Springland Manufacturing – utilizing every possible inch in a lifting system

Springland Manufacturing develops grain handling equipment for farm and commercial storage bins. The Lepp brothers established Springland in 1985. Operating in Rivers, Manitoba, they have grown a staff of dedicated local employees and an extensive dealer network, which has sales spanning North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The CHALLENGE

Springland needed to maximize production capabilities to implement a faster, streamlined workflow in manufacturing and assembling auger equipment. They realized early that a material handling system would be the largest element to success and contacted Acculift to help them develop the lifting systems. The low ceiling height and footprint meant they required a solution that would utilize every inch of vertical space to achieve their goals.

Previously, they were using forklifts for this assembly but forklifts were inefficient as they required aisles and floor space to access the different areas. As well, additional production staff are required for each lift with a forklift, and there was the safety risk with operating forklifts in the production area.

The guys love it. They don’t have to do any heavy lifting. No injuries. And it moves the product to where we need it to be very efficiently.

Herman Lepp, Partner

The SOLUTION

Acculift was determined to maximize the headroom of the system, maximize floor coverage, and design a system with the operator’s process as the high priority. Acculift designed a system where the headers go through the runways (typically, they are hung below) to increase the headroom and lifting height. With very few obstructions on the ceiling, the height of the crane was designed to use every possible inch of vertical room for the entire length of the system.

Acculift designed a system with three key features to maximize production capabilities.

The support structure was widened to keep the columns to the outside of the production bay. A heavier header beam was required to support the additional span. This allowed for a wide-open production space with no interference from the columns.
The support structure was designed and installed with the header between the top tube and the track of the Gorbel trussed runway system. Normally the top tube of the runway would be clamped to the bottom of the header, which means the header would be the highest point on the crane. The design gained the customer 14″ of hook height. This design is a challenging crane install, as an entire section (2 runways and 2 headers) have to be lifted into place at the same time, instead of piece by piece and requires expert-level installers to accomplish.
C-Track festooning on the bridge allowed for full hoist trolley travel along the 34′ Aluminum Bridge.

With an effective, wide-open production space that no longer requires forklifts in the production space, Springland has a safer work environment and faster production capabilities that utilize their plant floor space more efficiently