260 Cranes and hoists always in view

Grosskraftwerk Mannheim AG (GKM) produces electricity and district heating for the booming Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. Behind the operation of the power plant are complex processes that include a large fleet of cranes and hoists. Each of the 260 or so systems has to be serviced and safety-checked every year. GKM relies on the expertise of the crane experts at Konecranes. With the customer portal

the maintenance process becomes more efficient and GKM always has an online overview of the 260 systems.

They can be seen from afar, the chimneys of the large power plant in Mannheim, which are up to 200 meters high. The plant site, which stretches over 3.2 kilometers along the banks of the Rhine, produces energy for the booming Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region. The four power plant units have an output of around 2,150 megawatts. The GKM generates electricity for a good 2.5 million people, commerce and industry as well as district heating for around 120,000 households - in a particularly environmentally and climate-friendly way thanks to combined heat and power generation. The Mannheim-based company also generates traction current for DB Energie GmbH. Around 15 percent of Germany's traction current comes from Mannheim. This makes GKM one of the most important electricity producers for rail transport and the largest energy location in Baden-Württemberg.

GKM's power plant unit 9, which was connected to the grid in 2015, is one of the most efficient hard coal-fired power plants in the world with a fuel utilization rate of up to 70%. For transportation, repair and lifting tasks, GKM uses a total of 260 crane systems and hoists of various types and manufacturers - a huge fleet. The reliability of these systems is extremely important. That is why GKM relies entirely on Konecranes, one of the world's leading crane and hoist manufacturers, for maintenance and testing.

Complete service process: all cranes online at a glance

Each of the 260 cranes and hoists requires an annual safety inspection (UVV) and maintenance - the chain hoist as well as the nacelle crane with a lifting capacity of 300 tons, which the crane experts from Konecranes installed in the new power plant unit 9. From scheduling to service, documentation and maintenance, clear documentation is required for so many systems. "How can such a large fleet of crane systems and hoists be monitored quickly, safely and clearly? With our cloud-based portal yourkonecranes.com, we can do just that - regardless of how many systems our customers operate," says Ernst Hinze, Service Sales at Konecranes, "yourkonecranes.com significantly simplifies the maintenance process at the large power plant in Mannheim."

Appointment scheduling - ideally matched to operational processes

The project team inspecting the crane systems.

At the beginning of the year, the experts from Konecranes coordinate the dates for maintenance and safety checks with GKM. "There are complex processes behind the provision of energy. For example, we need around three million tons of hard coal every year to operate the boilers. It has to be unloaded using the loading bridges, stored and transported to the four power plant units using the conveyor systems.

Reliable cranes and hoists are very important for the maintenance and repair of these systems," says Michael Griesheimer, responsible for the maintenance of these systems at GKM. When planning the service assignments, GKM's operating processes are carefully considered and an optimum maintenance date is set for each system. GKM can always track the dates on yourkonecranes.com. In addition, yourkonecranes.com offers the option of requesting services online.

Maintenance - independent of type and manufacturer

"All cranes and hoists at GKM have different years of construction, manufacturers and histories. This results in individual requirements that we have to take into account during the inspection," explains Dominik Tremmel. Together with his colleague Carl Hirsch, the Konecranes service technician spends around three months on the road maintaining and inspecting all the systems at GKM. With yourkonecranes.com, the crane experts always have all information available on their smartphones or tablets, from technical data to inspection reports - no matter where they are on the site. With each inspection, the service technicians update the data of the systems on the portal and GKM can track the status of each maintenance in the service calendar.

Following each maintenance, Konecranes prepares an inspection report for each of the 260 cranes and hoists and advises on how the systems can be further optimized. In addition, GKM can access all reports online at yourkonecranes.com. Particularly helpful: the search function can be used to sort the systems according to various criteria.

Maintenance - efficient with condition assessment

"High availability of the cranes and hoists is essential in the tightly synchronized production process at GKM," says Ernst Hinze, "which is why our experts assess the condition of the individual systems during the inspection. If the operation of the system is at risk or it could fail, action must be taken." The cranes and hoists are assigned to the four GKM power plant units on yourkonecranes.com. This means that the responsible departments receive a notification - and repairs can be initiated.

"Complex processes ensure the efficient operation of our four power plant units. We have to be able to rely on the reliability of our cranes and hoists. Keeping track of 260 crane systems and hoists is a challenge," says Michael Griesheimer. "With the yourkonecranes.com customer portal, we know the condition of every single system. Konecranes actively supports us, continues to optimize the portal and advises us with its experience so that our systems are available around the clock."

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