Tag Archive: Manufacturing

1. Custom Equipment Gets the Job Done Right

   February 6, 2014 4:11 pm Leave a Comment

   Shopping for big equipment to help with oil and gas exploration, outages at power plants, repairs on iconic bridges, and lifting components in the Aerospace Industry is no small feat. You need to feel confident about what you are buying and know that you are investing in equipment that will hold up under pressure and best suit your specific needs.

   Our highly qualified engineering department produces innovative solutions that easily translate to drawings and manufactured fabrications and parts. Over the years we have created unique designs that have provided exceptional challenges with comprehensive solutions. Essentially, we can design and manufacture almost any welded fabrication or part that can be imagined to support a custom crane program. Check out some of our design capabilities that make it all possible:

   • Use of the latest 3-D design software

   • Fabrication and part testing capabilities

   • Quality assurance program
   • Inspection reports available, when required

    

   We have the experience and expertise to meet your unique requirements and to move quickly from design concept to manufacturing.

   Our manufacturing capabilities include:

   • Customization to your specific application

    

   • Procurement
               Commercial grade dedication
   • Fabrication including:
               Plasma cutting
               Welding to AWS standards
     Various epoxy/urethane nuclear coatings
   • Machining including:
               Numerous CNC and manual machine tools
     7″ horizontal boring mill with 30 foot horizontal travel and 13 foot vertical travel
   • Testing Services
               Acceptance testing
               Mock-up testing
               Load testing to 2500 tons

   • Inspection Services
               Visual weld inspection per AWS standards
               MT, LP, UT, & RT by ASNT-TC-1A qualified technicians, Coating inspectionFor additional information regarding your application contact us today at 1-877-877-6778 or email our sales department.

2. Proudly Announcing Increased CMCO Stock!

   December 27, 2013 9:41 am Leave a Comment

   A little holiday present from us to our loyal customers…

   American Crane has increased and added to our Columbus McKinnon stock inventory! It will now be easier than ever to view and purchase the trusted quality of your favorite CMCO brand parts. The newly added parts and equipment are valued over $800,000 and are available for immediate purchase. The reliable products you know and love such as the Coffing’s JLC Electric Chain Hoist and CM’s Man Guard Electric Chain Hoist can now be shipped on the same day that you order them! But state of the art new equipment isn’t all we’ve stocked for you… we’ve also collected more than 200 replacement parts to help you get your equipment up and running quickly, reducing downtime and aiding in repairs.

   RELATED: CMCO Product Catalog

   Adding these exceptional new products to our inventory is just another example of our commitment to quality and to supplying our customers with the best parts and equipment to fit their budgets. As always, our commitment to quality products, excellent customer service, and competitive pricing continues to set us apart as an exceptional supplier of the outstanding crane and hoist equipment.

   Check out a product review of the CM Hurricane 360 here!

   Shop online at Store.AmericanCrane.com or call us toll free at 1-877-877-6778.

3. Lifting the Future of Spaceflight

   October 25, 2013 1:12 pm Leave a Comment

   From manufacture to completion, a space transport vehicle is made to launch and orbit, never to fall. One of these would be a billion-dollar space capsule weighing 10 tons.  The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is the latest hope of the U.S. space program for sending humans beyond Earth orbit and onto destinations far, far away. Since the retirement of its space shuttle fleet, the Orion is NASA’s only crewed space vehicle under a recent revamp of the program’s long-range plans, called the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. The new strategy is to use the Orion Crew Module (or capsule), being built for NASA by Lockheed Martin Corp., and the Service Module, under development by EADS Astrium for the European Space Agency, to send crews of four to six astronauts on missions to orbit the Moon, explore nearby asteroids, and ultimately travel into orbit around Mars. NASA has scheduled the first flight of the Orion, called Exploration Flight Test 1, for sometime in 2014 aboard a Delta IV Heavy rocket system. This will be an unmanned shake-out run to test the Crew Module’s avionics, heat shielding, and parachutes over two Earth orbits and a high-energy reentry in the Pacific Ocean. To work on the capsule (and eventually assemble the Orion and the Delta IV for launch), NASA is using a 25-ton ACECO custom crane (which we refer to, naturally, as the “Orion Crane”). Officially, the Operations and Checkout Building’s (O&C) Low Bay Crane is used by Lockheed Martin personnel to move the Orion around the facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Lockheed Martin moves the capsule through several workstations along the crane’s runway during final assembly, testing, and preparation for spaceflight. Our crane will also mate the Orion capsule to the Delta IV’s second stage, inside the O&C, and place this assembly on its trailer for transport to the launch pad. In the future, our crane will mate the Crew Module to the Service Module and then lift that assembly onto the transport. ACECO is currently building another critical lift crane for the Orion project. Lockheed Martin will move the existing O&C Low Bay Crane to the O&C’s receiving room to lift the Orion capsule off of the transport from their manufacturing plant. Our new crane will then be installed in the Low Bay of the O&C and become the new O&C Low Bay Crane. It is a 30-ton capacity crane and is scheduled to be completed in February 2014 at Plant 1 and installed in May 2014 at KSC. So one day we’ll be able to really say that we were the first to lift the Orion spacecraft off the ground. Photo (courtesy NASA): The Orion ground-test vehicle on a work stand in the Operations and Checkout Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Resources: www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/index.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_Authorization_Act_of_2010 //store.americancrane.com/category/aerospace

4. Crane Buyer’s Guide Part 1: What is the CMAA?

   August 20, 2013 1:34 pm Leave a Comment

   The Crane Manufacturers Association of America (CMAA) has existed since 1955, but can trace its roots all the way back to 1927 when the Electric Overhead Crane Institute was founded to establish standardization and quality control within the crane industry. The voluntary organization is made up of over 30 Member Companies, which represent the industry leaders of overhead crane manufacturing. The CMAA is an affiliate of the Material Handling Industry of America and is committed to helping its members become marketplace leaders that provide high value and versatile solutions. Its mission is to provide the end-users, partners, and members of the crane industry with exceptional quality and value using:

   • Safety Advocacy
   • Engineering Specifications and Standards Development
   • Market Intelligence
   • Educational Materials
   • Member Professional Development
   • Recruiting and Developing a representative, active membership
   • Promotion and Enhancement of the CMAA brand

   The CMAA has two very important specifications that help crane buyers, engineers, and architects select the optimal equipment for their needs. First published in the 1970’s, these are commonly known as Spec 70 and Spec 74 and have been updated as technology advances. Specification 70 outlines information for those interested in Multiple Girder Cranes, while Specification 74 focuses on Single Girder Cranes. Both specifications offer general information that can be checked with individual crane manufacturers to ensure you are purchasing the right product. The information in the CMAA specifications does not have the effect of law, but rather establishes advisory qualifications and technical guidelines. They can be helpful when researching proper clearances, offsets, tilts, runways, and more.