Recently, the Ministry of Transport granted its approval following an inspection of the "Intelligent Logistics Platform Demonstration Project for the Xiamen International Shipping Center (the Center) Port" located in the city of Xiamen, Fujian, China. In accordance with the requirements of the Center, this demonstration project integrated the business information resources of each participant to create a logistics platform with the port as its core hub.
Construction of the project includes one big data center, four service platforms (an intelligent transportation collaboration platform for the port, a multimodal transport services platform, an express shipping service platform to Taiwan, and a one-stop online service hall), and supporting software & hardware infrastructure.
NGC Joins Hands With RCI to Complete Development and Delivery of RMG Crane
During the construction of the platform demonstration project, complete field testing was completed for the port yard rail-mounted container gantry crane of multimodal transport service platform (hereinafter referred to as the RMG yard crane), which possesses a full range of drive system gearboxes, all using NGC’s new-generation MHB series of standard industrial gearboxes. The crane also performed very well on the various working conditions on the site.
As the provider of hoisting equipment for this project and considering the special needs of railed shipping vehicles, RCI specially developed the RMG 41t tracked container gantry crane, fully equipped with a rotary function. The RMG 41 has a working class of A7, a rated lifting weight of 41 tons, a lifting height of 13.1 meters, a span of 40 meters, a maximum cantilever working radius of 8 m x 8 meters, and trolley rotation speed of 1 RPM.
All of the RMG crane’s drive mechanisms (drives for hoisting, trolley movement, truck movement, etc.) all adopted NGC’s MHB series of standard industrial gearbox products.
Professional NGC Wins Customers’ Trust
NGC has paid a great deal of attention to the entire process of this project, from clarification of customer needs, to on-site delivery and testing. The company has made great efforts in its detailed investigation of the on-site operating conditions, performing strict product reliability calculations and verifications, ensuring an efficient and transparent production and manufacturing process, delivery, verification of various on-site indicators, and troubleshooting. NGC team left a deep impression on the company’s customers for its efficiency, professionalism, and rigor.
Internal troubleshooting at equipment plant
Customer on-site load test
By the end of June this year, the project had progressed to the on-site troubleshooting stage. Although the local place was often hot, rainy, and damp, the NGC team managed to adjust each gearbox product to the best possible operating state according to the working conditions of the equipment. The gearboxes were fully adjusted to meet the successive needs of both free-load and loaded crane tests, and were granted preliminary acceptance from their first test, which won the praise of customers from both the gantry crane plant and the port itself.
"Combined Rail–Water Transport" Will Become an Emerging Trend in Logistics
In recent years, the development space of overland highway freight has been compressed due to reasons such as safety, environmental protection, and transportation volume. By contrast, the new rail-water combined model has become an emerging trend. Compared with highway freight transport, the combined rail–water model has a very prominent advantage, that is, long-distance transportation. In terms of logistical cost, safety factors, or environmental friendliness, combined rail-water transport offers superior performance. However, this new combined rail-water logistics network places greater requirements on the equipment of dockyard cranes. Compared with previous port lifting equipment, the new drive mechanisms are more complicated.
In order to promote the service capacity of port crane operators, and to make a greater contribution to the construction of a smart port industry, NGC made full use of its Sino-German technical team and massive reserves of R&D resources, and launched a new generation of MHB-series standard industrial gearboxes in 2017. After a full battery of tests and performance verification procedures, the competitiveness of the MHB series has been proven to be comparable to imported products in this field. Compared with those of JB/T 8853 series gearboxes, the static strength and fatigue resistance of the input shaft of MHB series are respectively 20% and 50% more under the same transmission power. The MHB series can also be customized according to customer need and can be widely used in RMG/RTG field bridge gantry cranes, generic portal crane hoisting mechanisms, pitching mechanisms, and traveling mechanisms, and also can be applied in the belt conveyor systems of bulk terminals and freight yards.
