Lift for plant maintenance: factory and production site

A factory maintenance department most often works from an electric scissor lift. It enters the hall through an ordinary gate, produces no exhaust fumes, does not dirty the floor and has a platform for two people with tools and parts. It is used for inspections and repairs of installations under the ceiling, replacing luminaires and sensors, work at rooflights and on the runways of overhead cranes. When the place of work is above a production line, a conveyor or a machine you cannot drive under, you need an electric articulating boom lift: its platform reaches sideways and over the obstacle. For individual, spot jobs in tight aisles a vertical mast lift is enough. For constant, repetitive work, long-term rental usually pays off better than buying.

Whatever the plant calls it (cherry picker, aerial work platform or MEWP), it is equipment under the supervision of the Office of Technical Inspection (UDT): the machine must have a current examination, and the operator a qualification certificate.

What maintenance work is done from a lift?

The maintenance department goes up to height when something has to be checked, repaired or replaced without dismantling the installation. Typical tasks:

• Installations under the ceiling: cable trays and cable routes, compressed air pipelines, sprinkler pipework, extraction and ventilation ducts, filters and dampers.
• Lighting and sensors: replacing luminaires and power supplies, motion and temperature sensors, detectors, cameras, Wi-Fi access points.
• Rooflights and smoke vents: seals, actuators, leaks, cleaning the glazing.
• Overhead cranes and runways: rails, end stops, conductor rails, lighting and fittings on the crane bridge.
• Conveyors and production lines: suspended conveyors, drives, rollers, guards, position sensors and cabling above the line.
• Hall structure: fixings of installations to girders, connections, marking, touching up paint coatings.

We cover the installation of new systems separately in the article lift for installations under the ceiling. Here we focus on the routine servicing of an operating plant.

Which lift for which job in a factory?

• Electric scissor lift. The maintenance department’s basic machine. It travels straight up to the luminaire, tray or crane runway. Most models in our fleet have a working height of about 7.7 to 14.3 m and a capacity usually from 227 to 454 kg, that is two people with tools and spare parts. The narrowest are 0.76–0.81 m wide and fit through doors and between machines.
• Electric articulating boom lift. When a line, press, tank or conveyor stands under the place of work. The machine stands alongside, and the jointed arm brings the platform over the obstacle. In the fleet we have models from about 10.9 to 20.4 m working height, with a sideways reach from about 5.5 m in the smallest to about 13.5 m in the largest. The platform is smaller (capacity 200–230 kg), so you take up only what is needed.
• Self-propelled vertical mast lift. A small platform (capacity 200 kg), a working height of about 10–12.7 m and compact dimensions. For quick, spot tasks: a sensor, a camera, a single luminaire in a narrow aisle. In the same group there is a manual installation lift (about 190 kg in weight, 300 kg capacity), which lifts a section of duct, a pipe or a panel up to the ceiling.

In a larger plant a combination often works best: a scissor lift for everyday work and an articulating boom lift for jobs over lines. A single machine “for everything” usually means a compromise either in reach or in platform size.

How do you choose the height for a production hall?

Working height is the height of the platform floor plus about 2 m. You measure not the height of the hall but the highest point you have to reach: a crane runway, a rooflight at the ridge, a luminaire hung from a girder. Above a production line the sideways reach also counts, that is the distance from the place where the machine can stand to the point of work. It is worth measuring this before asking for a quote: you give the height of the working point, the obstacle and the width of the passage, and we choose the model.

How do you work from a lift in a hall that stays in use?

Most maintenance work is done without stopping the whole plant. An electric machine is quiet and emission-free, but in a hall with people and trucks moving around, a few things must be settled before driving in:

• Fencing off the zone. The area under the platform and around the machine is marked with tape or barriers, and nobody walks under the platform. Forklift traffic is routed along another aisle, agreed with the shift manager.
• Overhead cranes, lines, conveyors. Before the platform enters the reach of a runway or goes over a conveyor, the equipment is stopped and secured against starting according to the plant’s procedure (lock-out and tagging). A crane travelling over a raised platform is a real crushing risk.
• Shifts and shutdowns. Work above a line is planned for a changeover, a process shutdown, the weekend or the night shift. A rented machine stands at the plant and is ready when the line stops.
• Passages. A stowed electric scissor lift is about 1.8 to 2.8 m high, so before delivery you check gates, doors, passages under pipelines and gantries, and the width of aisles between machines.
• Floor. An electric scissor lift weighs from about 1.4 to over 5 t, an electric articulating boom lift from about 3.7 to 8 t. The load is concentrated under the wheels, so you avoid grilles, service trenches and manholes, and for mezzanines you ask the structural engineer about the load capacity (more in the article how much does a lift weigh and what is the floor load capacity). Spilled oil or coolant is removed before driving. Non-marking tyres leave no marks.
• Charging and parking. The machine is charged from a 230 V socket, usually overnight; one charging cycle is enough for a day’s work. The parking and charging place is chosen away from escape routes and access to hydrants.

Long-term rental or buying a lift for the plant?

When a lift is needed every week, a maintenance department naturally thinks of buying. In practice many plants choose long-term rental, because:

• Service and UDT examinations are the rental company’s responsibility. We keep track of maintenance inspections, examination dates and repairs, and your department does not add another machine to its own schedule.
• Replacement machine. When a repair on site drags on, we supply another machine from the fleet where needed, and work does not wait for parts.
• No tied-up capital. The department’s budget does not go into one big purchase, and the rental cost is steady and easy to plan.
• Height matched to the task. Day to day a narrow scissor lift is enough, and for an inspection of a crane runway or rooflights you take a taller machine or an articulating boom lift for a few days. A machine you have bought has one height and one reach.
• Changing the machine when the hall changes. A new line, new racking or production moved: we swap the machine for another, instead of you having to resell your own.

Buying makes sense when the machine works for you practically every day for years and the plant has someone it can assign to operate it. You can then hand over the maintenance inspections and the UDT examination dates of your own lift to us under our service packages.

Who in the maintenance department may operate a lift?

The operator of a mobile elevating work platform must hold a UDT qualification certificate. As standard, a rented machine is operated by your employee with such qualifications. It is worth training at least two people from the department, so that one person’s holiday or illness does not stop the work. In the platform of an articulating boom lift, a harness with a lanyard is mandatory.

We run UDT training courses with an exam, including group courses for manufacturing companies: the whole maintenance crew can be trained on a single date, for the type of lift used at the plant. If you do not yet have qualified people, ask about rental with an operator when you request a quote; this is possible when one of our service technicians qualified as an operator is free on that date.

What happens when the machine stops?

We have our own mobile service: a mechanic comes to the machine in the production hall, so it does not have to be taken out of the plant. The repair is done on site, and when it drags on, we supply a replacement machine where needed. The same service carries out inspections and repairs of lifts that the plant owns.

RK Rental has its base in Brzoza near Bydgoszcz and over 250 machines in its fleet. We arrange delivery across the whole of Poland. Describe your hall and the maintenance department’s tasks: the height of the working points, obstacles, the width of passages and the expected rental period, and we will choose a machine or a set of machines.

Frequently asked questions

Which lift should a factory maintenance department use?

Most often an electric scissor lift: it travels straight up to the installation, has a platform for two people with tools and parts, produces no exhaust fumes and does not dirty the floor. Most such machines in our fleet have a working height of about 7.7 to 14.3 m. When the place of work is above a production line or conveyor, an electric articulating boom lift is used (in the fleet about 10.9–20.4 m), and for spot jobs in tight aisles a small vertical mast lift.

Can you work from a lift without stopping production?

Yes. Electric machines are quiet and emission-free, so they work in a hall that stays in use. The zone under the platform is fenced off and forklift traffic is routed alongside. The exception is work at an overhead crane, conveyor or line: that equipment has to be stopped and secured against starting for the duration of the work, which is why such jobs are planned for a shutdown, a changeover or the night shift.

Is it better to rent long term or buy a lift for the plant?

With long-term rental, inspections, UDT examinations and repairs are the rental company’s responsibility, you get a replacement machine if needed, you do not tie up capital and you can change the machine when a job needs a different height. Buying makes sense when the lift works for you practically every day for years and the plant has someone it can assign to keep track of inspections and UDT dates.

Can a maintenance employee operate a rented lift?

Yes, if they hold a UDT qualification certificate for mobile elevating work platforms (UDT is the Polish Office of Technical Inspection). This is the standard rental arrangement. RK Rental runs training courses with an exam, including group courses for companies. If nobody at the plant holds the qualification, ask about rental with an operator when you request a quote; this is possible when one of our service technicians qualified as an operator is free on that date.

What happens if the rented lift breaks down?

You report the fault and our mobile service comes to the machine at the plant and repairs it on site, without taking it out of the hall. If the repair drags on, we supply a replacement machine from the fleet where needed.