Materials Hoists today can be automated to save General Contractors more than $100,000 per project. We have Automated Materials Hoists that do just this for the buyers. Let’s take a look at how this works and how we can help.

Automation in Materials Hoists

Automation in Materials Hoists allows you to call the car to yourself, or to send it to the desired floor. These can function entirely without an operator. Without an operator, the savings daily can be between $500 and $1000 quite easily. $20,000 per month of use is a real metric to consider when looking at automation and materials hoists. The automation isn’t new. You see it every time you step into a commercial building. So why not do the same for loading up your building?

Configurations of the Automated Materials Hoists

Stop Managing Subcontractor’s Hoisting

One of the tasks of a General Contractor is to manage the hoisting of subcontractors. The cabinets in an apartment building takes days to load up. If you don’t have a hoist, you have a crane on site to deliver them, or you have an army of people carrying the product up the stairs. Then they’ll have to carry the waste packaging back down again. And you have the risk of each one of these employees to manage for everyday they are on site. If you have an automated hoist, your subs can manage their own hoisting operations. All you have to do is train them on how to use it. No more crane days to plan and coordinate. No more big bills from crane companies or labor suppliers. You buy the hoist once. Pay to install it. Then pay to remove it. Saving $20,000 per month is pretty easily achieved by automating the function in a hoist. You can improve the quality of your oversight of the whole project by no longer managing the hoisting of the subs.

What is a Materials Hoist

When is a Materials Hoist a “Hoist”? This is a technical question that will vary from state to state in the US. There are Materials Hoists that are designed to meet ANSI A10.5. These can be electrically simple machines. In some states that self govern their worker safety programs, they may require an elevator license to work on these. It’s a bit of a shame, because these can be amazingly affordable while still being automated so there is essentially no human risk. These end up being a bit expensive to set up and dismantle because of the licensure requirement, where that exists. If the situation is as simple as follow the manufacturer and ANSI is the guidance in your state, then a Materials Hoist built under ANSI A10.5 can be an option for you.

If you are in a state that regulates “hoists” with an elevator license requirement, then our Automated Materials Hoist may be an option to manage that cost. Our Automated Materials Hoists are designed under ANSI A92, Mobile Elevated Work Platforms. This is a scaffolding standard. Technically speaking, our Automated Materials Hoist is a setting in our Transport Platforms, which falls under the same code as motorized scaffold, or Mast Climbers. You’ll want to check your local codes, but these are not specifically regulated as “hoists” in OSHA. This means that you install it per the manufacturer. Attach and support it per an engineer. Manage the operations per the manufacturer and ANSI A92 and your company policies. It’s all very straight forward once we define what it is. A Mobile Elevated Work Platform.

The Scaffold Code addressing the subject is long, and sparsely relevant. OSHA 1926.451 for reference.

Loading a Building Quickly with a Materials Hoist

Loading a building takes a lot of unseen effort. When a truck load of doors arrives, each door carried up a 6 story building manually would cost $4.16 if a person was moving at 5 minute cycles at $50 per hour as a total cost. If you put 50 doors in an Automated Materials Hoist, the cost per door delivered could drop to $0.65. When you look at this over the task of loading a building, the cost differential on a 100 unit project is well into six figures. You’ll pay for the hoist on the first job without a challenge. And with most hoists, you can get 15 years of life out of them. Can you 15x your money as an ROI? More? If you consider just the savings of automated versus and operated hoist, you certainly can save quite a bit more. And labor isn’t getting cheaper.

These Automated Materials Hoists are 10’ long by 4.5’ wide and rated at 4400 lbs. You can double this size and capacity to 10’ by 9’ and 8800 lbs with a dual car as well. They move at 72’ per minute when in the Materials Hoist mode.

Automated Materials Hoist as a Dual Car. 10’ by 9’ and rated at 8800 lbs

Elevek Materials Hoist by CraneGear

Elevek is a Portuguese company that is related to Ciclo Fapril. CF has been manufacturing steel and aluminum structures since the 1960’s. They are a modern fabricator that has clients all across Europe. They’ve done super sport motorcycle frames for Ducati. Bumper structures for Ford. You name a company that might want to farm out certain modern fabrication processes, and you’ll find CF. They also build the Elevek steel structures in a modern process that includes robotic welding and CNC laser cutting at every turn.

When it comes to the parts that make up the Transport Platforms, you have Lafert manufacturing the motors and gearboxes. And the controls are largely Schneider providing the UL rated components. It’s all names you know and that we can source in the US quite quickly. It’s a PLC controlled and VFD driven machine with modern safety and remote connectivity built in for support and diagnosis.

The team at Elevek is responsive and English speaking. They come from another Spanish manufacturer that lost it’s team to several companies as it was bought out. When you look at the Elevek line up, you see the innovation and depth of knowledge the team has on the subject of hoists. They’ll be a regular support. Technicians could be present to help with installations and dismantles as well as in trouble shooting.

Multifamily Construction Savings

If we can help you save time and money on your Multifamily Construction projects, we’ll look forward to it. Stop paying people to walk up and down the stairs. Mitigate the risk of damage to the product, and injuries to the people carrying loads up stairs. Keep your site staff on task in ensuring you deliver a project exactly as planned on time and on budget. We can help you manage the waste and losses that are unseen in loading up the building with our Automated Materials Hoists. Reach out today by phone, or by email. We can get you a quote and look to have you a hoist in hand to realize savings in 90 to 120 days (90 to East Coast - 120 to the West Coast) from the order. You supply the engineering on the building and the team to erect it, and we’ll get you the hoist and offer technical support as well. We’ll be happy to discuss the options and process. We spend 25 years working on and owning hoists ourselves, including the Elevek Brand in our fleet. Brochure‍ ‍Materials Hoist Page @ CraneGear.net

Materials Hoists