Crane Manufacturers Scale Up Product Training

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With cranes becoming more technically advanced, manufacturers are training operators and service engineers for more efficient and safe operations. NBM&CW reports.

Technical advancements in mobile and crawler cranes with superior quality components and aggregates related to the engines, winches, booms, control and display systems, and other auxiliary components, has upped the need for more intensive training of the operators and service engineers to ensure efficient operations of the machines.

Subhajit Chandra, Divisional Head, Liebherr Cranes India, informs that since they keep making modifications in the design and engineering functionalities of their mobile and crawler cranes, it has become imperative to make users aware of the changes and the advancements. “We bring out a training schedule for our service engineers to learn first-hand the basic maintenance requirements of the machines; and they are also sent to our production facility in Germany for a closer understanding of the products and their functions. We also give our engineers and operators simulation-based training at our training centers in Kolkata and Mumbai.”

Adds Chandra, “Our service engineers are trained to analyze the error codes in the crane so that they can remotely guide the crane owner’s maintenance team in rectifying the problem. This helps the owner minimize his machine’s downtime and save time and money.”

Liebherr also renders training to the owner’s crane operators, technicians, and senior maintenance personnel (for the crane to be delivered) at the company’s facility in Germany. “Seeing the production process makes them better accustomed with the product, which helps them at the time of troubleshooting. We also provide onsite training when the machine is commissioned,” says Chandra. As a member of the Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturer, Liebherr has entered the Skill India Program for training crane operators. Certified operators can operate cranes in any part of the world.

Ghananeel Molankar, Divisional Head - Construction Machinery, Liebherr India, informs that safe working of the cranes is top priority and mandatory for any lifting operation. Hence, the operators are trained to work within safe working parameters of the crane during lifting operations. The operator should have a clear understanding of all the controls in the cabin. He/She should be well-versed with all safety alarms and protocols. Although modern day cranes have monitors in the cabin with all relevant information being displayed, it is very important that the operator understands the correlation between the load being lifted, the boom angle and the radius. "Our cranes adhere to the utmost global safety standards as far as design and features are concerned. All data including engine parameters, vital hydraulic system parameters and real time calculations provide the operator with additional information so that he can perform the lift with utmost care and safety. The data is continuously processed and displayed on the monitor in real time so that the operator has all the necessary information available throughout the lifting operation." A perfect example would be the Ground Pressure Visualization which calculates the current ground pressure of the machine in real time and compares it with the specified safety limits of the relevant jobsite. Please see the picture below for illustration of this feature:

"We have always been focussing a lot on training. We impart training to operators as well as to the customer's site / operations team. We normally train operators on site – hands-on during commissioning of the cranes. We also provide troubleshooting training to the maintenance team on site. We often troubleshoot the machines remotely and this means that we need good, highly trained and qualified service engineers. This is an important aspect as remote diagnosis reduces the overall costs for the customer and reduces downtime to a minimum. Our service engineers are trained in our factory in Austria, at Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbH, for nearly two months, during which they are made familiar with the machine's operations, safety features and troubleshooting."

According to Sanjay Saxena- Sr. VP & Head- HE at Sany Heavy Industry India, the company provides comprehensive training to the operators and service engineers of the crane owners - be they contractors, rental companies, or sub-contractors. Training is given on functions of the hydraulic, electrical, and electronic systems, and on safe practices, especially for the higher capacity mobile and crawler cranes. Sany India has a fleet of around 1100 cranes that include truck mounted, all terrain, rough terrain, and crawler cranes.

“With worksites in many states under lockdown due to Covid-19, we have been providing online training to our service engineers on many aspects of the cranes, especially on how to restart them after the long period of idling, and how to change the oil and oil filters. Most importantly, the service engineers have been advising the crane owners on how to check the machines that have been idling for long,” informs Saxena.

Manoj Agarwal, Chief General Manager, Marketing and Product Support, Action Construction Equipment (ACE)

Action Construction Equipments (ACE) has a dedicated training center at Ballabgarh for training its service engineers and crane operators. “Our business philosophy lays a lot of stress on product support that includes training the operators of our mobile, crawler and tower cranes. At our center we have advanced training tools, well-documented PPT presentations, and the capacity to train 100 people at a time. To make the exercise complete, we give hands-on training on our cranes at our Palwal manufacturing plant,” informs Manoj Agarwal, Chief General Manager, Marketing and Product Support, Action Construction Equipment (ACE).

He adds, “Since we have made some technical modifications in our 40 and 75-ton crawler cranes, our service engineers are being trained anew on the functions of their components, and also on our new line-up of higher capacity 100, 120 and 150-ton crawler cranes. We also provide onsite training to the contractor’s crane operators on general maintenance and safety aspects of the crane. We have a training manual for a two-day program and are also offering online training to our customers.”

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