Lifting and transporting loads is an everyday occurrence in industry. Whether a steel part has to go in or a finished product has to come out, whether sheet metal packages, steel beams or semi-finished products. The products from Wimo Hebetechnik come into play for particularly heavy items. In conjunction with a crane, the long grabs, stacking yoke beams or coil tongs become the main players in safe in-house transportation. The family-run company based in the Allgäu region of Germany manufactures made-to-measure products, tailored precisely to the area of application and environmental variables.
© MicroStep Europe GmbH
For more than 30 years, Wimo Hebetechnik has been a pioneer in the development and production of innovative equipment for lifting, transporting and storing heavy goods. Medium-sized and large companies are supplied with coil hooks, coil tongs, universal tongs and more from Woringen in the Allgäu region. The products are always custom-made with the aim of moving heavy loads efficiently, gently and safely – and permanently.
Nicole Moraru is Managing Director and fully aware of the strength of the family business – its adaptability: “With us, everything is individual. We completely tailor the concept to the customer’s wishes and area of application – and there are big differences.”
High temperatures are taken into account for products for steel mills, while shipbuilding requires special robustness and rounded components. Moraru: “Whether it’s the internal height of the hall or the proportions of the gripper arm, we take everything into account and can adapt it to the customer’s requirements!” The term “series” has a different meaning at the 30-strong company than elsewhere. “We usually have a batch size of 1, two is already a series for us.” In the production of load-bearing equipment, the traceability of parts is also a major issue, including documentation.
Aging solution replaced with a more versatile combined system
The machinery must be designed to be correspondingly flexible. “We want the best possible quality and that starts with the cutting,” emphasizes Moraru. In this area, the company has relied on an oxyfuel cutting system from MicroStep for around 15 years, starting in 2006. In 2021, this was replaced by a combined plasma-autogenous cutting system. “The system always ran perfectly, but was getting on in years. We needed a new one with the latest technology,” Moraru looks back.
Wimo mostly uses S355 steel, but occasionally also special steel such as 690 Hardox. A more flexible cutting system was required this time. With oxyfuel technology for 80 percent of cutting parts up to 140 mm thick. With 3D plasma technology for filigree cuts up to 40 mm to prepare weld seams and apply the batch number to the sheets.
“It was always clear to us that we would prefer to have a MicroStep system again. We always received excellent advice, the service is very good and it was also a good economic fit. The machine runs well. What more could you want?”
© Wimo Hebetechnik GmbH
Desire for more flexibility and a state-of-the-art solution
“We obtained comparative offers, but it was always clear to us that we would prefer to have a MicroStep system again,” emphasizes Nicole Moraru. A visit to the former CompetenceCenter South led to the decision for the MasterCut series. “We received good advice on all aspects of the cutting system. In the end, we bought what we needed and nothing more,” says Moraru.
No sooner said than done. In March 2021, the MasterCut with plasma rotator and oxyfuel torch and a work surface for sheets up to 4,500 x 2,000 mm as well as a shaft for processing pipes and profiles was put into operation. An accompanying and planned side effect: The newly acquired plasma technology significantly reduced the purchase of laser parts.
Since then, the cutting system has been in single-shift operation every day. This also included the cutting of a lifting device for the MicroStep CompetenceCenter South. In March 2024, a 20-tonne crane including a Wimo spreader beam was put into operation here.
For Nicole Moraru, this is a partnership that is set to continue for a long time to come: “We have always received very good advice, the service is very good and it has also been a good economic fit. The machine runs well. What more could you want?”
Web:
www.microstep.com
