Posts Tagged ‘safety above all’

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Hoist UK Makes a Point at Warwick Arts Centre

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

Suppliers are sometimes put into boxes by consultants and customers alike. Hoist UK are no different in that their core business is seen as being the live touring and events industry, which is really not the case.

Hoist UK are a British manufacturer who produce their own lifting and rigging products, as well as working within in a close team of some of the world’s best and well know stage engineering manufacturers to create a total project solution in theatre, retail, industrial and the live event industry.

Stage engineering specialists Hoist UK have supplied and installed a lightweight aluminium rigging bridge system at Warwick Arts Centre for their 1,500 seat concert theatre, Butterworth Hall.

The aluminium bridge rigging system covers an area of 360m2 and contains twenty moving and lockable rigging bridges, each capable of suspending a load of up to 1000kg and with a span of more than five metres with two moving and lockable points for any load bearing purpose.

The Hoist UK rigging bridge system is manufactured using aluminium components which contain a variety of tracks ranging from a 135mm deep track weighing just 6.5kg/m to a 250mm deep track weighing 14.5kg/m and capable of suspending a 2000kg load on a 3.4 metre unsupported span.

ALU is a strong, ergonomic and safe system which complies with EN13001 (Eurocode 9) and consists of a range of tracks, trolleys and suspension brackets to be configured as required for the application, with all the bridges and trolleys being smooth running and silent for a perfect theatre installation.

Hoist UK’s Paul Jordan says: “The beauty about this system is that due to being a lightweight extruded aluminium track, we can maximise the capacity of the rigging points, without using all the capacity of the roof structure of the venue, as the use of conventional universal beam or steel track would reduce your show loading capabilities”.

Howard Potts, Technical Director of Warwick Arts Centre says: “After seeing one of Hoist UK’s previous installations of ALU at the Royal Shakespeare Company, I was sold on this being the perfect solution to my project needs. The bridges using this system were so easy to manoeuvre into the position and I could see how flexible my new rigging system would be using this as the basis of the design”.

“Our new rigging system is exactly what we wanted and will make the creation of hanging points so much simpler and easier to execute in the zone above our taught wire grid for forthcoming productions” adds Howard Potts.

Hoist UK’s Tony Dickson comments: “In order to maximise the coverage of the system we had to design and manufacture a set of bespoke brackets that clip to the existing roof trusses, as it wasn’t possible to site drill or weld in the roof void”

“We provided the customer with a full technical submission with a formal set of structural calculations and design drawings to show how we were planning to connect the system to the existing structure, which was signed off by their structural engineer” adds Paul Jordan from Hoist UK.

Hoist UK will be opening a new demonstration and training facility at their Bromborough HQ during March, with the aluminium track system and lots of other new and exciting products available for their visitors to get hands on experience with…

For further information visit: www.hoistuk.com or contact: info@hoistuk.com

Remember: Safety Above All

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Posted in Hoist UK News

Hoist UK to Open New Facilities

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

In an unprecedented and in what some might feel a daring move, Hoist UK has decided not to exhibit at any of the national or international trade shows this year. Instead they have decided to open a demonstration room and teaching facility at their new premises on the Wirral.

“We feel that our clients deserve to be given the time to thoroughly understand our products and services” says Tony Dickson, Director of Hoist UK. “This new facility will allow a lot more one to one time to be spent with our clients than we could ever get at trade shows, and let them get a working knowledge and understanding of our products and our team so that they can be confident in what they are specifying or buying” he adds.

The demonstration room will house the full range of HUK products, as well as products from our partners JR Clancy, Niscon Inc. and Verlinde, all of which will be installed and fully functional including some motion control products and a 3d flying rig.

The Hoist UK technical team will be on hand to talk through the operation and benefits of the equipment whereby the visitors will have the time to acquire all the information and if they are so disposed get the full “hands on” experience of the equipment.

In addition to the demonstration room, Hoist UK will offer full technical training packages in the lecture room on hoists, winches, control and a full range of truss and lifting equipment. The training courses are aimed at technicians, users and equipment specifiers alike and will provide a good overall knowledge of theoretical and practical disciplines.

Fellow Director Paul Jordan says “We are very excited about this move, we hope that our open approach to training in the form of motor, control and truss schools and having fully functional equipment readily available will allow people to fully understand what can be done, what is available and how lifting operations can be completed safely and economically”.

Although all visits will have to be scheduled through Louise Dickson, Hoist UK will offer a virtually open invitation to the training and demonstration rooms to all their industry colleagues when the facility opens in March 2012, they hope that everyone will feel welcome, hardened industry professionals, people new to the industry and students alike. “Obviously there will be times when there are formal training sessions being held but we hope to see as many people as possible, just let us have some notice before coming so we can get the tea and biscuits in” says Louise.

For more information on training courses and dates or to arrange a visit please contact our training team on: training@hoistuk.com or +44 (0)151 334 7682.

For further information visit: http://hoistuk.com/ or contact: info@hoistuk.com

Remember: Safety Above All

 

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Posted in Hoist UK News, Industry News

Computer and Email Maintenance

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Hoist UK will be closing for Christmas on Friday 23rd December 2011, and will return on Tuesday 3rd January 2012.

During this period, and throughout the first week of January, our server will be undergoing maintenance work and we may have some disruption to services during this time period.

If you suspect that your email or enquiry has not reached us, please do not hesitate to contact us via telephone or fax.

In the meantime, we would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas, and a happy new year from the Hoist UK Team

Remember: Safety Above All

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Posted in Hoist UK News

Hoist UK Announce New Partnership With D2Cranes

Friday, November 11th, 2011

Hoist UK are pleased to announce an exclusive distributorship of the D2cranes range of cleanroom hoists, crane components and lifting equipment for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In the current era of intense competition, companies are constantly under pressure to develop new and innovative products in shorter time cycles, at lower cost and with ever higher quality, so the use of clean room environments within this manufacturing sector are becoming more prevalent.

D2cranes are dedicated to the development and manufacture of innovative, safe, clean and efficient hoists, with Hoist UK integrating these products into their designs to provide a complete lifting solution for the customer.

Hoist UK director, Paul Jordan comments: “This new range of hoists, cranes and lifting structures are suitable for all cleanroom environments from the food industry to the semi-conductor industry and our products cover all cleanroom applications. Because of the stringent specifications required for cleanroom environments we do not recommend the use of modified standard industrial equipment, and the products offered through Hoist UK have been designed specifically for cleanroom use by D2cranes”.

Roland Hessels, Managing Director of D2cranes explains: “The range of cleanroom hoists is based on three main selection criteria and subject to your specification and budget we will select products from our Optimate, Dedicate or Ultimate range of hoists, all of which can be seen in detail in the clean room area of the Hoist UK website”.

Paul Jordan, Director of Hoist UK comments: “We are very excited to begin this new distributorship as both D2cranes technical expertise and Hoist UK experience will make this a perfect partnership.”

REMEMBER: “SAFETY ABOVE ALL”

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Posted in D2Cranes News, Hoist UK News

Hoist UK introduce the new Integrated Lighting Bar Winch (ILB)

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

Hoist UK boast an impressive range of products, which are designed and manufactured in house, and they believe that UK based manufacture is extremely important in Britain’s dwindling economy.

Hoist UK are proud to announce the launch of their Integrated Lighting Bar Winch, which is a truss mounted, fully integrated lighting bar and winch system; designed and built with both safety and economy in mind for the end user.

The ILB is perfectly suited for small studios, theatres and school applications due to its compact and modular design. It’s simple ‘plug and play’ design allows a quick and easy installation; which will inevitably save time and money, compared to a standard pilewind winch installation as only one item needs to be mounted in the venue rather than multiple products.

An electrical pilewind winch (rated for loads of 125kg and 250kg and with up to six lines) is mounted within the truss, along with a number of drop pulleys which allows a quick and easy method of raising and lowering lighting bars, scenery backdrops or similar suspensions.

The ILB is an extremely versatile product, in that it can be mounted to most structures with a simple clip or hanger. Key safety features of the Integrated Lighting Bar Winch are:

• Six position limit switch

• High starting torque

• Thermal overload protection

• Manual override operation for emergency use (with safety interlock)

• Self-sustaining gearbox

• Additional safety holding brake

• Unique integral safety gear

Hoist UK’s motto is Safety Above All, and all of their products are designed with this in mind.

For more information on this product, please click here

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Posted in Hoist UK News

Dolly Parton’s Pirates Voyage Attraction from JR Clancy

Friday, October 14th, 2011

MYRTLE BEACH, SC – J.R. Clancy rigging products were used for Dolly Parton’s Pirates Voyage, an attraction featuring two life-sized pirate ships. There are 11 custom-built, variable speed drum hoists in the building, which had been used for Parton’s Dixie Stampede dinner theater from 1992 to 2010. J.R. Clancy’s Altus controller controls the hoists. Each has a 750-pound capacity and a top speed of 416 feet per minute. More details from J.R. Clancy (http://www.jrclancy.com/):

J. R. Clancy Provides Rigging For Spectacular Pirates Voyage Show in Myrtle Beach, SC.

JR Clancy

 SYRACUSE, NY—Two life-sized pirate ships, bands of swashbucklers sword fighting across a 15-foot-deep lagoon, sails unfurling and props descending from the sky… there’s nothing like a major family entertainment attraction to challenge every aspect of theatrical production.

So when Mike Compton of Pirates Voyage took on the challenge of bringing the new attraction to life in Myrtle Beach, SC, he knew he needed the rigging experts from J. R. Clancy, Inc. Compton had worked with Clancy on three other recent projects, so he knew they could help make the technical aspects of this show as exciting as they could be.

The latest attraction from Dolly Parton, Pirates Voyage moved into the building that housed her famous Dixie Stampede attraction for 19 seasons. Transforming a former Dixie Stampede hippodrome into a pirates’ show in just five months—from its closing in January 2011 to its grand reopening on June 3, 2011—was no small challenge, Compton explained. “It’s a metal building with girders, so we installed a series of catwalks coming off the girders to access everything,” he said.

To raise and lower the massive set pieces, Clancy supplied 11 custom-built, variable-speed drum hoists, each with 750-pound capacity and a blazing top speed of 416 feet per minute. “I’m familiar with a lot of the hoist configurations that Clancy manufactures, so we provided the drawings of the catwalk and the locations of the hoists,” Compton said.

With seating on every side of the arena, the hoists would be in full view at all times, said Patrick Finn, Clancy dealer project manager.  “Mike needed hoists that could go into a confined space and still function,” he said. “The hoists are mounted to the side of the catwalks, and diverting loft blocks are mounted from the roof steel to get the lines to drop in the proper locations. There are four types of hoists, each designed differently to get the proper space and capacity requirements for the different scenic elements.” The hoists lower such pirate-specific props as anchors, skeletons, and a throne into view at dramatic speeds to delight the audience.

To accomplish these exciting effects, the owners selected Clancy’s Altus controller. Altus can control up to 48 motorized hoists, and users can program up to 200 repeatable, consistently reliable cues for a single production.  Each cue can control up to eight hoists at once, and each hoist can have its own speed, target position, acceleration and deceleration for spectacular scene changes.

“Clancy’s great—I’ve been familiar with them since the 1970s,” Compton concluded. “Safety is their number one issue, and you can call them anytime on any phase of the project to make it work for you.”

For the original article, please click here

For more information on JR Clancy products click here

Remember: Safety Above All

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Posted in JR Clancy News

ULC TT Nominated for Innovation Awards at PLASA 2011

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

Hoist UK Limited have reached the final of this year’s Innovation Awards at PLASA 2011 for their unique ULC TT Universal Load Corner, offered through their sister company Truss UK Ltd

The PLASA Awards for Innovation recognises products which advance the industry by demonstrating a new style of thinking, improving technical practice, or taking a key step forward in terms of safety.

The load corner unit eliminates the need to try and support the truss either side of a conventional corner block or worse still suspend from it. The ULC TT Universal Load Corner which is an integral part of the TT series of truss is a structurally rated and certified six (6) way corner complete with a suspension and load point for up to 2,500kgs.

Paul Jordan, Designer of the Universal Load Corner says “The ULC TT shows that thinking outside the box on a new development actually works. Up to now truss manufacturers have produced corner units that only work as corners as generally they are not rated for load and subsequently don’t have load tables available for them. The ULC TT is load rated and hangs the truss from the most efficient position with its independently rotating eyes, eliminating any cantilever loads from the structure.”

“We are very proud to have reached the final of PLASA’s Innovations Awards 2011. Bringing new ideas to the entertainment industry form a vital part of development, and we believe that our TT series is the new concept in trussing…One Truss with Numerous Configurations”, adds Hoist UK’s Tony Dickson.

Truss UK will promote British engineering at its best with innovative product development for the entertainment industry offering “Quality at Every Stage”.

REMEMBER: “Safety Above All”

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Posted in Hoist UK News

ABTT 2011 – Stand of the Year

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

On their first joint showing the Hoist UK / Truss UK stand bagged the “Stand of the Year” award at the 2011 ABTT Show for their imaginative use of product, which showcased the new range of truss products perfectly, with the group promoting “British Engineering at its best” with innovative product development for the entertainment industry offering “Quality at Every Stage”.

Tony Dickson, Director of both Truss UK & Hoist UK commented: “This was the perfect outcome  for the launch of  Truss UK’s new product range, as they were very well recieved during the shown, with the icing on the cake being this award”.

“We are excited about the new products, particularly the TT series of truss and Universal Load Corner (ULC), as these are very unique products only available from Truss UK”, adds Paul Jordan, Director of Truss UK & Hoist UK.

Truss UK’s new sales engineer Richard Mangham also made his debut at the trade show with the new products. Richard comments: “These are really great products and now they have been officially launched, I will be initially following up on the leads generated during the show and then be visiting you all in the coming months”.

For more information on the Truss UK range, visit: www.trussuk.com and for more information on the Hoist UK products visit: www.hoistuk.com

Remember: “Safety Above All” and insist upon “Quality At Every Stage”.

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Posted in Hoist UK News

Hoist UK at the International Motor Show, Bangkok

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Hoist UK have recently provided top aerial artiste Valerie Murzak with a custom performer cube for an aerial routine which won the best  performance at the recent International Bangkok Motor Show for  Toyota.

The cube was designed and manufactured to the latest Eurocode for aluminium structures, namely BS EN 1999-1-1, and was proof load tested and certified in our manufacturing plant prior to shipment to Valerie.

The cube was designed for use in a routine with three performers, which is quite unique for cubes of this type and therefore was designed specially for this purpose to her specific requirements.

During the show the specialist aerial act was performed by Valerie Murzak, Natasha Rayne Hibbitt and Louise Gibb pictured.

For more details on our custom manufacturing facilities please contact our sales team on:

+44 (0) 151 334 7682

For more information on Valerie Murzak and her work, please visit:

http://www.valerie-murzak.co.uk

Remember: SAFETY ABOVE ALL

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Posted in Hoist UK News

Hoist UK announces the global launch of the Concerto hoist

Monday, October 18th, 2010

Hoist UK is pleased to announce the formal international launch of the Concerto series of Variable Speed Concert Hoists from Niscon Inc.

The Concerto has been designed and engineered using a Stagemaker® hoist body and with the support and assistance of R&M Materials Handling of Springfield, Ohio, and Verlinde SA, France.

The Concerto is conceivably the most concise and safety conscious variable speed chain hoist on the market, meeting and exceeding some of the worlds strictest legislation for chain hoists both in Europe and the Americas.

In addition to the usual heightened design factor of safety and double brakes required in this type of hoist there are two sets of safety limits each with independent functionality and different activation methods (one rotary and the other direct struck) to prevent accidental over-travel of the hoist.  The rotary switch is monitored for rotation using an encoder which also functions as the backup to the main encoder.

A third encoder is attached to the load wheel to ensure the chain has travelled to its exact position.  The values from each encoder are constantly compared against the others for errors with encoder data stored and saved even when the power is turned off to the hoist.

Niscon Inc.’s president, Joseph Jeremy says, “This hoist is simply the best I have seen on the market.  In comparison to other chain products, the Stagemaker® body was the only choice that could deliver the performance we were looking for along with consistency and accuracy throughout the manufacturing process. Our goal was to develop a variable speed chain hoist that was safe, practical and would complement the Raynok line of motion control solutions.  In order to achieve this we added additional features to enhance safety and performance of the overall product, including a rotary limit switch, load cell and not one, but three encoders.”

The first public showing took place at the PLASA 2010 trade show in London, on the Hoist UK stand forming part of the central display which also showcased the Raynok motion control system. “I have been working with chain hoists and control in the entertainment industry for the last 18 years and have been involved with several motion control systems in the development stage, touring and in fixed installation applications.

The combination of Raynok motion control system and the Concerto hoist is by far the most precise, intuitive and safest system I have ever used” comments Hoist UK’s director Tony Dickson. “The Concerto is smooth, quiet and infinitely versatile and a great addition to our repertoire, it will be loved by riggers and LD’s alike” adds Hoist UK’s fellow director Paul Jordan.

An early version of the hoist can be seen in performance at Haze Nightclub at Aria in Las Vegas where Niscon Inc. installed 20 units for John Lyons Systems of Los Angeles, California.  The Haze system uses 20 hoists to manoeuvre 5 lighting trusses over the dance floor to enhance the effects of the light show for the club’s guests and patrons.

Niscon Inc.’s VP, Peter Sinkner says of the Haze installation, “John Lyons wanted smooth fluid motion on the Haze dance floor.  He wanted to give the patrons something different and really WOW them.  On his first visit to the club, John asked me to show him what the system could do.  I took control of one of the trusses with the Raynok MK2 Console joystick and rolled the truss on pitch and yaw while also flying it up and down.  When I stopped and looked at John, the smile on his face said it all.  Niscon Inc. had delivered what he was looking for and then some.”

REMEMBER: SAFETY ABOVE ALL

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Posted in Hoist UK News

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