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Hiab is a byword in transport-lifting operations. Tim Maughan braves

15th March 2007, Page 58
15th March 2007
Page 58
Page 59
Page 58, 15th March 2007 — Hiab is a byword in transport-lifting operations. Tim Maughan braves
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the weather to visit the firm's Multilift factory in southern Finland.

This year, Hiab is to increase dramatically production of its Multilift hook-loader range. Manufacturing lines in Finland and China are to remain. but Holland operations are to be transferred to Hungary.

lsmo Leppanen,the firm's UK managing director, announces the decision to journalists and British Hiab personnel in the most unusual of settings: on board the 34,000-tonne cruise ferry Amorella, as she presses on through an ice-laden Baltic Sea. CM is on board.

With sub-zero winds howling outside the vessel, Leppanen says: "Multilift production will gradually increase during spring so that,in June, it will be 50% above last year's level."

In 2007, Hiab is replacing its LUIS hookloaders with the XR range.The firm has subjected the new gear to thorough testing procedures. Leppanen explains that pieces of machinery have undergone 150,000 torsion test cycles.The Finnish company has also invested heavily in specialist robot welders. Product manager Hans Ekman tells delegates that faster-operating equipment will increase the number of drops and collections, leading to higher revenues. "It is easy to calculate it in money," he remarks.The ship then deposits CM on the snowy island of Aland, 120 miles south-west of the Finnish mainland. After a coach tour and a night in a coastal lodge. Hiab flies us back to the mainland in a Piper propeller aeroplane. The hardy little aircraft reducesArnorella's six-hour crossing to only 30 minutes, and provides us with a panoramic view of the frozen Finnish landscape.

After another coach trip, we reach our chief destination: the Multilift factory in Raisio, near Turku, the oldest city in Finland.

"Last week, it was -3CPC, but today the temperature is just -8°C," reports Jakko Valila, Finland sales director. It is still cold enough to make taking notes problematic.

A local operator appears in a 60-tonne combination and puts a Multilift LHS 321 through its paces.

The assembled party then takes a look at a brand new crane, hook-loader, and tail-lift installation workshop. Inside is an 801m truckmounted crane, Hiab's largest TM C.-11fis facility is serviced by a dozen fitters. says Valila. It has 2,000m' of building accommodation and cost more than £2m.

Leppanen and Ekman then lead us to the testing facility.There, a Multilift XR 21S lifts 17 tonnes of concrete blocks,two tonnes over its maximum payload. Still, the hook-loader performs its task rather smoothly.

Production line

We are soon on the production line. "This is where the material flow starts; high-tensile steel and other raw materials," says Ekman.

The steel is cut both manually and by machine.Teams then loosely assemble the frames. I liab has invested in robot welders, but humans weld the frames together first.

We watch as a robot methodically goes about its work,deftly sealing the joints of an XR.2 l frame. Machinery promptly flips the frame upside down. allowing the robotic arm to complete its task. A £670,000 machine then puts holes into the frames. "It is important to do the broaching only after welding, to avoid distortion," reports Ekman. Shot-blasting is carried out before painting. A large yellow conveyor belt, which resembles a miniature roller coaster, transports the frames to a drying area. Finally, wiring, hooks and so on are attached. "Then each hook-lift is tested, which takes between two and three hours," says Ekman.

A selection of hooks is displayed at the end of the production line, each destined for a different country.

Andrew Smith of Hiab dealership Londondeny Garage remarks:" It's interesting to see them actually being built.We sell, repair and service Hiabs, so it's good to see the production process."


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