Why Automate Your Overhead Crane Systems?
Automated overhead crane systems combine mechanical engineering and digital technology in order to create smarter, more reliable lifting solutions. Automation is designed to:
Enhance Safety
Crane automation not only minimizes errors, it also removes humans from lifting zones and potentially hazardous working environments.
Increase Productivity
By streamlining repetitive tasks, automated cranes optimize workflow in warehouses, factories, and other commercial hubs.
Lower Operating Costs
Automated cranes reduce the labor necessary to move heavy, oversized materials and lower the amount of goods lost to mishandling.
Data Integration
Reduce Equipment Wear and Maintenance
Poor driving habits can induce severe amounts of load and shock to brakes and gearboxes. Automation smooths out the acceleration and deceleration profiles, as well as load sway, improving component lifespans.
Our Automated Crane Solutions
Whether you need semi-autonomous positioning or fully autonomous material handling, Flatiron engineers upgrade and retrofit a wide range of cranes and lifting equipment, including:
Custom Automation Solutions
Flatiron designs and installs smart material handling systems and custom below-the-hook lifting devices, tailored to specific applications and industries. We design solutions that match your:
Ready to take your business to the next level? Contact our automation team.
They’ll discuss goals, timelines, and specifications in order to build a crane that delivers the control, power, and performance you need.
Automation Upgrades
Flatiron technology transforms lifting operations, enhancing safety, productivity, and material flow through several innovative devices and software.
Skew Correction
Monitors the movement of bridge cranes, adjusting speed commands to ensure your beams remain perfectly aligned. Correcting skewed equipment helps maintain precise load position while minimizing stress on wheels, rails, and end trucks.
Anti-Sway Control
Modifies move profiles to prevent loads from swinging during lifting and transfer. Incorporating anti-sway technology increases stability for all combinations of speed, acceleration, and distance, lowering the risk of accidents and reducing handling intervals.
Collision Avoidance
Tracks the crane’s position in real-time, slowing or stopping the unit whenever its software detects an obstacle in its path. In addition to creating a safer working environment, collision avoidance programs help move loads more efficiently, for greater output.
Multi-Axis Coordination
Synchronizes movement of multiple cranes within your facility, providing complete position control to all axes on virtually any crane or industrial vehicle. Besides reducing error rates, multi-axis software also shortens production cycles and decreases mechanical stress.
Redundant Safety Systems
Ensure that if a brake, motor, sensor, or circuit malfunctions, another system is ready to take over and keep your payload secure. Multi-tiered safeguards eliminate single points of failure in order to protect your staff and prevent load drops.
Automated Exerciser Module
Helps maintenance and safety teams move from reactive troubleshooting to proactive, condition-aware crane management by running travel, hoist, and trolley sequences that identify emerging issues, validate safe operation, and prevent problems caused by long idle periods.
Load Snag & Side Pull Detection
Continuously measures rope angles to determine whether a crane has been caught on an object in the surrounding environment. When a snag is detected, the software immediately stops the crane to protect employees and prevent damage to the hoist, rope, and load.
Data Historians
Records, stores, and analyzes feedback from sensors designed to monitor loads, running times, emergency stops, and brake conditions. Installing these specialized databases helps predict maintenance needs and optimize service schedules, prolonging the life of your equipment.
Our Automation Process
Flatiron Crane combines industrial-grade hardware with dependable software to deliver systems that cut manual processes, accelerate lift cycles, and improve throughput. For decades, we’ve offered complete support to our clients across all stages of their crane’s lifecycle.
Assessment and Consultation
Our team reviews your operational requirements, including lift capacities, duty cycles, and load types, before inspecting the site to make certain its beams, columns, and supports are strong enough to handle the crane’s weight and dynamic force.
System Design and Engineering
After completing their assessment, Flatiron engineers draft a blueprint laying out the crane girders, hoists, trolleys, and other structural elements before selecting the components and defining the level of automation: fully automated, semi-automated, or assisted.
Fabrication and Factory Testing
Once the plans have been drawn up, our craftsmen cut, weld and assemble each piece of hardware to the exact specifications laid out in the design schematics before verifying the system meets your expectations for strength, safety, and functionality.
Installation and Commissioning
As soon as testing is complete, our technicians mount the girders, runways, end trucks, hoists, and trolleys in order to ensure proper alignment, validate automated sequences, and confirm stability, structural integrity, and mechanical performance.
Training and On-Going Support
Flatiron stands by our systems and customers long after installation has wrapped. Training programs make sure everyone who operates your systems understands safe crane operation, automation control interfaces, and disaster procedures, while our preventative and emergency service teams keep your systems running smoothly long after installation.
Industries We Help Automate
Flatiron automation helps organizations meet the changing demands of their industry. From assembly lines to workstations and loading docks, we work with leading businesses in key economic sectors, including:
- Aerospace
- Construction
- Implement Dealers
- Injection Molding
- Ports & Terminals
- Assembly Plants
- General Manufacturing
- Automotive Manufacturing
- Steel & Aluminum Processing
- Cement & Aggregate Production
- Distribution & Warehousing
- Mining and Petroleum Extraction
- Marinas and Boat Storage Facilities
- Coal, Nuclear, Natural Gas, and Hydroelectric Power Plants
FAQs
-
Will automation benefit my operation?
Automation improves nearly all types of lifting operations, allowing you to move objects and materials safely, accurately, and efficiently.
-
Is my crane too old to automate?
While many older cranes can be automated, there is a point where it’s simply more cost-effective to purchase a new system, whether it’s due to outdated electronics, antiquated control systems, or worn parts. A Flatiron engineer can help determine if modernizing or replacing your crane is the best way to upgrade your facility.
-
How long will my crane be down during an upgrade?
It depends on the size of your crane, the scope of the automation, and the condition of your system. A minor adjustment might only take 2-5 days, while a full replacement might last up to twelve weeks.
-
Will automation work with my existing warehouse management system?
Our software is fully compatible with existing management systems, allowing you to coordinate material flow with minimal effort.
-
What information do you need to give me a quote?
In order to provide a quote for a new or upgraded system, our engineers need to know your load requirements, crane type, lifting configuration, building dimensions, available voltage, and automation requirements (fully automated, semi-automated, etc.), along with your production goals and service preferences.