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There are several different kinds of cranes, all with features that make them stand out from the rest. The one thing that unites all cranes is their ability to lift and move extremely heavy loads. However, industrial cranes, specifically industrial overhead cranes, can do five things that other cranes cannot.

Slide Side to Side

Few cranes can freely move along a horizontal or vertical axis. At least, they cannot move without wheels or crawler tracks. Overhead cranes can. In fact, you can even set up a checkerboard grid on which the cranes can move and change direction simply by turning ninety degrees left or right and sliding off onto a ceiling beam within the checkerboard frame structure. It is almost a modern dance piece when you see these cranes in action.

Lift Heavy Objects over Greater Distances

Sure, overhead cranes lift heavy objects, but they also lift these loads over greater distances. For example, if you wanted to lift a crucible of liquid metal over an entire smelting factory distance of one mile without the crucible ever spilling, touching the ground, or having an employee touch the hot crucible, you can completely do that. Along the way, it would never sway, tip, or spill a drop, either.

Pass Loads to Another Overhead Crane

Magnetic hooks grab onto and pass heavy loads from one overhead crane to the next. The transfer of loads may be assisted by an employee when the load is lowered and the hooks are clamped to corresponding loops on the container or mesh net holding the load. This reduces the amount of contamination a substance might encounter via more frequent human contact.

Put Part of an Industrial Plant on Auto-Pilot

Some areas of a plant are just too dangerous for people to work in. Here, the cranes do most of the work on the assembly lines or carry loads over grinders, crushers, and incinerators. The cranes themselves can withstand extremely high temperatures, making them an ideal solution in a hostile environment (i.e., hostile to humans). There is no chance that anyone can be hurt in these parts of the plant because the cranes do the jobs that would otherwise be the responsibility of humans.

Load Train Cars and Treat "Delicate" Loads with Care

Sometimes, as is the case with paper-making industries, the warehouses are located along railroad tracks. The overhead cranes extend out over the tracks, just high enough to place giant paper rolls into box cars or flatbed cars. Clearly, no human could manage this task, and other loading vehicles would damage the giant rolls of paper.

The overhead crane is equipped with special attachments that pick up each roll of paper as though it were feathers, and then extend the rolls outward toward the train cars with no damage to the paper on the rolls. You will never see that with a forklift or other warehouse lifting equipment. You definitely could not lift important products of this immense size and weight out of a warehouse and manage to lightly set them down on a train.

Ordering and Installing Overhead Industrial Cranes

If you do not have any of these cranes yet, but you know they would be ideal for your own company, you should first place an order with someone over the phone. You should include the widths, heights, and average amount of weight over distance that you expect the cranes to manage regularly. The sales representative can help you select the correct crane products for your industry. Installation with some crane companies is free, but you do have to ask for it. Check out posts like this post to learn more.