Movetech UK has provided Hatton Systems with new equipment that allows them to move 2.5 tonnes of machinery around its workshop with just one hand.

Hatton Systems supplies equipment for testing new vehicles, including using rolling roads and cooling fans to test emissions and engine performance. The cooling fans, which are used to simulate air flow, weigh up to 2.5 tonnes each, and were previously very difficult to move into position.

But movement technology specialist Movetech UK has provided Hovair™ air skates that mean that instead of requiring two employees to heave the equipment into place, one person can easily glide, and lock the fan into position.

Richard Sutton, Managing Director at Hatton Systems, explained: “In the past, we’ve used castors, which was not ideal. The fans are so large it was hard for one or even two people to manoeuvre them into place. But with the Movetech UK’s air skates, you can move them with just one hand.”

“Obviously, we have to secure the fans so they don’t blow themselves away, when in use. With castors, that used to take extra components, time and manpower during assembly. However, now that we use air bearings, we just have a simple pressure switch under the equipment, to double check the air skate has been turned off. It makes them even better value, because we’ve saved on manpower and time costs.”

For this application Movetech UK supplied Hovair™ lightweight air skates which use compressed air to virtually eliminate friction. Air skates provide omni-directional capabilities, meaning that a load can be moved in any direction without the need for complex turning manoeuvres. Available in a variety of sizes and capacities, a set of four air skates can carry anything up to 240 tonnes, with higher capacities possible with larger sets.

Richard added: “We’d encourage everyone to use them, proving their floor is smooth enough, you’d be a wise to use them. They are good to use, good value and good for safety.”

Movetech UK’s Technical Director David Houghton said: “We are delighted with the difference our Hovair™ air skates have made to the day-to-day operations at Hatton Systems. We put a lot of thought and resources into creating products that make light work of complicated tasks – and this is the perfect example. We’ve turned a two-person task with flaws into a simple job that’s even better suited than before.”

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Take a look at our Hovair air skates page for more details.