Genie boom helps manufacturer in a tight spot
1 min read
Buracco, an industrial valve manufacturer, has found the solution to costly downtime of conveyor belts which are difficult to access. Its maintenance team needed to reach the belts when faults occurred but traditional access equipment wasn't suitable – it found the answer with a Genie articulating boom with rotating jib. The boom is just over one metre wide, enabling easy manoeuvrability in a compact footprint.
The valve maker is based in southern France and asked its local material handling equipment rental firm, JPB Materiel-Medloc, for an emergency hire. Buracco's production manager M Azzalin explains: "When one of the new belts broke down eight metres above the paint workshop and we could not access the repair site, we had to react quickly."
The Genie Z-30/20N RJ enabled Buracco's maintenance staff to steer over the workshop unit, thanks to a working height in excess of 11 metres and horizontal reach of 6.25m. The equipment was also ideal for the limited floor space and narrow walkways around the facility due to the zero tail swing, meaning whatever the position of the machine, the turntable does not extend beyond the edge of the drive chassis when it is rotated.
Buracco found the equipment could also be used for outside maintenance, as well as routine tasks such as changing light bulbs and electrical work, so the company has now purchased the Genie machine. Azzalin says: "The Genie is well suited to our factory, with a zero tail swing and offering us precise positioning. Owning one allows us to react at any time, in crowded places that are otherwise inaccessible, and especially without interrupting production, so we can guarantee our delivery dates."