CeMAT 2008, 27 to 31 May Hannover - Lift platforms reach new heights

Lifting platforms are an important factor in intralogistics efficiency, as their safe and effective deployment is indispensable for smooth internal materials handling.

"The market offers several different types of lifting platform of interest to CeMAT visitors," reports Oliwer Sven Dahms from Hagenburg-based Liftscout Consulting, continuing: "First of all you have your self-propelled scissor lifts, mounted on an industrial frame with lifting heights of up to 34 meters.

Then you have your self-propelled telescopic or articulated telescopic lifts with lifting heights of up to 48 meters as well as your personnel or vertical lifts, overwhelmingly made of aluminum, with working heights of up to 14 meters."

Safety, compact size, versatility and accessibility - these were the R&D criteria for developing the new line of personnel work platforms from Manitou Deutschland GmbH (Hall 25, stand G09). The new MANIACCESS AETJ lifts comply with the work safety requirements of the A1 annex to the EN280 standard.

A loading control system prevents the user from inappropriately overloading the platform. To deal with applications in narrow industrial settings, MANIACCESS AETJ lifts also come in a compact version (C) as well as a lighter version (L), which is especially advisable for easy platform transportation.

Standard MANIACCESS AETJ models are outfitted with a boom and a rotating work basket, making them ideal for transshipment jobs involving industry and construction. They come in several different working heights, including 17 meters - virtually unrivaled in the marketplace.

The advantages of the new MANIACCESS AETJ models include swing booms, 3D option and rotating work baskets. Constant new challenges like increasingly narrow working spaces and the growing complexity of tasks demand a steady stream of enhanced accessibility solutions.

 MANIACCESS AETJ equipment fulfills these requirements impressively, while never losing its focus on key ergonomic and safety aspects such as a protective cover for the control box.

JLG Deutschland GmbH is demonstrating a line of stock pickers in Hannover designed to increase productivity and enhance user safety (Hall 12, stand 14A). These stock pickers dispense with steps and ladders, making risky climbing or reaching a thing of the past. Even large working heights can be reached safely, and additional material trays make it easy to transport and pick stock.

The ultra-compact 1230ES mast lift is particularly well-suited to jobs in narrow or reduced-load environments. This drivable mast lift weighs just 790 kilograms. With a platform height of up to 3.66 meters, the lift is a mere 0.76 meters wide, while boasting a lifting capacity of 227 kilograms.

Thanks to energy-saving battery-powered engines located at the front wheels, the 1230ES lift boasts three times the number of work cycles as other models. A fully proportional joystick supports user-friendly driving and lifting functions.

 The mast lift's low weight, compact dimensions and excellent maneuverability make it suitable for applications in multi-storey warehouses. Getting on and off the lift is easy thanks to its low platform entry height of just 0.66 meters as well as its saloon-style swinging doors.

Apart from its battery-powered lift platforms JLG also offers diesel-powered telescope forklifts with lifting heights from five to 17 meters and lifting capacities of 2.6 to 4 tons.

The multifunctional graphical displays presented at CeMAT by BAUSER GmbH & Co. KG (Hall 26, stand H25) can be used by lifting platforms and commercial vehicles in general. They are equipped with ports for digital and analog sensors. For vehicles with their own onboard data networks, a CANbus interface (CAN, CANopen or SAE J1939) is used to transmit the ECU/engine parameters and error messages.

The company's backlit displays - based on a number of different LCD technologies, from TN to dot matrix LCDs - make it especially easy to read the operating parameters as well as the graphics and icons. Special optical waveguide technology makes it possible to read the LED indicators perfectly, even in direct sunlight.

The displays were developed for the toughest conditions, meeting the IP-67 protection standard. The displays meet all other relevant industrial and vehicle standards. The standard multifunctional displays come in different-shaped housings and sizes.

The self-propelled KBE 5 KULI all-purpose platform from Helmut Kempkes GmbH (Hall 12, Stand D50) was designed primarily for indoor use. The main applications include maintenance jobs and stock loading or picking to and from rack systems.

The platform is equipped with a materials tray to facilitate this task. With a working height of around five meters and a load capacity of 150 kilograms the lift is particularly versatile. Its compact dimensions make it transportable in any freight elevator and it can be driven from floor to floor without any additional help. This compact, lightweight platform is even easily transported using a car trailer.

The KBE 5 KULI platform is battery powered, deploying maintenance-free gel-type batteries. Platform travel is controlled using a joy stick from the work basket, with an infinitely variable speed of between 1 and 3 km/h. Plastic-coated castors make for a quiet, low-friction ride.

A tilt limiter prevents any lifting motion if there is a inclination of more than two degrees. This KULI all-purpose platform also offers the same technical features in a manually movable version.

And finally, on the topic of lift platform safety: The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) recently launched a worldwide campaign for lift platform safety known as "Clunk Click" in English and "Click Clack" in German.

This campaign calls for all users of boom-type platforms to wear a full body harness with a short restraining belt attached to a suitable anchor point. Thousands of "Clunk Click" posters and stickers have been printed and distributed to get the message out.

"Major rental companies took the initiative as a result of unnecessary serious accidents involving users who were literally catapulted from boom platforms because they were not wearing harnesses," reports IPAF Managing Director Tim Whiteman. "The little stickers can help save lives," he adds.

IPAF recommends that users of telescopic boom platforms put on a full body harness with an adjustable lanyard (which serves to restrain the user from falling and should be made as short as possible).

On vertical lifts a safety harness is not normally required unless particularly hazardous conditions apply. Every job requires a prior assessment of the risks involved, and needs to include consideration of the instructions in the relevant lift platform operating manual.

- Deutsche Messe, Hannover