Ramirent invests in Alimak Hek's A3

Earlier this year (2008) Ramirent AB, a large rental company in the Nordic countries, ordered 50 of Alimak Hek's Orange Box, to provide the functionality of Alimak Hek's A3 system on its cranes, mast climbing work platforms and older hoist models.

A3 is an online system for remote monitoring of vertical access equipment. Via email, Internet or cell phones, it transmits operational information such as number of starts and stops, and gives continuous feedback on alarms, standstills, and other deviations. A web-based administration tool gives the user an overview of event history and current status of all connected machines. Orange Box is designed for quick and easy field installation and enables remote monitoring of equipment that lacks the latest control system for Alimak hoists, ALC-II, which is optimised for A3.
Ramirent AB has a fleet of around 250 Alimak hoists, some of which are already equipped with the A3 system. Orange Box will provide the same functionality on Ramirent's tower cranes, as well. By gaining control over the exact usage time for each unit, Ramirent can offer its clients more flexible rental contracts under which the user is billed for actual usage. It is also possible for Ramirent to connect wind speed meters to the cranes to make sure they are used only within the wind speeds limits allowed.

Furthermore, thanks to GPS location capabilities, Ramirent can track and identify all connected cranes in the fleet and acquire their current positions on an easy-to-read map.

Other A3 advantages include quicker fault finding and problem solving, and better maintenance planning, all of which help to minimise downtime.

Orange Box is currently being installed in Ramirent's crane fleet throughout Sweden.