Recently, access and material-handling equipment manufacturer Manitou Group, highlighted its expertise in providing special solutions that let its forklifts and telehandlers meet the specific needs particular industries or applications.
As a handling, personnel lifting, and earthmoving specialist, Manitou Group offers a very wide range of solutions to meet the needs of its users.
Manitou’s Special Solutions department, with the support of a center dedicated to attachment design and production, provides the group with differentiating know-how and allows it to create custom solutions.
In 2012, the group established an attachment expert team, the “Attachment Competences Center,” comprising 22 people, 18 of whom are at the plant in Castelfranco, Italy.
The ACC designs 85% of the company’s telehandler attachments and manufactures 70% of them. That’s nearly 3,500 attachments. All the attachments undergo numerous tests at Manitou Group's R&D Test Center in order to guarantee they will deliver high quality and durability under demanding conditions.
This know-how is particularly valuable in today’s increasingly competitive environment. “Because of this division, we are able to provide real added value to our users,” said Andrea Diena, product development manager for attachments. “By offering better productivity for the machine/attachment pair, we provide optimal safety for the operator and the machine. With 600 references and 12 attachment families broken down by type of load handled, we can meet all needs.”
In addition to the forks, buckets, clamps, winches, jibs, and platforms in the catalog, the ACC also offers tailored solutions to answer specific application needs. The tailored solutions are developed jointly with a Special Solutions team in Ancenis, France.
In 2019, the group examined nearly 90 cases and finalized 50 offers, deploying many for a variety of markets.
One example: the “scaler” jackhammer, specially designed for a telehandler operating in a mine in Peru. The telehandler is used to bring down unstable blocks from the ceiling in order to secure the tunnel before it is finalized and put to work.
Another example from France’s aerospace industry: work platforms with ultrasonic sensors and cameras to reduce technician operating time and optimize aircraft maintenance.
From Benelux: a platform specially designed to help remove asbestos from buildings. Installed on a rotating telehandler, the platform lets operators to remove asbestos safely in accordance with the regulations in each country that has European type-approval.
The diversity of expertise at the ACC and the Special Solutions department let Manitou Group meet any specialized handling need, regardless of the application or industry.
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
