Johannessen Trading Company in Commerce, CA distributes steel and construction products. Cranes are used to load steel for deliveries and to stock steel in the facility. Another crane company handles the crane work for the facility.
When a hoist load brake needed to be repaired, the other crane company suggested and quoted a new hoist and trolley to the customer. The crane company was unable to identify any of the crane components or prices and they thought the parts for the hoist were now obsolete. Johannessen Trading needed an immediate solution. Switching the hoist and trolley system would cause a long lead time. The several weeks of downtime to switch to a new system would be expensive. Johannessen Trading Co. called Konecranes for a second opinion.
Solution
Johannessen Trading Co. asked Konecranes to look at the crane to see if they could identify the correct part that they needed. Though a serial number could not be found on the crane, Konecranes knew the make and model from previous experience with that type of crane. Using that information, Crane Pro Parts - Konecranes parts organization in the US - was able to identify the correct part numbers and provide pricing information.
Konecranes was then able to propose a repair for the hoist load brake. The customer was impressed by how quickly the part was identified but were even more impressed that Konecranes could have their crane up and running in only a couple of weeks. Their vendor could not do this for them, which is why they chose Konecranes for this project.
Results
Two weeks later, the load brake was installed without issue. The crane was tested and put back into production.
The quality service, from the efficient part identification, to the successful installation saved the company over $20,000 USD because a new hoist and trolley system did not need to be purchased. The repair also saved several weeks in unnecessary downtime.
Related resource
Calvin Leclair - New Business Development
One of the most expensive parts of crane repair is not the cost of the actual repair. It is the loss of operating income that results when a crane is out of service. Your downtime cost can be extremely high when you consider your wasted business support cost, and your loss of business opportunity cost.
Corrective maintenance is carried out after a fault is detected and is aimed at restoring your crane to a condition in which it can perform its intended function. Retrofits are a relatively easy and economical way to add current features and technologies to your existing overhead crane.
