Product of the month – machinery moving
We like to challenge convention at Hird Group.
Last month, we compared Neymar to a glass vacuum lifter, and our Product of the Month for September is – machinery moving.
Eagle-eyed readers will spot that machinery moving is not a product, but a service. However, a dictionary definition of a product is “a thing or person that is the result of an action or process”.
Moving a lot of machines from one factory and installing them in another factory is a process. It also creates a thing. So, it is perfectly okay to talk about machinery moving.
The other good thing about our machinery moving service is that it is the way we put our money where our mouth is.
Our machine moving teams use many of the pieces of specialist equipment available for hire through Hird Group on the ‘lifting and shifting’ projects they are involved in week in and week out.
As well as being a successful commercial venture, machinery moving gives us insights into crane lifting, powered access, and vacuum lifter technology that we then offer our hire customers.
Rising to the challenge – a case study
Machinery moving is a term that covers a wide range of tasks and challenges.
At its core, though, is the process of picking up, moving and putting down of equipment.
The distances involved could be measured in centimetres, or thousands of miles.
The weight and size of the equipment being moved can vary from something that can be carried or pushed by a single operative, to something weighing hundreds of tonnes.
An example is a project Hird Group’s machinery moving team is due to complete in September 2017 – moving an entire bakery from the north of England, to Scotland.
The move involves picking up equipment that makes up three production lines, placing it on six 40-tonne curtainside trucks, taking it to Edinburgh, and placing the equipment in precise locations within another factory.
The project involves working with the bakery’s own engineers, plus specialist engineers brought in from the equipment manufacturer, to dismantle and re-assemble the cake and bread production lines in less than a month.
Specific skills and a special approach
Machinery moving combines special skills and personal attributes in a team of people who are ready to take on some big challenges, day and night, 365 days a year.
Our machinery moving team is highly-trained in a wide range of skills, including:
- Project planning and management
- Risk assessment and safe systems of work
- Manual handling
- Working at height
- Forklift truck driving
- Crane operating, and appointed person
- Vacuum lifting
- Telehandler operating
- Rigging and slinging
- Confined space working
Where specific skills and qualifications are needed for particular tasks, we will go out and obtain them.
On top of that, it takes other, less tangible but no less vital skills to be a machinery moving operative.
The hours are unsociable. A lot of our machine moving teams are working hard when most of us are tucked up in bed.
They are very good problem solvers. When they get to site, they often find the situation is not quite the same as it was described. This is understandable. Circumstances change.
Flexible (safe, and legal) approaches are needed to overcome often sensitive and complex challenges. Our machinery moving teams work very well and sensitively with other teams, whether they be contractors or our clients’ staff.
Machinery moving – trusted to get the job done
Machinery moving is about precision, attention to detail, and care. We want to complete the task to the client’s deadline, with no incident.
Very often, very tight timings are involved, both in terms of ending production in one place, and restarting it in another.
The very firm objective is that nothing gets broken or lost. And everything works when the machinery is put back together again.
All that said, if things go wrong, unlike other fly-by-night moving companies, Hird Group has high value insurance cover.
Machinery moving – a wide range of sectors
Our machinery moving teams operate across all industries, including food production, petro-chemicals, aerospace, ship building and maintenance, machine manufacture, and the car industry.
The expertise is also put to good use in other commercial sectors, including art installation, specialist equipment installation during construction projects, and facilities refurbishment and maintenance.
Call Hird Group today about your machinery moving needs. We operate across the UK, and we’re ready to meet your lifting and moving challenge. Skill, experience, and a can-do attitude is built in.
Telephone: 01482 227333. Email: [email protected]