before considering your mounting location, as different mounting locations will offer different capacities. Make sure you fully understand the weight capacities needed for your specific manufacturing or repair process.
3. Mounting Needs
Different aerospace cranes also come with different mounting needs. While bridge cranes are permanent equipment, gantry cranes typically include wheels or tracks for easy movement. Jib cranes may be available in either variety, with both movable and mounted models. Mounting cranes can provide more stability but with reduced flexibility and, depending on the mounting point, reduced rotation.
Your application, available workspace, and payload requirements will determine where and how you should mount your cranes. If you need the heavy lifting power of a bridge crane, you're likely dealing with a central part of your workflow that will always occur in the same area. On the other hand, a mobile jig crane can provide greater flexibility for small processes.
When you think about it, there are a lot of ways that manufacturing has improved over the years. For starters, it didn't used to be as safe as it is today, and people used to really struggle with various aspects of manufacturing, such as making products that are safe and useful. Additionally, making things used to take a lot longer, which raised prices. I started talking with different people about the benefits of modern manufacturing, and it was interesting to explore how much those simple improvements mattered in the long run. On this little blog, find out how to make manufacturing better than ever before, so you can create products people need.