Machinery transportation as part of plant construction

A heavyweight touches down safely in the factory building: Based in Neukirchen in the Erzgebirge region, pro-beam systems GmbH is a mid-sized manufacturer of special machinery and plant. The company operates worldwide and produces plant for electron beam welding and laser welding applications. pro-beam regularly commissions SCHOLPP to move machinery and plant that are used in the aerospace industry, for instance in the production of components for the European space rocket Ariane 5.

This time, it was a K110 vacuum chamber that needed to be transported by the SCHOLPP team. The system, measuring 4.0 x 2.6 x 2.9 meters, was delivered to Neukirchen by truck. The component was very compact, but its total weight of 42 metric tons proved particularly challenging for the installation team with this project. Choosing the right sling gear, secure load distribution, gentle crane operation, the load capacity of the factory floor, the size of the door opening, bottlenecks on the routes in the hall – the SCHOLPP team needed to keep every eventuality in mind and come up with the right solution for the task in hand.

Firstly, the vacuum chamber was lifted off the truck by a mobile crane (130 metric tons). The chamber was to be brought in through the entrance to the factory on level ground. Heavy-duty trolleys and a forklift (8 metric tons) were used for this task. Before the vacuum chamber could be placed on the heavy-duty rollers, the ground and the rolling path needed to be suitably prepared with steel sheets. This allowed the height difference to be overcome more easily and the loads to be better distributed. The SCHOLPP fitters then brought the plant safely to its intended installation position inside the factory.

SCHOLPP has been working with pro-beam for many years, and has been involved in projects not only in Germany but also in France, Great Britain and the USA. SCHOLPP is commissioned with tasks such as machinery transportation and machinery installation multiple times a year. It has also transported very large vacuum chamber plants weighing in at up to 90 metric tons.