When Eric John and Paul John set out to build the Ritz-Craft Corporation's fourth modular-home manufacturing plant, they had three goals in mind: 1) make it a state-of-the-art facility; 2) increase productivity; and 3) improve safety and ergonomics.

By installing 63 electric chain hoists and 19 cranes made from crane kits – all from a single manufacturer – along with making other strategic facility design decisions, Ritz-Craft checked off all three goals for its new Jonesville, MI plant. The plant contains several large crane systems, hoist-operated material elevators and scaffolds, as well as 20,000-sq. ft. of mezzanines. Together, these plant features are expected to raise Ritz-Craft productivity to an all-time high.

Most of the 63 hoists and 19 cranes provide either one-, two- or three-ton lifting capacities and are used for common applications. Among these basic activities are lifting, moving or placing the floors, exterior walls, interior partition walls, ceilings and roofs that are assembled to make a Ritz-Craft modular home.

Hoists and cranes are used in some ingenious ways at the plant. For example, there is a 200-foot span, three-runway crane system that allows the employees to "do just about anything," Eric John points out. "We can pick up shingles or entire bundles of sheeting off a mezzanine in the back of the plant, and then transport them out to the assembly line to cover the modular home unit," he adds. "The crane system, one of the most efficient I've ever seen," he adds, is capable of picking up roof assemblies. "We employ it to make sure everything underneath is working and lining up correctly."

The cranes and hoists, says Eric John, "have given us a big productivity boost. They have really helped Ritz-Craft become more efficient, which makes it easier and safer on the employees and pays off for us all in the long run."

Harrington Hoists and Cranes

717-665-2000

www.harringtonhoists.com