Case Study: Public Utilities
People rely on public utilities to be available whenever they need them. If we can do something to help run their operation easier and with added efficiency, everyone benefits.
Meet the Customer
The customer for this project was a utility holding company that owned and operated two subsidiaries that manage the electricity distribution system for a major North American city. They have approximately 785,000 residential, commercial, and industrial customers who rely on them to provide a safe and reliable electricity supply on demand.
The Customer’s Need
Public utilities use some of the heaviest equipment available to ensure that services are always operational for the people they serve.
This customer was in need of heavy-duty wire mesh bins with solid steel floors and two fully removable door panels for easy loading and unloading. These bins had to be rugged enough to withstand the stress of being hoisted by an overhead crane to be moved or stored. The customer also specified that heavy-duty casters needed to be installed for easy mobility.
These flyable bins were required to be inspected by a professional engineer (P. Eng.) for ratings, with special rating label stickers emblazoned onto a side plate.
The Davco Solution
We sat down with the customer for initial discussions to clarify what they needed and answer all of their questions. Our engineers went through several iterations of designs before we presented the customer with the winning blueprint.
The custom crane hoist bin featured specially reinforced hoisting lugs welded onto the basket’s corners. The lugs had holes large enough to accommodate the lifting hooks attached to the end of cables used by the crane to lift the basket.
Special phenolic and roller bearing casters were installed for manual mobility, although we designed the bin to also be movable by a pallet jack or forklift. Two side doors were located in position and could be easily opened by workers for efficient loading and unloading.
The bin was constructed using high-quality, North American-sourced bare carbon steel to be strong and durable enough for our customer’s application. Our goal was to fabricate a rugged, to-spec basket that would give our customer years of reliable heavy-duty performance.
Davco engineers kept the sales team apprised of the project’s scope so they could formulate a custom quote, along with a commitment to just-in-time delivery to keep the customer’s projects moving.
THE RESULTS
Upon approval of the design and quote, we set our fabricators to work. They used cutting-edge computer numerical controlled (CNC) technology to create the custom crane hoist bins to the customer’s exact requirements. They also ensured that the containers were ready to be delivered on time to the customer’s location.
Our customer received their new mesh baskets and immediately commissioned them into service, helping to continue efficiently serving their customers and creating a great new long-term relationship for the Davco team.
That same crane hoist wire mesh bin design was such a successful product that other customers have also purchased it, with modifications we were happy to make. We were thrilled to introduce this new design and satisfy another customer with our quality products, competitive prices, and exceptional service. Every new relationship is a win for our team – it’s how we’ve built our business from day one.