Andromeda Industries is increasing the range of Superflex slings to cater for heavier lifts.
New maximum capacities will be 80t in a straight lift and 330t cradled. These larger slings will retain the ultra-flexible nature of the original product by using the same wire rope construction.
The decision to do this was made two years ago when the company designed, assembled, and commissioned a new 30m-long mechanical braider to manufacture larger Superflex cables to 96mm diameter. In addition, a 4,200 tonne press was ordered and is being supplied by Talurit from Sweden and 350t test bench was also ordered from Wirop in Korea.
“Every sling we make is ‘to-order’, meaning we don’t keep any assembled slings in stock,” says business development manager Scott Taylor.
“In addition to this, our lead times have always been very short and this will be the same with the larger slings. Whether it is an 80t sling or 168t strop, our turnaround times will not change, we will generally have the product assembled, tested, and dispatched within one week of receiving the purchase order. This allows customers to receive their order several weeks earlier, compared to current the delays being experienced when purchasing product from overseas. This can be vital on large projects where there are significant costs for delays.
“Our increased range now means we can assist more industries with our larger range of slings. This allows us to manufacture our Deano Strop to a capacity of 165t. The Deano Strop is a sling that is used to provide a single lifting point under a ramshorn hook. It was designed to replace the need to use headrings [which can be ill fitting] and the need to use stinger slings,” said Taylor.
The superior flexibility of the Superflex, even in the larger sizes, has enabled Andromeda Industries to provide 24-0 (96mm diameter) in a shorter length for a special lift. It was able to provide a sling of 168t capacity at a 2.5m effective length.
“We are also able to work with the customer to design and manufacture slings and strops for specialty jobs, such as lifting and turning bridge pylons on the level crossing upgrades in Melbourne, which require a durable easy-to-handle sling, and for the stripping of billets in an aluminium smelter, which requires excellent gripping qualities while being pliable enough to not mark the product,” said Taylor.
The existing Superflex sling range has been used for offshore work for many years and the larger slings will be useful due to their flexibility, which means they remain in service longer. Issues with conventional wire rope slings include their weights, rigidity, storage and handling, defects like bends, kinks and flatness. The larger Superflex slings have dual qualities that can satisfy both the synthetic and conventional wire rope features of flexibility and abrasion resistance.