Whether you are planning a factory relocation, machinery removals, or a machine installation, you will need an industrial services partner that knows how to move heavy machinery. With more than 40 years’ experience in machinery moving and a varied, nationwide fleet of heavy lifting equipment, AIS Vanguard can help.

The know-how to move heavy machinery

AIS Vanguard is an expert machinery moving company, with a trained and skilled in-house workforce of machinery movers and a wholly-owned fleet of heavy lifting equipment, including cranes, hydraulic gantries, pick-and-carry cranes, fork lift trucks and low level access equipment. Every machinery moving project is different, and AIS Vanguard draws on its national branch network, along with the international resources of sister company, AIS EURELO, to ensure deployment of the right skills and lifting equipment to meet the exact needs of each machinery removal, factory relocation, or installation project.

When you are considering how to move heavy machinery for your machinery moving project, AIS Vanguard suggests these tips for making the right choices:

1. Select machinery movers with the right experience

It’s important that the industrial services company you hire for your machinery moving project has the right knowledge, skills and lifting equipment to get the job done efficiently, safely and cost-effectively. If they do not have the heavy lifting equipment required for the specific machinery moving demands of the project, for example, they may have to compromise on the lifting equipment used or hire in heavy lifting equipment, which could increase the cost of the project and risk of unforeseen delays.

The machinery movers you choose should ideally have experience in your sector too. For example, the demands of a machinery relocation in a food and beverage factory where there is a requirement to maintain strict hygiene standards has a different set of challenges to working in hazardous environments, such as the petrochemicals sector or the power industry. By choosing a machinery moving specialist that has a proven track record in your sector, you can be confident that they will understand the operational and commercial context for your factory relocation, machinery removals or installation project.

2. Ensure your machinery movers know your site and your requirements

Every machinery moving project should begin with a site survey and a face-to-face meeting to discuss your requirements, including your operational needs, the deadline by which your machinery relocation needs to be completed and any site specific hazards.

A site survey is also a good opportunity for the machinery movers to take a look at your buildings and access to site so that they can consider which heavy lifting equipment will be most suitable for the project. For example, where interior space is limited for a machinery removals project, AIS Vanguard often deploys the company’s Megalift hydraulic gantries because they can lift up to 1000t on a small footprint. This can help to avoid unnecessary added costs, such as modifications to the building, and enable neighbouring processes to continue operating without business interruption.

3. Consider the turnkey requirements of your machinery moving project

You may be focusing on how to move heavy machinery, but your project probably involves much more than machinery moving.

For example, as part of a turnkey approach to machinery removals, you will need to consider the mechanical and electrical services disconnections, isolations, diversions and modifications that will enable safe machinery removals, while avoiding the risk that other machines could be taken offline accidentally.

For heavy machinery, machinery movers often recommend that the machine is dismantled as part of the machinery removals process. Adopting this approach enables the AIS Vanguard team to use lifting equipment to remove the machine in sections, reducing risk and working within the access constraints of your building and your site. It’s worth remembering that an integral part of machinery relocation projects is loading the machine to transport, so dismantling machines often enables efficient use of vehicles and allows the machine to be transported within loading and wide/large load requirements.

AIS Vanguard’s wholly owned fleet of heavy lifting equipment and commercial vehicles means the company can manage the whole factory relocation or machinery relocation process for you. That includes logistics, with transportation to a new site within your network, the new owner of your assets, or a suitable scrap processor.

To find out more about AIS Vanguard’s machinery moving expertise, or our fleet of heavy lifting equipment, call 01257 441111.