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INTELLIGENT CRANES ON THE MOVE

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To ensure that cranes used in demanding industrial processes are up and running at all times, Konecranes has recently launched an innovative remote services product family named TRUCONNECT. The first two products in this family are the TRUVIEW® data reporting service and the full-service package, the TRUCARE® solution.

Based on remote connection between the crane and a Konecranes remote centre, TRUVIEW provides the customer with a realistic view of their crane’s operating conditions through continuous data collection.

‘All information from the crane is automatically sent to the remote center to be further processed and finally concretized in sophisticated reports. In the remote centre, we have a dedicated organization and enough resources to operate the remote services worldwide,’ says Tuomo Härkönen, the head of Global Technical Services. ‘TRUVIEW can be offered also for older cranes through installation of a retrofitting package that enables the remote connection. It’s even possible to install the remote connection for a competitor’s cranes if we have a maintenance contract with the customer,’ he continues.

Save time and money

The reports compiled by TRUVIEW can be viewed over the Internet by both the customer and Konecranes maintenance staff.

‘In the reports, we emphasize safety issues such as whether overloads or emergency stops have occurred, and how the maintenance can be optimized,’ says Sampsa Mattheiszen, Konecranes Product Engineer, Remote Services. ‘As all data come from actual usage, it is possible to tailor the maintenance for individual cranes according to the real need,’ he says.

TRUVIEW enables Konecranes to help its customers not just to improve the safe use of their equipment but also to provide the right maintenance at the right time and to assess the life cycle of crane components.

‘It makes it possible, for example, to postpone certain overhaul of a crane if the data show that it’s been used less than the estimated life time,’ explains Mattheiszen.

The core strength of Konecranes, extending also to remote services, is the company’s global service network, consisting of more than 3,500 service technicians, in 46 countries.

Mattheiszen says: ‘We are by far the biggest crane manufacturer to offer remote services for its lifting devices internationally. Our service technicians combine old-school handicraft with new enabling technology such as TRUCONNECT. This combination can earn huge money for our customers.’

Benefit from a full-service package

TRUCARE is a five-year full-service package that Konecranes offers with new industrial CXT cranes that are still within their warranty period. TRUCARE always includes TRUVIEW, and for a fixed monthly fee it covers all necessary maintenance activities and spare parts for five years.

‘It means, in fact, that we share the financial risk with the customer,’ says Mattheiszen, who continues: ‘As long as the equipment is used properly, we cover all the costs of necessary maintenance and spare parts. The price for TRUCARE is transparent and based to some extent on the estimated use of the crane.’

Härkönen emphasizes that Konecranes has developed the remote service technology for one purpose alone: to give the customers new opportunities to enhance their business operations. He says: ‘We have now taken the first steps related to remote services, and several new maintenance products and services are in the pipeline.’ /ins


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