The Challenge:
A global manufacturer specializing in the fabrication of high-performance insulated power and control cables for consumer electronics, aerospace systems, and petrochemical industries faced a threat to operational throughput and plant ergonomics. Within their manufacturing environment, the facility experienced a drag in productivity alongside escalating risks of musculoskeletal injuries inside its specialized "bunching" production cell. The core mechanical sequence required heavy spools of wire to be manually loaded onto one end of a complex "buncher" machine. This machine automatically spooled a specified length of cable to fulfill custom consumer orders. It drove the material past a final quality control inspection station.
The industrial spools managed in this work cell were large, measuring 36 inches in diameter and 24 inches wide. Their weights shifted from 100 to 600 pounds based on product specifications. Historically, operators relied on a mobile floor lift integrated with a manual hand-crank winch to assist with vertical lifting and lowering. However, this mechanical arrangement caused a severe physical bottleneck. It still required operators to manually apply massive physical force to push, guide, and position the heavy loads onto the turnstile spindle of the bunching machine. Over a typical shift, a single operator performed this loading and unloading cycle approximately 20 times. This repetitive strain induced worker fatigue, chronic shoulder strain from continuous manual cranking, and exposure to acute back or push strains. The legacy workflow was cumbersome and stood out as an obvious drain on overall equipment effectiveness.
The Solution:
To eliminate these ergonomic hazards and optimize floor efficiency, the process management teams investigated several structural remedies, including motorized floor lifts and localized jib cranes. Ultimately, the engineering team determined that a freestanding workstation bridge crane manufactured by Gorbel was the most comprehensive long-term solution. Unlike localized lifting devices, this freestanding configuration delivered a combination of comprehensive work cell coverage and fluid manual movement.
The crane system features overhead runways extending 43 feet in length, supporting two independent 1,000-pound capacity bridges spanning 28 feet. This specific dual-bridge architecture provided the facility with floor-space flexibility. It allowed a single crane asset to serve multiple adjacent work bays.
The Execution:
Following a rapid installation phase, plant technicians immediately began using the modernized overhead material handling sequence. During live operations, the sequence begins with the operator wrapping a heavy-duty lifting sling around the core axis of the 36-inch wire spool. Instead of manually cranking a mechanical winch, the operator uses an electric hoist suspended from the Gorbel workstation bridge crane to lift the heavy payload.
Because of the low rolling resistance of the Gorbel enclosed track design, the operator glides the suspended spool along the 28-foot bridge span and positions it precisely over the blue bunching machine turnstile. The tracking ensures exact spatial positioning with zero binding. This overhead architecture entirely eliminates manual pushing, pulling, or torso twisting from the operator's daily routine. It ensures a safe drop-off onto the turnstile spindle.
The Result:
The integration of the overhead bridge crane achieved immediate improvements across all primary baseline metrics. Since the crane was commissioned, operator fatigue and workplace injuries have been completely eliminated as corporate liabilities. A senior operator with 30 years of tenure in this specific application hailed the crane as an operational lifesaver, noting that continuing her daily responsibilities would have been physically impossible without it.
From a macro business perspective, the operational efficiency gains directly optimized the company's bottom-line performance. The facility recently celebrated a record operational year, successfully absorbing rapidly increasing market demand entirely within their existing human and machine footprint. By mitigating the manual hand-crank bottleneck and eliminating physical strain, the factory optimized its operational duty cycles and established a benchmark for modern industrial ergonomics.