TPT July 2013

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Industry News
8 July 2013
15 years of lifting innovation
COMBILIFT Ltd, the specialist
manufacturer of the Combilift 4-way
forklift range as well as other innovative
products, is celebrating 15 years in
business in 2013. Established in 1998
by Martin McVicar and Robert Moffett,
the company has achieved growth
and success on a global scale in the
materials handling sector and is now
renowned in the market for long load
handling solutions.
Before the arrival of the Combilift
– the first engine-powered, all wheel
drive multi-directional forklift operations
that needed to handle and store long
loads had to rely on a combination
of other types of forklifts, none of
which was actually designed for their
specific requirements. This not only
compromised safety procedures but was
also time consuming and required large
areas to be set aside for manoeuvring
and storing products.
The concept of a truck that could
change the direction of its wheels to
move forwards, backwards and side
to side at just the touch of a button
changed the face of materials handling:
over 18,000 units have since been sold
in more than 75 countries, and what was
once seen as a niche solution for a few
select applications is now an industry
standard.
Managing director Martin McVicar
cites substantial investment in R&D,
customisation and the willingness to
listen to customer feedback as major
factors in the company’s success: “The
latter has been pivotal for new product
development. As there is no one typical
set of requirements for individual
applications our production line was
configured at the outset to offer a very
high degree of customisation. We also
use standard and readily available
components so that our products can
be easily maintained and serviced
wherever in the world they are being
used.”
Combilift Ltd – Ireland
Fax: +353 47 80501
Email:
Website:
Celebrating Combilift’s
15th anniversary
HAZControl installed
ONE of North America's top producers
of API products has completed the
installation of a 1,200kW HAZControl™
Technology Dual (induction/contact)
Solid State HF Welder and three
Thermatool® Seam Annealers at its
manufacturing facility.
The manufacturer’s new Thermatool®
HAZControl™ Technology Variable
Frequency Dual Welder can operate
in induction or contact mode on the
same mill, reducing changeover time
between products. The equipment’s
intelligent software provides stable,
precise heat input control of power
and frequency independently in 1kW
and 1kHz increments. The welder is
used for welding 65/8" through 20" OD
P110 and other API grade steels with
wall thicknesses between 7.1mm to
14mm at speeds up to 25m per minute.
Three Thermatool® Seam Annealers
were installed to eliminate untempered
Martensite in the weld seam as required
by API specification. Thermatool’s
Seam Annealing system is coupled with
Smart Anneal™ software – an easy
to use operator control system. Smart
Anneal automates and simplifies many
operators’ tasks, the key to repeatable
results and scrap reduction.
Thermatool Corp – USA
Website: