Article published in the iVT magazine.
Container handling is a hectic business – there’s no excuse for equipment being laid low. Use of the latest cutting-edge CANbus systems will ensure the outlook is positive.

The tight timeslots that ships, trailers and trains have at the terminal puts high requirements on the reliability of container handling equipment. Bromma Conquip, a leading worldwide supplier of container spreaders, has historically been a forerunner in the business, providing solutions that improve efficiency in the rapidly growing container freight market.
   Now it has launched a control and information system – the SCS3 (Spreader Control System generation 3) – that radically improves productivity in container terminals. The system has been developed in close co-operation with the advanced machine control specialist CC Systems, which supplies the system software and hardware.
   A modern container spreader is a fairly complex piece of machinery with mechanics, hydraulics, electric drives and sensors, etc – all of which are subject to harsh environmental conditions and tough wear and tear. The design may well be scaled to manage very rough operating conditions but designing it for the worst case does not make sense from first-cost perspective.
   The challenge is therefore to shift the inevitable maintenance work from unplanned to planned activities and thereby improve container spreader uptime. The new SCS3 control and information system responds to this need by offering advanced diagnostics and prognostics features. It also addresses a major risk often encountered in the crane business – electrical disturbances that affect field bus communication. The system features a so-called CAN Booster device, which enables safe CAN communication over great distances. ...

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Article publiched in the first issue of the iVT International, Industrial Vehicle Technology magazine 2008.