Andromeda’s Steel Cable & Slings Division manufactures Superflex steel cables and slings, as well as the flat woven steel slings. These are used in a wide range of lifting applications in many industries.
Superflex cables and the machines used to manufacture them, as well as the termination systems, have been invented and designed by Raymond McLaren, who is still involved in the business today as a technical advisor. Over the years the machines and process equipment have been manufactured by his team of engineers in Andromeda’s engineering workshops.
Central to Andromeda’s manufacturing facilities is the Orbital Square Plaiting Machine. Geoff Bower, Andromeda’s Customer Relationship Manager discusses the various manufacturing processes.
“The Orbital Square Plaiting Machine produces our feedstock cable which goes on to create our Superflex by plaiting the cables together around a central core wire.
“For the majority of the time our plaiting machine is producing our Superflex steel cable in a variety of sizes from 10mm through to 40mm, however we have also produced speciality cable of stainless-steel configuration which is used as mine sweeping rope as well as plaited wire rope used exclusively in the electrical industry for the drawing of powerlines,” said Geoff
Raymond McLaren and his engineering team designed the Orbital Square Plaiting Machine.
“Raymond and the engineering team designed and developed the first version in the late seventies and our current version came on board in the mid-nineties. It is a testament to Raymond’s innovative approach to design and engineering that it works as well as it ever has,” said Geoff.
“Output capacity depends on the diameter of the cables we are manufacturing. With the smaller 10mm and 12mm we have the capability to produce up to a two kilometre continuous length and with the larger diameters like 40mm, it’ll punch out 180 metres at a time. The machines’ design and capabilities are completely flexible and we are continually changing the diameters produced as required.
“Michael Sipple is our machine operator and he’s been with the organisation for three years. He works closely with this machine. When the finished Superflex cable has been manufactured it is wound onto one of our standard cutting reels or our storage reels. Ready to produce our range of Superflex Slings and Strops. Obviously, we manufacture a huge number of slings and the bulk of the Superflex we manufacture remains on site, however we do have a number of resellers who produce their own slings using Andromeda’s Superflex Cables which we supply on various size reels as requested,” said Geoff.
The process of plaiting Superflex Cable involves 12 bobbins with different lay cable on each, (left hand and right hand lays). There’s a core wire that runs up through the middle of the machine and the bobbins turn clockwise and counter-clockwise whilst the arms move inwards and outwards producing a unique steel cable that has unparalleled flexibility. Andromeda also manufactures flat woven steel strapping on a weaving machine which is the only one of its kind.
“Raymond and his engineers designed and developed the machine which produces strapping with diameters between 50mm and 250mm. The strapping products are designed predominantly for lifting applications, it’s nearly all below the hook. However, we do produce a range of flat woven slings used as lashing points in the transportation of heavy and difficult loads. This is due to the extreme cut resistance the flat woven slings have.
“We manufacture a lot of flat woven slings which are used as roofing slings, so they’re predominantly flat woven choker slings with applications in civil construction. The 250mm flat woven sling will lift 25t in a straight pull,” said Geoff.
The team at Andromeda continue to hand make slings.
“Steve Harrison (sling maker) is responsible for our handwoven slings. The sling he is working on only has ferrules or a termination on one end, the other end features a soft hand plaited eye. The entire webbing of the slings is made by hand.
“Originally, all of Andromeda’s products were handmade until Raymond and his team designed and developed the weaving machines. The reason why we still manufacture hand-made products is because you’ve only got a termination on one end. If you are trying to fit it in between a really tight space, you don’t have ferrules or anything that’s going to catch, it’s a smooth soft finish at one end,” said Geoff.
Andromeda Industries has National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accreditation, they are active members of The Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) and they are also a member of The Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA).
“At the end of the day, because we’re creating such a critical product you have to ensure that it’s on point and that our customers are assured of quality. That’s why we’re members of LEEA and CICA, that’s why we have our NATA accreditation.
“Every product that leaves our facility has been tested; as per the Australian Standards it’s been certified and it has that backing behind it. We go through our NATA audit every two years to ensure we remain compliant. Jumping on board with CICA has well and truly opened our eyes and we continue to make sure we are manufacturing the best lifting equipment available not just in Australia, but from any manufacturer worldwide,” said Geoff.
Andromeda Industries continues to remain active with LEEA and CICA attending both LiftEx on the Gold Coast and the CICA National Conference and Exhibition in Adelaide.
“The response from these events has been wonderful. Although we’ve been around for such a long time it is surprising the amount of people who one; didn’t know we existed and two; didn’t know we are an Australian company. One major crane hire business thought because of our product was such high quality, it had to be coming in from Europe.
“These events provide us with the opportunity to connect with our resellers and with the guys that are using our products on a daily basis.
“Getting positive feedback from them and suggestions on how we can make improvements is invaluable. As a result of the events, we’ve organised a couple of factory tours where we’ve had our resellers and crane guys through the facilities and we could see it was a real eye-opener for them,” said Geoff.