Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2019)

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HEAVY LIFTERS IN THE SHIPYARD

Production Machinery Mechanic Ethan Holland operates the TK-EVO Heavy Lifting Device using a remote-controlled device.

REMOTE CONTROL

Seeking a way to move industrial plant equipment TK-EVO,” said Kwong. The TK-EVO is a battery- (IPE) without a forklift or crane, the Industrial Engi- operated, remote-controlled powered crawler used neering Department (Code 983) began researching for heavy load transportation. With a more compact a heavy lifting device that could be operated with a size and only weighing less than 500 pounds, the small team to increase ef? ciency for the workforce. machine is able to traverse the corridors and nar- “When we’re moving IPEs on the waterfront, row pathways with ease with an operator using a we have to follow standard operating procedures wireless hand-held controller. It can lift up to 20-ton when utilizing crane services,” said Code 983 Mon loads by itself and up to 40-ton loads with the rear

Kwong. For each lift, a team would be assembled roller units that were included. In addition, the unit featuring seven Lifting and Handling (Code 700) comes with four powered hydraulic toe jacks used personnel, two Code 900F.12 maintenance mechan- to lift the IPEs and place them on the main crawler ics and a Code 983 engineer. A lengthy process and roller units. would then begin including drafting lifting sketch- “We wanted to see this unit in action and see if it es, approvals being routed and coordinating the ? t our needs,” added Kwong. Hilman came into the team to build a lift plan and oversee the project. In shipyard to provide a demonstration of the equip- addition, lifting IPEs are considered overhead func- ment, the team ? tting a HAAS VF-2 CNC Milling tions and take a backseat to production work, so that Machine onto the TK-EVO and using it to transfer extends the length of time to get the job done. “We the machine from the ? rst ? oor to the third ? oor of would see constant delays which cause labor-hour the toolmakers building. The machine in question increases, excessive down-time, missed transporta- weighed approximately 9,500 pounds. The device tion deadlines and disruption of the entire planning handled the load and was able to maneuver onto the process. We accomplish less work this way in the freight elevator and through the narrow passage- longest amount of time which is a lose-lose for ev- ways. eryone involved.” The entire operation was completed within four “We researched a device that would ? t our speci? - hours and only required two mechanics for ? tting cations for our waterfront and we found the Hilman the machine and one operator at the controls.

Photo Courtesty Norfold Naval Shipyard Public Affairs/Hilman TK-EVO www.marinelink.com 51

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