Eliminating Overloading With SkidWeigh Classic Series SC4
A Canadien-owned and operated group of companies that concentrates its primary operation on heavy civil underground construction but also consists of the manufacture of steel and precast products works with and produces tunneling bits that weigh up to 77K. This means that the company utilizes a series of cranes and for increased mobility very large forklifts capable of loading, unloading and moving the large bits to the job site. Trade in weight is not a concern for this organization, but safety is at the front and center of every strategic move this company executes. With so much at stake at several of the job sites thought-out North America they were looking for a solution that would ensure that only the right forklift is assigned to the job of moving the tunneling bits and moreover insurance that if it was a mismatch the operator and surrounding pedestrians would have some sort of safety device to divert the attempt before someone got seriously injured.
LOAD WEIGHT AS A (%) OF THE LIFT TRUCK LIFTING CAPACITY
Reaching out to one of their local lift truck dealers we were asked to consult with the company on a scale. During our discussions we learned that weight was not an issue of importance for this company due to the singular purpose of their large lift trucks. Originally discussed an overload option on the scale but when we looked at their inventory of vehicles and large tunneling bits of various weights, we recommended the SkidWeigh Classic SC4 with visual overload notification and enhanced audible strobe alarms to maximize safety. The SC4 displays the load weight in a percentage of the lifting capacity of the vehicle with the system updating to the inidcator every second that the forklift is turned on. Instead of waiting for a threshold to be reached if, the system indicates to the operator right from the start the overall lift and its relation to the overall capacity of the vehicle. If a specific threshold is reached that visual and enhanced audible strobe light warn the operator to abort the lift immediately.
COST EFFECTIVE WITH A DUAL R.O.I.
The system was extremely cost effective and retro fit on their entire fleet regardless of make, model or capacity of the lift truck. Once installed the hydraulic pressure transducer technology of the SC4 was extremely easy to calibrate and even easier to introduce to the application with its automatic operator notification. Now each truck, every jobsite and all workers on the job had security about the lifts these very large trucks were required to do. Another benefit of the system is that it lowered overall maintenance costs on the entire fleet. Decreasing damage and wear on lifting devices, axels and tires as with capacity knowledge about the weight lifted, they could assign vehicles that would average out at 75% of capacity or less to ensure they were never maximizing the stress on the lifting device.