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10 Industries that Use Overhead Cranes
Overhead cranes are necessary at many job sites. When you’ve got to lift and move heavy loads, overhead cranes increase floor space, safety, and efficiency.
Bridge cranes, gantry cranes, and other types of overhead cranes are critical to many industries and to the economy as a whole. Here are 10 industries that use overhead cranes to perform their job safely and efficiently.
Storage
Managing a large warehouse often demands that you move and store large and heavy crates throughout the warehouse quickly and safely. Damaging cargo or wasting time trying to find an item is not an option.
A proper network of overhead cranes helps warehouse employees keep their inventory organized and accessible so their containers and crates can be moved and stored seamlessly.
Automotive
Auto assembly lines rely on moving their product from station to station on its journey to completion. Bridge cranes are ideal for this movement.
Auto repair can also require smaller gantry cranes for jobs such as pulling engines and lifting car bodies.
Because these factories are mostly automated, these complex systems of machinery require a programmer to help operate and maintain the cranes.
Heavy Equipment Repair
For equipment like industrial HVACs, factory equipment, or other large machinery, big fixes need big tools.
Repair shops use both bridge and gantry cranes to unload products, move them around the shop, and reload them. Overhead cranes make it much easier to lift goods up and over to each repair station.
Metal Manufacturing
Whether moving crucibles of molten ore or loading rolls of finished sheet, metal workers need overhead cranes to handle the weight as well as the elements — metal workers often work with metals at dangerous temperatures.
Overhead cranes can do the grunt work and help keep workers at a safe distance from dangerous materials. Specialized attachments such as C-hooks help move spools of wire and foil, too.
Concrete Manufacturing
Nothing in the concrete industry is small or light. Whether handling bagged premix or finished precast, workers need gantry cranes in the yard and bridge cranes in the factory. And pouring architectural spans requires the power and control of an overhead crane.
Power Plants
Power plants are filled with working equipment that must remain functioning — downtime would mean a blackout. When a turbine or generator inside an active plant needs service, it must be removed and replaced with care. A precise bridge crane system is essential for this service.
Shipbuilding
Ship hulls are massive and irregularly shaped. Moving heavy tools and parts around the inside of a slanted hull can be impossible without an overhead crane. A wide-spanning heavy gantry crane is a must for building ship hulls.
Plastic Injection Molding
Like metal work, plastic fabrication involves heavy weights and high temperatures. Safety and precision demand a strong and nimble system of overhead cranes. Melted ingredients, raw materials, and finished product must be handled with care and dexterity — which is where the need for overhead cranes comes in.
Aviation
Like shipbuilding, managing a hanger involves moving equipment that is big, heavy, and expensive. Engines, ailerons, interiors, and other critical parts must be moved safely and placed accurately. An overhead crane can ensure all aspects of aviation assembly and repair are performed carefully.
Transportation
The most visible overhead cranes are the massive units loading and unloading ships at seaports. The seaport is the gateway of international commerce, and these busy sites have massive product coming and going constantly.
