Completely relocate special purpose machines, machining centres, and cantilever slewing cranes

The task was made more difficult by specific industrial conditions caused by the age of the machines. The floor around the machines was uneven and covered with a thick layer of grease, which made it difficult to move the machines with the roller skids. We covered the floor with metal sheets to overcome the blockages. Most of the machines had been placed in containment bunds, which we had to remove them from. We then had to clean the accumulated oil and metal shavings in the bunds and put the machines back. At the customer’s request, the machines and equipment were installed in a dispersed manner, making the installation routes longer and sometimes more difficult to negotiate. This increased the time spent moving them around during the project. We moved the machines using our 5-tonne forklift and our 16-tonne JMG electric Pick & Carry machine. We used our JMG electric crane to lift he three Puma machines. Due to their weight and size, the two Cincinatti machines were transferred by hand from the roller skids onto the threaded shafts used for fixing them. We used our JMG electric mobile crane to lift the cantilever slewing cranes apart, relocate them and reassemble them in their new location. In order to fully support our customer, we also procured and delivered the necessary machine installation materials. We levelled the machines at their new location using a 0.05/200 mm precision spirit level. Before their first start-up of the relocated machines, we carried out pressure tests on the air and water networks, performed electrical safety and loop resistance tests, and checked the direction of rotation.