www.engineeringnews.co.nz 53 EN026 GANTRYS, JIB CRANES AND WORKSTATIONS Having a requirement to provide comprehensive lifting equipment in various areas of its business, Komatsu NZ engaged Stratalign Limited to analyse particular needs in a number of their branches. As with every business in New Zealand, there was no ‘same solution’ for each challenging application. With buildings of different design and as each branch having different requirements , a broad minded approach was necessary to be able to meet the diverse needs. Taking into account that each workshop had a certain amount of lifting equipment already in place, the study resulted in three individual solutions. Installed into the Whangarei branch was a five tonne jib crane powered in all directions, a three bay 500kg capacity workstation was installed in East Tamaki and a fully powered in all directions five tonne capacity free-standing gantry was installed in Hamilton (pictured). Brent Hepple, product support manager for Komatsu NZ, says after the final installation, “The staff are very happy to have it operational. All three units you have supplied us over the past 18 months are working perfectly and have made our operations far safer than they ever were”. Sales Consultants are based in both the North and South Island. Stratalign Limited sales@stratalign.co.nz, phone 09 263 7725 What do you do when oil blasts a hole through your hydraulic manifold and the replacement will take two months to arrive from overseas? You call Hytech and ask for help “Hytech can come to the rescue when an existing manifold has failed due to wear or corrosion,” Hytech production coordinator Andrew Williams says. “We are able to make a replacement manifold that is equivalent to the original. We can even improve the performance by tailoring the manifold to the customer’s exact requirements. This makes waiting for a standard manifold from overseas unnecessary.” Hyspecs Technologies Ltd or Hytech, a division of Hyspecs Group, has been designing and manufacturing aluminium and steel hydraulic manifolds since its inception in 2002, and in this particular case, designed and manufactured an equivalent manifold within 24 hours of receiving a circuit. “The case was rather extreme, not the usual,” Mr Williams says. “The hydraulic manifold has been corroded from sea water and when the oil blasted through, it took the winch out of action. Our team moved heaven and earth to produce the equivalent manifold in record time. The result is a very happy customer who was able to get back to work fast.” Mr Williams, who started with Hyspecs as a sales engineer in 2005 and later oversaw the company’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM) clients, says his team takes pride on short lead times. “From the day design is approved to the day manifolds are shipped out, the standard time is three weeks. However, when there is an urgent job, we work with customers to see how we can accommodate them,” he says. Hytech has a dedicated designer in Steven Zhou, who creates 3D versions of supplied circuit diagrams. If a customer does not have a circuit diagram, a Hyspecs engineer can work with him to design one that will suit his needs. This circuit is then transformed by Mr Zhou into a 3D manifold design, which is then turned into a steel or aluminium manifold by the Hytech team. “Hydraulic manifolds are hydraulic valves that control the directional flow and pressure of oil in a hydraulic system,” Mr Zhou says. “When I design, I combine the many separate valves into one compact integrated circuit.” Hyspecs chief executive Richard Krebs says there are several benefits of a manifold over individual components. “Fewer connections save the customer money in hosing and fittings. Manifolds save space, and weight, are easier to maintain and reduce potential leakage. “For OEM items, the circuit is hidden within the manifold, protecting the intellectual property of the design,” Mr Krebs says. Designs supplied by customers as well as those produced in-house are protected and kept confidential by Hytech. And since the company has stored all programs and designs from when it started, repeat manufacturing is quick. Each manifold it has produced, right back to the first manifold it ever made, is identified by customer, and has a part number that allows traceability and remanufacturing. Hytech observes very high quality standards. For example, deburring is done by hand to remove loose debris from the manufacturing process, and all manifolds are checked thoroughly before they are dispatched. Established to fulfi l a growing industry requirement for timely, small run, CNC-milled aluminium and steel components, Hytech is also able to manufacture cylinder heads and hi-fi equipment with the use of CNC milling machines. HYTECH SOLUTION WHEN DESIGNING AND MAKING HYDRAULIC MANIFOLDS
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