HG Commerciale (HG) is a modern Swiss company. Founded in 1899, it is still a reliable partner for all building materials. Today, it employs around 800 people throughout Switzerland. The sales location in Biel has a modern warehouse where ordered articles are made available to customers as quickly as possible. This also includes wood panels cut to size.

Efficient wood cutting

A forklift truck fetches chipboards from the board warehouse and delivers them for cutting. Directly from the forklift, a wooden panel is lifted by the new GIS vacuum handling system GNK, electrically tilted by 90 ° and fed to a vertical panel saw. Here, bulky formats up to 1.25 m wide, 5 m long and 42 mm thick have to be transported. A maximum load of 250 kg is available. Two large suction surfaces ensure a secure frictional connection. They can be easily moved longitudinally on the main beam and rotated through 90 °, ensuring quick adaptation to different panel sizes.

Smooth-running, quiet and easy to handle

The lifting work is done by a modern electric chain hoist from the same manufacturer. It is attached to the aluminium beam of the GIS wall-mounted slewing crane. The jib can be swivelled effortlessly over 180 ° and, thanks to plastic light-weight rollers, manual travel is child's play. The crane system is finely adjusted so that no unintentional shifting occurs, even with varying loads. The operator always stands safely outside the load area and operates all procedures on the clear and ergonomic control unit. A flat cable suspended from cable trolleys and a spiral cable ensure the power supply.

Wooden wall with aluminium crane little loaded

GIS crane systems have served HGC well for many years. In the construction of new systems as well as the service and repair of existing lifting aids, the partnership has already proven itself many times over. This time, an aluminium wall-mounted slewing crane prevailed from among various proposed solutions. It only loads the timber wall with a small mass, does not require a disturbing column and does not restrict the clearance height. A timber construction engineer determined the wall's load-bearing capacity and the exact mounting location for the bracket with full-surface counter plate. A wooden support integrated into the wall provides a secure hold for the construction. However, it must not be damaged, which required precise drilling work. A particularly positive note is that the conversion of the area originally intended for other purposes was completed on schedule and the commissioning of the modern handling system went off without a hitch.

Author: Arthur Kemény, CH-5363 Weggis