Britlift helps keep train manufacturer’s lifting on track

CAF Rolling Stock UK produces trains for the UK market. The bodies, bogies and engines are manufactured at CAF facilities in Spain and France for assembly at its plant in Llanwern near Newport, Wales. Clients include Transport for Wales, which recently commissioned 180 new diesel trains from CAF.

The Welsh facility runs two 25t cranes as well as smaller gantry cranes. It required an expert UK partner to produce a range of bespoke lifting equipment, to help ensure that all lifting procedures were carried out as safely as possible.

Ángel Martín Lucio, process engineer – tools and fixtures designer at CAF, says, “The body shells alone weigh 8t while an entire car can weigh more than 40t. We take safety very seriously and recognise that if a lift goes wrong, it could be very dangerous. This is why we focus on using bespoke lifting equipment to optimise safety in our lifting operations.

“In some cases we had the drawings from equipment we already use in our other factories, so we just needed a UK company to manufacture and certify the equipment. In other cases we need a full service from design to certification. Also, with the legislation changing due to Brexit, we need to have the correct UK certification rather than CE, so we needed a UK specialist who could deliver this.”

CAF turned to Britlift, a global manufacturer based in Dorset on the UK’s south coast. Britlift has produced a range of bespoke equipment for CAF, such as custom lifting lugs, adjustable lifting plates, bespoke clamps and machined lifting bolts. The Britlift equipment is used daily in the facility, for installing doors and windows as well as lifting body shells and entire cars.

“We wanted a supplier who could deliver a comprehensive service from technical advice and drawings to manufacture, testing and certification,” added Martín Lucio.

“Working with Britlift makes my job easier as they can provide all the services that we need from one company. They have been really good in terms of their engineering and technical support. They have the expertise and resources to meet our needs.”

Based in Dorset, UK, Britlift works with a global client base, providing an end-to-end lifting equipment engineering design service including calculations, design, manufacture, certification, and rig design. The qualified mechanical and structural engineers at Britlift will work with the client during the design phase, ensuring the most efficient, effective, safe and suitable solution is engineered, be that a lifting beam or frame, a bespoke handling or lifting tool, complex rig design, or FEA. Its Traditional Modular spreader beam is also available in a variety of standard sizes.