Keeping employees safe is at the heart of what we do at Stringo. In this article, our CTO Magnus Grafström shares the philosophy behind our safety features—and reveals some of the developments in store to meet upcoming market demands.
Speed and efficiency are key factors when it comes to vehicle moving, but neither is more important than safety. As Magnus Grafström, CTO at Stringo, puts it, “to our customers, Stringo is first and foremost a safety investment, not simply a utilitarian device to move cars. They’re looking for a way to let their employees move vehicles with a minimum risk of workplace injury and accidents and long-term health problems from bad ergonomics (such as pushing a vehicle by hand). And certain safety elements of Stringo’s vehicle movers are mandatory by law in most countries, such as braking capability and a built-in speed limitation. Others are built into our design, like the powerful press arms. We also offer a range of optional add-ons for extra safety,” he states with pride, knowing that the human element of his design team’s work is paramount.
Five examples of optional Stringo safety features:
- Extra foot guards help avoid the risk of crushing injuries on feet or toes.
- Automatic roller planes with integrated rollover protections prevent the car from rolling over during transport if there are sudden stops or obstacles.
- Sound and light signals alert surrounding staff when the vehicle mover is in operation.
- Ride-on platforms elevate the operator for a better overview and a safer distance to the vehicle.
- Side supports that further protect the operator while on the ride-on platform.
Safety requests can differ a lot from customer to customer and between different countries, says Magnus. “US manufacturers often want prolonged foot guards for extra protection. And right now, we’re working on a new type of fixed ride-on platform for a French customer.”
This dialogue between customers and the research and development team is a major advantage that Stringo has over other solutions as the company sets a standard for safety that has no industrial peer in vehicle moving.
“We’re constantly doing customer listening to hear their feedback. One of our German manufacturing clients did just that and together we innovated a new, very powerful safety update on the foot protection tech,” says Magnus.
Current automotive trends that require extra safety features
Facilities where vehicles need to be moved on sloping surfaces often require additional safety measures to prevent cars from sliding off the vehicle mover.
“Rollover protections let you move cars in a safe and controlled way, even up or down a slope or over an obstacle,” he explains further.
The demand for this solution is growing in the automotive industry, he adds. “New car factories in China are often being built high above the ground level to withstand flash floods. This means the cars need to be taken in and out on ramps. And in the US, up-and-coming EV manufacturers convert old industrial properties with loading ramps to service and delivery centers.”
Rollover protections are also useful for moving heavy vehicles safely. This is a challenge that’s becoming more common as the shift towards electrification continues since EVs tend to weigh more than combustion engine cars. Find out more in our article How to move electric cars quickly and easily in a plant.
Several steps ahead of upcoming safety demands
Magnus and his team are constantly developing and testing new features to meet the ever-changing demands of the market – always putting usability and operator safety first. As the Stringo CTO, can Magnus reveal some upcoming developments.
At the moment, we’re developing our dedicated four-wheel-mover to enable one-button-control operation when loading all four wheels of a car. As we know from our regular Stringo models, this minimises the risk of human error. Operating our machines the right way should be so simple and intuitive that making a mistake becomes almost impossible.”
Magnus also hints that operating a vehicle mover might become more like playing a video game in the near future:
“We see a growing demand for remote controlled vehicle movers. This would reduce the need for human-to-vehicle contact in environments with an increased fire hazard, such as EV testing facilities”.
Do you want to learn more about industry trends from Magnus?
Check out this article on four-wheel vehicle movers.
