Are you due for an overhead crane inspection but you aren't really sure
what factors into the cost of it? Well, you are in the right place my friends,
because that's exactly what we're talking about today!
Welcome to Cranes 101!
What's up guys, Devon here from Mazzella companies and today we're tackling overhead crane
inspection. I'm gonna tell you what factors into the cost, I'm gonna tell you
how often you need to get your crane inspected, and most importantly and
probably the reason you clicked on this video is we're going to talk about how
much this is going to cost you. If you're planning your budget for the next year
or if this is a surprise inspection, there are a couple things that you can
do to really calculate the cost to really prepare for how much it's going
to cost so it doesn't catch you by surprise. That is the entire purpose of this video.
To help me explain this, I reached out to Ryan Willoughby one of the Mazzella crane
services field service technicians. With over 10 years of experience he was more
than willing to answer my questions about what factors is another cost and
those other two points that I talked about. We started the very very top with
what an overhead crane inspection entails. An overhead crane inspection basically
is, the technician going out looking for safety factors, problems with the crane
that could cause accidents or any mechanical failures so the crane will
run efficiently and safely so nobody will have any problems. So the purpose of
the inspection is to keep your team safe and keep your company compliant. But how
many inspectors does it take to inspect your facility? One inspector can probably
handle I say six b-class cranes a day. It might be a ten-hour day though if you're
dealing with a heavier duty class crane it'll take a team of guys a whole shift
to do some cranes are more complicated than others
obviously they're gonna take a lot more time to inspect all the components all
the extra limit switches all the motor controls. We do make cranes that are kit
cranes that are real simple. Running VFDs a few IEC contactors. Not a whole
lot to look at in the control circuit side. There's a big difference between
looking at mill duty crane versus a kit crane / b-class crane. It's night and day. It could take two
hours it could take twelve hours, with three guys.
When planning ahead for your inspection it's really important to take
into account how many cranes you have, what's the complexity of the way that
they're built? Those different factors will depend on how long the technicians
will be there and that's a really common question that we get here. "How long can
you expect those technicians to be on your site?" It's gonna be hours most
likely but the crane itself determines how long it's going to take. A small jib
crane, just the chain hoist on it that doesn't have any motorized
trolley function or anything is gonna take a short amount of time compared to
a Mill Duty crane, that's a DC crane that's got four motor DC-series
motors and stuff like that. Capacity of the crane doesn't always affect how long
it's going to take to do the Crane. I'd say the duty class is a more important factor
there. If you've got a 5-ton B-class crane you may be able to whip through it
pretty quickly. Compared to a 5-Ton mill duty crane might take twice as long,
three times as long to do that 5-ton. Now Ryan and I spoke at length
about some of the challenges our inspectors face from day to day.
Some places require that you go through training before we even walking into their
facility. Others require that you wear specific safety gear. Neither of those
are a problem but it does add to the cost. Other factors that affect of fast
an overhead crane inspections gonna get done and how efficiently it's gonna get done
I guess, is the equipment needed to get up there. Scissor lifts, JLG,z how
accessible it is, production schedule. Obviously whether you get on that crane
or you have to give up the cranes due to production. Site training. A lot of times on-site
training is whole day or half a day, just to be aware of the hazards that are in
the environment. You may have to have a ground guy might have to tape off a zone and so
these are all factors how much stuff is gonna cost as far as inspection goes. Access
to the crane is probably a bigger factor. Sometimes those areas that are almost
impossible to reach out to, and you have to shut down machinery or something or
have workers get out of the way and stop production so that you can access those
areas but you have to look at every area of the crane although sometimes they're
put in there's they're not thinking about that in those machine settings.
Ryan also told me that something that people typically forget about is
distance and travel time. If your facility is only ten minutes away from
the inspector that's great, they're just gonna be in they're gonna get out of
there. But if you have a huge facility with several cranes and you need an
entire team to come to your site to stay there for several days and then to get
back home, then you're talking travel, then you're talking lodging, then you're
talking food. All those different things will come into effect when you're
calculating your cost for the overhead crane inspection. So it's definitely
something to note and think about if you do live and you know that you operate
far away from the inspection facility. Obviously you want to be as prepared as
possible for your inspection. So we wanted to do what we could to help you
out in addition to this video. If you follow the link above it'll take you to
our pre-inspection checklist. It's a free download it doesn't cost you anything
whatsoever, but the guide will help you get organized help you better understand
what to expect and really just better prepare
yourself for the inspection. A lot of the cost that we've talked about so far are
things that you can account for. This checklist will help you get better
organized, so you can account for those things in your budget so they're not
surprises. The CMAA, OSHA , ASME and other governing bodies have a specific
criteria about how often you should get your cranes inspected. But what do the
inspectors think about how often you should or should not do it?
You should inspect a crane every time you use it at least a visual inspection
of the function check to make sure you don't have something going on your ropes
or your sheaves and make sure your limit switches in functioning so an accident.
You can you can do a monthly inspection yourself or have a qualified
crane technician looking at it. Why use somebody outside other than
using your own guys to do this inspection? I would say that they get complacent,
get used to hearing the same noises day-in day-out. It's kind of like if
you're looking in the mirror every day and you're gaining two pounds every
couple weeks you don't really pay attention to notice
that. Then you see somebody a month later and it's like, wow, you look like you've gained 20
pounds. It's the same scenario. Basically we're gonna walk in and we're gonna
notice that noise that's abnormal. That break shouldn't be that loud, let's go ahead
and take a closer look at that. Those types of scenarios.
Alright, let's get down to brass tax here. How much does an overhead crane inspection cost?
It's based almost entirely on how long it's gonna take and
what crane company you pick for the inspection. They range from, i'd say, $60
an hour at $120 an hour depending on the company. But you got to take in all those
factors we just discussed. How long it takes to get there, how long it's gonna take
to do the inspection. How many guys need to be on the inspection,
what equipment needs to be rented just to do that job. That's gonna make all the difference.
So we've noticed that every once in a while if you're comparing overhead crane
inspection quotes you might find an outlier.
Somebody who's offering you way less money to do that inspection than the
other quotes that you have. And we've come to find out that there's actually a
specific reason that you might find one quote cheaper than the rest.
You might find you're comparing quotes from some different companies that one of the companies is
extremely low compared to the other ones. And that's oftentimes it's just to get
their foot in the door to get some service work generated on those
inspections. Generally speaking the companies that
are in the same range are probably there just to do the inspection to keep you safe.
I hope video is able to help you better understand the factors that go into an
overhead crane inspection, how often you need to inspect your cranes, and most
importantly how much your overhead crane inspection should cost. If you like this
video definitely click Subscribe. There's an option right there at the bottom at
the end of the video there's option for you as well, that way you won't miss out
on any of the other videos that we've got in development. If you are into
overhead cranes or you have overhead cranes in your facility, definitely check
out the cranes 101 series that this is a part of because we've already covered
the different types and what they are and we're gonna keep on building on from
there. An overhead crane inspection is not just an investment in the safety of
your employees, it's also an investment in your facility. To make sure that you
don't have lead times. That your cranes aren't down. That you can keep production
going. When you weigh the cost of an OSHA fine or an injured employee, against the
cost of an inspection; it's a no-brainer. At Mazzella companies our field service
technicians work hand-in-hand with our companies to make sure that they are
safe and compliant. If you'd like to receive a quote or schedule a
consultation to develop a crane inspection program please reach out to
one of our crane specialists they'd be more than happy to help you out. For all
of us at Mazzella companies my name is Devon McCarty. Thank you for watching.