CraneTech Installs R&M Overhead Cranes, Hoists at Applied Aerospace

CraneTech, Inc. has completed the installation of R&M Materials Handling overhead cranes and hoists at Applied Aerospace’s Stockton, California, facility.

The 420,000-square-foot aerospace manufacturing site, located on a 25-acre property, relies on tooling carts, forklifts and bridge cranes to move lightweight composite structures. The new installation supports the handling of spacecraft parts weighing under 1,000 pounds.

Christopher Hansen, P.E., plant engineering manager at Applied Aerospace, oversees the facility’s material handling operations. He said: “I am required to research, specify, select, approve, acquire, oversee installation and maintain equipment — pretty much everything. We build lightweight fragile composite structures, and we demand that our cranes perform flawlessly for safety and quality.”

The project faced a challenge when a fire sprinkler pipe created a low headroom obstruction in the new building. CraneTech modified the crane design by lowering the main beam to maintain functionality without delaying delivery. The systems included R&M’s Spacemaster SX4041 wire rope hoists, primarily 5-ton capacity, operating on overhead cranes with spans of 40 to 65 feet. The equipment meets Crane Manufacturers Association of America Class C standards and is controlled via radio remote.

“Reliability, headroom, functionality and VFD hoisting were the main reasons we started to convert them [Applied Aerospace] to R&M facility-wide, as opposed to the prior components being utilized,” said Dave Spears, regional manager–West at CraneTech. “We started with one crane utilizing R&M components, built locally by CraneTech, and have subsequently added seven more units at various spans into buildings around the facility.”

Older cranes at the facility have also been modernized with the R&M SX platform. Hansen said the new systems provide consistent and precise movement: “Our facility is not high speed and heavy use. The positive influence is that the crane is there, reliable and moves slow with high precision.”

Spears added that all new runway structures, rails and buss bars were installed without issue. “Chris [Hansen] and the team have always been fantastic to work with,” he said. “They know what they want to accomplish when going into these projects and the standards are set extremely high.”

Hansen emphasized CraneTech’s long-standing service relationship: “We are happy with CraneTech — every time, without exception. They have been great people to work with the entire time. They are customer service-focused for the entire lifecycle of their product. They respond to our needs quickly and deliver without fail. Minor issues crop up infrequently but when they do, CraneTech adapts and corrects them.”

Jason Ring, vice president of strategy and operations at CraneTech, said: “CraneTech partners with all our customers throughout over 30 branch locations around the country; they all provide the same high-level of quality service and technical expertise to ensure our customers’ facilities are safe, efficient and OSHA-compliant.”