Skimping on the maintenance of vital equipment that lifts thousands of tons isn’t just asking for trouble, it’s asking for negative consequences to an operation’s bottom line.
By Jim Skowron, Vice President of Sales, Region Americas Service
At Konecranes, we take an approach to crane maintenance that focuses attention on the entire lifecycle of a crane. In turn, this approach not only improves the safety and productivity of our customers’ operations, it also lowers their lifetime cost of crane ownership.
More than 600,000 assets around the world are supported by Konecranes Lifecycle Care, setting Konecranes expertise and knowledge apart from other crane maintenance programs. This provides us unparalleled insight into trends among manufacturers, evolving technology and types of cranes. It’s also enabled us to develop comprehensive crane maintenance programs that promote long-term safety and performance.
Customized crane service programs
The foundation of our crane service program is the establishment of a maintenance standard, followed by inspections and preventive maintenance. In developing a maintenance standard, professionals at Konecranes customize each customer’s crane service program based on applicable local crane regulations – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) overhead crane standards in the United States, for example – plus original equipment manufacturer (OEM) guidelines.
We also determine how each customer uses their equipment and how that matches up with the equipment’s design. Based on the established standard and our inspections, we then perform preventive maintenance.
Recommendations given based on inspection results
Initial inspections often result in repair recommendations that will bring a crane into good operating condition. In the case of older equipment, we sometimes recommend modernization as a more cost-effective alternative to repair. As technology evolves, modernizations often make sense, helping customers take advantage of advances in safety and productivity innovations while extending the useful life of their equipment.
Remote monitoring aids in maintenance planning
Between inspections, Konecranes offers a technology that alerts crane owners to immediate problems – Konecranes TRUCONNECT® Remote Monitoring. Designed as a compliment to an inspection and maintenance program, TRUCONNECT collects crane usage and operating data that can help fine-tune a preventive maintenance program. It also provides condition and usage information for select components impacting safety, operations, or design life of the equipment.
Education is another component of Konecranes compliance inspection and preventive crane maintenance program. Our technicians educate customers on crane usage, including the requirement for a pre-shift operational check and note when crane operator training is recommended.
Learn about Konecranes' approach to maintenance
