ALGOL TECHNICS BUILDS INTELLIGENT LIFTING SOLUTIONS

Algol Technics offers solutions for the safe handling of heavy loads. In the future, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will open up new opportunities for managing economic performance and safety. Over the short term this means that lifting equipment is intelligent enough to warn users of potential errors and communicate their maintenance needs. The solution helps to make the condition and use monitoring of lifting equipment more efficient, which improves their utilization rate and extends their life cycle, and provides customers and users with new services thanks to an improved understanding of the functioning, use, location and condition of the equipment.

Algol Technics collaborated with Distence Oy to implement a solution for the life cycle management of services and situations. The solution is partly built on Distence’s Condence platform and smart terminals that analyze the operation of the lifting equipment, combining it with a cloud-based service.

The solution comprises two aspects:

1)  New cranes that usually have sensors can be integrated into the maintenance process.

2)  Older sensors that only rarely have sensors can be modernized, and their life cycle services can be optimized.

“Distence’s solution enables us to complement the services related to our existing equipment and to add more modern cranes to the same platform,” says Harry Broman, Business Unit Director at Algol Technics. “We see immense potential particularly in integrating existing equipment into the platform. Thanks to the solution, we can improve the reliability and efficiency of our equipment and estimate maintenance and renovation needs.”

The solution was piloted with two end clients. The new crane contains a more extensive solution that presents, for example, the values and views typically found in cranes. The solution implemented for the legacy cranes includes all the features but is more simple at the beginning and will be developed further on the basis of market requirements.

“We are an innovative company but we also need good partners on our way to digitalization. Distence’s solution is a cost-efficient and agile way of making progress in this area. We have high expectations for the cooperation,” says Martin Evers, Managing Director of Algol Technics Oy.

“We are extremely happy that Algol Technics, a leading Finnish company in its sector, chose us as its IIoT partner. We believe that this solution will bring notable added value to Algol’s customers. This was a fascinating development project, and we’ve also received valuable feedback from Algol on the requirements of this sector on our technology,” says Janne-Pekka Karttunen, Head of Sales at Distence.