Loading Crane System Assemblies

Situation

Many companies specialize in upgrading trucks with mobile cranes, leading to a vast range of configurations tailored to individual customer needs. These customizations involve variations in weight class, control mechanisms, movement sequences, and mounting locations. To accommodate these diverse requirements, each crane must be uniquely designed and built.

Challenge

Custom manufacturing increases both production time and storage costs. Each order requires detailed analysis, and the control units must be specially designed and assembled. Additionally, individual parts must be picked and wired according to unique schematics. Installation errors can only be detected after the entire control system and its peripherals—such as sensors and actuators—are fully installed. As a result, vehicle commissioning is frequently delayed, requiring adjustments to be made under difficult ergonomic conditions. The entire installation process on the vehicle can take up to six hours, with significant time wasted on part identification and orientation.

Solution

To streamline production, an analysis was conducted to identify commonalities across different control system configurations. These overlapping areas were expanded with standardized equipment options while still allowing additional space for specialized features. A jumper module was introduced to handle wiring tasks, reducing complexity.

By consolidating variations into a pre-assembled housing with a populated circuit board and pre-connected cable set, the need for individualized wiring was minimized. Although this approach incurs slight additional costs for pre-installed but unused components, the overall savings outweigh the expense. The result: pre-tested, pre-assembled control modules are now kept in stock and can be installed in just 90 minutes. Furthermore, the commissioning process is reduced by an average of 120 minutes, as fewer errors lead to fewer delays.