Street Crane expands

UK overhead crane and hoist manufacturer Street Crane Company is expanding its Chapel-en-le-Frith facilities with a £750,000 (US$ 1.09 million) investment.

The work will improve workflow at the factory and expand the production area by about 30%. It includes a new reception area for steel plate and improved despatch facilities. Machine shops and the hoist works have already been improved to streamline production. In addition, design offices have been provided for the development team.

To meet immediate production space needs in the main factory, the company leased warehouse space to relocate its parts storage and some CNC machines. Plans are being prepared for the next development phase, including transfer of hoist production to a new dedicated facility and for new hoist test facilities.

Street Crane said about 20 new jobs would be created by the expansion. Many will be design engineers to support the company's hoist development programme.

"Lean production has been a way of life at Street Crane for many years. From a constrained site we have been able to produce up to 400 cranes per year and over 2,000 hoists. The new facilities will permit better workflow and boost productivity at a time when we are experiencing exceptional levels of interest worldwide in our factory-cranes, hoists and crane components," said Andrew Pimblett, Street Crane managing director.