Developing Smarter Lift Tables, Tilters and Other Lift Equipment
Article from MHI Solutions Magazine
Back in the day, most lift tables, scissor lifts and tilters came with just a single control: a button or switch allowing the user to move the equipment up or down.
These days, however, manufacturers and distributors are demanding smarter lift equipment that integrates with other material-handling products to increase efficiency and reduce labor costs. Customers also want to maximize uptime by monitoring the status of their lift equipment, quickly diagnosing malfunctions and using data to predict failures.
“Going forward, lift tables need to have more advanced controls so they can talk, or as I say, ‘handshake,’ with robots,” said Stephen M. Graffam, senior product manager for MHI member Blue Giant Equipment Corp. “It’s forcing lift-table manufacturers to develop in-house control groups, which in decades past wasn’t even something being considered.”
Graffam serves as vice chair of MHI’s Lift Manufacturers Product Group (LIFT), which develops industry best practices, standards and information for equipment that lifts, rotates, tilts or otherwise positions materials. Examples include lift tables, scissor lifts, tilters, vertical reciprocating conveyors and pallet rotators.
Graffam will begin a two-year term as LIFT’s chair at the MHI Annual Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from October 1-4. He’ll succeed James Johnston, director of engineering for MHI member Autoquip Corp., who’s chaired the group for almost four years…
