“Overhead gantries, cranes, hoists and related lifting equipment components while often critical components of manufacturing and process facilities are also subject to stringent occupational and safety regulations in South Africa, making the maintenance of the equipment a critical activity.

The most efficient and cost-effective way to tackle the associated financial implications and legal compliance is through a service agreement” says Emil Berning, Managing Director of Konecranes SA, a leader in the supply of advanced lifting equipment in South Africa.

“The key working components in crane management required for critical functions need to be monitored for performance, wear and tear and safety”, added Berning “At Konecranes we believe that our service agreements offer our customers peace of mind and distinct cost efficiencies while reducing downtime”.

The major benefit of a service agreement for customers is that maintenance, load testing and inspection is scheduled which ensures that all your lifting equipment is serviced regularly and repairs undertaken by qualified Konecranes technicians. It is crucial that all lifting equipment and components remain technically and legally operational.

Better asset operational budgeting is achieved as a result of the good predictive maintenance practices. “The second important benefit is that the customer knows there is a fixed service price for a certain period of time” Berning said.

The CARE Preventive Maintenance program from Konecranes is the foundation of Lifecycle Care in Real Time. It has been designed to improve equipment safety and productivity through the systematic application of preventive maintenance inspections, compliance inspections where applicable, routine maintenance, and TRUCONNECT® Remote Monitoring.

Benefits of CARE Preventative Maintenance Programme

A key focus of the CARE Preventative Maintenance Programme is to ensure safety is enhanced and production risks are recorded. The programme is tailored to the customer’s operations, taking into account the equipment, its usage,operating environment, duty class, service history, manufacturers recommendations and statutory requirements.

The following benefits are also achieved:

• Can reduce downtime and increase reliability
• Safety and production risks are documented and recommendations for corrective actions are provided
• Recommendations for improving the safety, productivity, application or useful life of the asset are provided
• Where permissible by regulation, can include frequent and periodic inspections to satisfy regulatory requirements and help you stay compliant
• Can contribute to maintenance planning and decision making with inspection and maintenance information available on yourKONECRANES.com, at any time on any device
• Operating data from TRUCONNECT Remote Monitoring provides insights into crane usage

Berning said “With industries moving more and more into the digitisation and paperless era, a further advantage of our service agreements is that it gives our customers real-time monitoring of the state of their lifting equipment via TRUCONNECT and our specialised customer web portal yourKonecranes.

Our online portal yourKonecranes give customers access to their records of equipment performance, operator 

performance, machinery and spares spend analysis, service requests and records, safety data, all of which assist the customer to manage their assets optimally. Giving complete transparency between Konecranes and the client, the web portal enables all the relevant personnel to be on the same page at any given time”.

TRUCONNECT Remote Monitoring gathers and delivers condition, usage and operating data from lifting equipment. The data covers condition and expected service life of critical components, running time, lifted loads, motor starts, work cycles and emergency stops.

Alerts for brake service life, hoist overloads, emergency stops and over-temperature occurrences are quickly transmitted by email or text message allowing for prompt response. Remote monitoring provides asset usage and operating information that is used to assess both the crane condition and safety. 

Maintenance actions can then be planned based on estimated component condition such as the estimated remaining lifespan. Monitored equipment data is visible through an easily accessible online portal that provides companies with operating information in just a few keystrokes or clicks of a mouse.

Konecranes will tailor a service agreement to align it with the customer’s operations. Consideration is given to factors such as age of equipment, usage, operating environment, duty class, service history, manufacturer’s recommendations and statutory requirements when the service agreement is compiled.

“Above all else, safety is our top priority at Konecranes. This can only be achieved by having a well-managed asset maintenance programme that delivers machinery that is always safety and performance compliant” Berning concluded.