When an overhead crane or hoist breakdown, your facility is left with costly downtime. Delays in customer delivery aren’t just impactful to your bottom line, delays harm your reputation and affect future earnings. One setback means the difference between steady business growth or clients switching to your competitors.
Therefore, preventing downtime due to hoist repair is crucial for your business to remain successful now, and in the future. Continue reading to learn how you can prevent your hoist from breaking down.
Preventive measures are always the best course of action for preventing a hoist or overhead crane from becoming inoperable. Preventive steps are also the best way to ensure you avoid a dangerous accident during operations.
If your hoist operators are already trained in conducting regular inspections, make sure these inspections are happening at the beginning of each day and/or at the end of the day. Being consistent and thorough with inspections is key. Daily inspections as well as routine maintenance ensure that you catch any issues before they become much bigger problems later on.
Operators are the first people in your facility who will know when a hoist or crane needs maintenance and should be trained to conduct visual inspections each day.
Visual inspections of hoists should include:
In addition, you should schedule inspections from trained professionals on a regular basis. At T&M Cranes, we offer comprehensive inspections that are aligned with OSHA compliance measures and will help your facility avoid both costly downtimes as well as expensive OSHA violations.
Routine maintenance is the first step in preventing a hoist from breaking and causing downtime. The second step is to keep spare replacement parts for a hoist on hand. In the event that your operators notice an issue with your hoist, you can replace the parts responsible without waiting for shipments. Additionally, having replacement parts for your hoist speeds up the repair process if you need a professional’s help. A hoist distributor or manufacturer will often have a list of recommended spare parts you can use as a reference.
While inspections will help reduce the likelihood that you’ll need extensive hoist repair, having the necessary parts just in case offers extra peace of mind, and will prepare you for a worst-case scenario.
Lastly, it’s important that hoist operators are following proper operation protocols. When a hoist becomes damaged or worn down, it’s often due to an operator putting more weight on a hoist than recommended. While a slight increase in weight to improve efficiency may not seem like a serious concern, over time, a hoist will break down faster, and the safety of your facility will be compromised.
Always follow proper hoist operational guidelines. Operators should always have training in their specific hoist equipment so that they understand its limits, and the risks involved with exceeding those limits. Efficiency and safety go hand-in-hand.
At T&M Cranes, we offer hoist repair and OSHA inspections, as well as modernization services for your overhead cranes. Since 1974, we’ve been repairing indoor hoists in a timely manner so that our customers can focus on their services and avoid costly downtime. With our expert services, you can expect your cranes and hoists to operate at peak efficiency while helping you maintain a safe working environment.
If you’re in need of emergency hoist repair, contact us today.
