Many businesses will be all too aware that manual material handling (MMH) is the most common cause of musculoskeletal disorders such as lower back pain and injuries, strains and sprains to shoulders, neck and upper limbs. Unfortunately for business owners, this means reduced working capacity whilst the operator affected has time off work to recuperate, and can often lead to paying costly medical bills.

Ergonomic interventions can lower, and in some cases eliminate the physical demands of MMH tasks.  The application of electronics to industrial lifting devices has improved both ergonomics and safety in the manual materials handling industry.  There are many benefits of installing an electronic industrial lifting device (or intelligent devices for handling).  These include:

  • Giving the responsiveness and flexibility of a human operator combined with the power of a machine.
  • Allowing the operator to lift and manoeuvre loads in a natural and intuitive way.
  • The fingertip control mode provides an immediate response to the operator’s moves, thereby reducing starting, acceleration and deceleration inertia forces.
  • Auto-weight sensing and auto-load balancing features that balance and sense the load weight continuously and adjust the balancing if the weight changes.
  • Operators can handle loads of varying weights or loads that change weights whilst being handled, without the need to interrupt handling operations to press buttons or adjust load settings.
  • Lighter and more compact than traditional manipulators, they give a greater visibility of the work area as well as easier manoeuvrability.
  • The operator can use both hands to move and position the load without the need for handles or pressing buttons.
  • It is possible to move even the heaviest or bulkiest of loads in a near weightless condition.

Scaglia Indeva have been designing and manufacturing innovative, electronic industrial lifting devices for over 45 years.  Our material handling solutions comply with the strictest regulations and guidelines on ergonomics and safety in the materials handling industry, and can lift material up to around 320kg.  To find out more about our products, please browse our website.