KITO PWB’s new RY Series Wire Rope Hoists – geared to manufacturing applications – are designed for safety, reliability and performance. Manufacturers’ Monthly speaks with national hoist specialist, Glenn Morgan, about why the KITO RY is the ideal piece of equipment for the heaviest hoisting jobs.

KITO PWB’s electric and manual hoists have been distributed around Australia for almost 40 years. In that time, the company has seen a barrage of market trends and challenges, but has remained focused on building its engineering prowess to maintain top-end quality.

Glenn Morgan, KITO PWB national hoist specialist, said the new KITO RY will be popular in the hoist replacement market, largely in part to its ability to extend the life cycle of the equipment. The wholesaler leverages off its global network to solve challenges in the Australian market for its customers.

“Instead of having to buy a hoist locally which will almost always be from direct competitors, we are truly independent in the sense that we aren’t competing for the work directly. KITO deals through its network of distributors, getting local support from global manufacturing.”

Morgan explained ‘the KITO way’ – how a priority on quality creates the highest level of safety. The new hoist is exemplary of this, with several new features to guarantee safety for all sorts of operations.

“Lifting is one of the most dangerous things you can do and most people don’t actually give it the attention it deserves,” he said. “The old adage of a chain is strong as its weakest link applies and KITO is always very conservative with its engineering, always over-engineering something to ensure complete safety. It’s probably this approach which translates to the company being the pinnacle of quality whilst still having a high market share.”

The electronic thermal motor also protects itself from damage by automatically turning off when it identifying overheating, which can be applied from standard lifting and lowering to the traversing movement provided by the inverter.

Other safety features include externally adjustable limit switches, emergency paddle limit and high-performance motor brakes which are maintenance free for up to one million starts.

The inverter control is a dual speed variable frequency (VFD), which controls both hoist and trolley for optimum speed adjustability as well as lifting and lowering accuracy. 

Morgan noted that KITO’s track record with research and development helps to finetune such technology.

“KITO has been using VFDs with the chain hoist for a lot of years,” he said. “It’s not a completely new technology to them, the product is backed by a hundred years of experience and technology that have been cultivated through the history of manufacturing the proven high-performance KITO electric hoists.”

A low-load high-speed function allows for hoist operation at 1.5 times the standard high speed with a load less than 25 per cent of rated capacity to increase productivity. A smooth start/stop and transition from slow to fast protects the load and supporting structure, reducing load swing and bounce, with the ability to adjust the lifting/travelling speeds to suit the users’ application.

Furthermore, the VFD incorporates an easily accessible condition monitoring system via an hour meter and operation counter. This means users can plan their preventive maintenance based around the exact hours of operation and the exact operations the hoist has done.

Bigger loads can bring bigger challenges – the strain placed on the equipment increases, making it more difficult for project managers and teams to achieve high standards of safety and compliance during lowering and lifting.

The soft starting and stopping mechanism in the KITO RY helps to keep bigger loads under control, avoiding the possibility of load swing on the heavier jobs. This is complemented by anti-jogging mechanisms which prevent load instability, allowing teams to operate at the highest level of safety as the load masses increase.

“Safety is and will continue to be the biggest priority,” he said. “Everyone wants to keep their workers happy and safe, so KITO puts in years of product development to make this happen.”

Visit www.kitopwb.com.au for more information or contact KITO PWB sales team at 1300 792 262 to discuss your lifting requirement.

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