Reliable, Customized Hoists From STAHL CraneSystems Are Ideal Solution for Middle East Manufacturer

Over the past few years, RIVA GmbH Engineering in Backnang has grown at an astonishing rate. With multiple facilities, the company relies on state-of-the-art radio crane systems to lift extremely heavy loads and handle in-house logistics. These cranes are supplied by Innokran and feature crane technology from STAHL CraneSystems.

RIVA Engineering in Backnang, Baden-Württemberg, had a project to remodel and extend the Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which was scheduled for completion in 2018. The four-leaf glass doors are up to 16 meters wide and each leaf consists of glass elements weighing up to nearly 4 tons framed by massive duplex steel profiles. RIVA was responsible for manufacturing many decorative facade elements, including elaborate decorations, milled from heavy aluminum plates, with individual designs for each mosque and each palace. Production ran at full speed in two shifts, making great demands on in-house logistics and required cranes to operate efficiently anytime they were needed.

Twelve overhead travelling cranes supplied by Innokran, with reliable crane technology from STAHL CraneSystems, were installed for logistics in the production shop. The customer wanted a store with a visually appealing production environment, as there are regular visits from important customers and delegates from the Arabian region to inspect prototypes or to get an idea of the manufacturing process.

The cranes were painted an unobtrusive grey and had no visible festoon cable systems. Instead, the power supply systems along the crane runways and crane bridges were designed as elegant contactor lines. RIVA wanted an off-standard feature as well – a power supply to each load hook to connect electrical equipment.

“This wasn’t possible using conventional conductor lines, but we were able to meet the customer’s request with a 10-pole safety conductor line from Paul Vahle, so our crane bridges and the wire rope hoists get by without any cumbersome festoon cables,” said Christoph Fischer of Innokran.

Each of the twelve overhead travelling cranes was equipped with an 8-ton SH wire rope hoist from STAHL CraneSystems. This allowed the cranes to be coupled in pairs via the radio remote control if large or particularly heavy elements need to be transported.

The cranes’ off-standard features included easily legible load displays to provide information on the load suspended from each wire rope hoist. Bright LED lights from RIVA’s sister company, RIVA Lighting, illuminate the work area underneath the wire rope hoists and ensure ideal working conditions. With this high-performance crane system, RIVA has its material flow under control and, at the same time, can present itself to its customers in the best way possible.

“RIVA is working flat out, so it’s essential for everything to work properly. The SH wire rope hoist from STAHL CraneSystems is a fast, low-maintenance and extremely reliable wire rope hoist and ideally suited to this demanding work environment,” said Fischer.