Case Study

A CMAA Class F charger crane that doubled forge capacity in a single mobilization.

Industry: Raw Materials

A specialty alloy producer running high-temperature furnace and forge operations needed to double its plant capacity through a major crane upgrade, but faced an exacting set of constraints. The new crane had to perform reliably in a furnace environment where ambient temperatures climbed to 2,500°F, move 20-foot-long ingots with continuous 360-degree precision, reuse the customer’s existing peel tool (so no costly retooling was required), and be installed without taking the production facility off-line. The customer set a 12-month delivery window and a firm capital budget. Han-Tek delivered the entire on-site installation, from rigging through commissioning, in a single mobilization measured in days, not weeks.

Their Challenge:

Double plant production capacity through a major charging crane upgrade while keeping the high-temperature forge facility running through the changeover.
Engineer a crane rated for CMAA Class F “Continuous Severe Service,” the highest CMAA classification, defined for cranes “capable of handling loads approaching rated capacity continuously under severe service conditions throughout its life.”
Move 20-foot-long ingots with continuous 360-degree polar rotation and the precision needed to load and unload furnace charges without operator hand-correction.
Replace a legacy DC-drive crane with a new AC-drive crane while reusing the customer’s existing peel tool and end-of-arm hardware, so the new and existing cranes could continue to share spare parts and operating procedures.
Complete the full project (engineering, fabrication, factory acceptance, on-site installation, debug, training, and certification) within 12 months and within a firm budget.

Our Solution:

Han-Tek delivered a turnkey 12-ton, 65-foot-span double-girder top-running charger crane, fabricated to CMAA Class F “Continuous Severe Service” standards by ACE World Companies in Fort Worth, Texas, with Han-Tek acting as single-point project manager from spec through commissioning.
All four motions (bridge, main hoist, polar rotation, and trolley) run on V/F flux-vector drives in NEMA 12 enclosures. Bridge speed reaches 300 FPM with a 7-second acceleration to top speed despite the crane’s 198,700-pound mass; the 12-ton hoist runs at 8 FPM on 6-part double reeving with 3/4″ wire rope; the polar motion provides continuous 360-degree rotation at 4.5 RPM on a 96-inch SKF / Rotek slewing bearing with dual-drive torque limiters and 3-second acceleration.
The crane was engineered to use the same peel attachment as the existing crane so spare parts, operator procedures, and process tooling carried over without retraining or duplicate inventory. The legacy and new cranes can be operated interchangeably as production demands shift.
A custom climate-controlled operator cab (ISP-supplied with air conditioning and a filtration system) protects the operator and electronics in the furnace-zone environment. The cab is fitted with a Merritt full-swivel chair with rotational locks, attached Merritt mill-duty joysticks for all motions, retractable ladders to ground and bridge, and a Vickers/Baldor 15-HP hydraulic power unit for the peel function with a Parker 15-inch cylinder.
A laser-based anti-collision system (covering both crane-to-crane proximity and end-stop limits) was specified as a dedicated work-package on the project, protecting personnel and equipment during high-speed bridge motion in the shared bay.
The complete on-site installation was performed in a single mobilization by Han-Tek’s in-house crew, using the existing in-bay Morgan crane for major lifts. Around-the-clock site support followed through the first full week of production to tune drives, train operators across all three shifts, and certify the system to operational acceptance.

The Results:

Plant capacity doubled: The new charger crane delivered the production capacity increase the customer needed, meeting the primary goal of the project.
Single-mobilization installation: The full on-site install (rigging, erection, electrification, debug, and certified turnover) was completed in a single mobilization, minimizing disruption to live forge operations.
Within budget and on schedule: The project landed within the original capital budget and inside the 12-month delivery window the customer had specified.
Operator safety upgraded: Continuous 360-degree polar precision plus a laser-based crane-to-crane and end-stop anti-collision system let operators move 20-foot ingots at higher speeds with substantially reduced collision risk.
Spare parts and procedures preserved: Reusing the existing peel attachment and matching control conventions across the AC and DC cranes simplified maintenance and kept the customer’s existing spare-parts inventory intact across the transition.
Multi-year partnership extended: The new charger crane built on a multi-year Han-Tek relationship at the same plant covering earlier control modifications, cab upgrades, AC retrofits, and crane-capacity studies, with follow-on work continuing into runway extensions and radio control upgrades after this project.

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