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Founded in 1954, Custom Engineering (Erie, PA), specializes in medium to heavy fabrication and contract machining, and is recognized as a leader in manufacturing and refurbishing heating platens for hydraulic presses. The firm employs more than 150 people in a 140,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and has earned a solid reputation for completing custom jobs on time and on budget.

Dedicated to continually improving operations in a safe and productive workplace, supervisors began searching for a solution to maintain efficiency and improve safety after realizing that employees in the materials management crew were frequently suffering from back injuries. They began closely observing the employees at work.

To move heavy steel plates, the operators utilized a manual-locking magnet suspended from an overhead crane. To turn this magnet on or off, they were often forced to reach across plates or climb on top of them – a practice that was obviously a factor in the back injuries. That's not all. To activate this style of magnet, the operators also had to place their foot or hand on the magnet and pull back the attached lever. This method placed them at risk for injuries that sometimes occurred when the lever propelled back at them. The supervisors determined that this sort of magnet needed to be replaced with something better.

To answer to this problem, materials manager Darin Hayes turned to another manufacturer that was literally down the street, Eriez Magnetics®, which offered innovative equipment and solutions for magnetics, vibratory and inspection applications. Custom Engineering was already aware of Eriez because of its close proximity to their facility and because they already turned to them for all their magnetics needs.

After looking carefully at the situation and considering the application needs, Eriez recommended SafeHold® APL Series permanent lifting magnets. "At the time, they came to us for help with their issues from their old-fashioned lifting magnet," explains Dan Zimmerman, Eriez' metalworking market manager, "and we were preparing to introduce this new series. The timing was perfect since the APL-154, which has a lifting capacity of 3600 lb, was an ideal solution to their steel handling challenges."

The APL-154 is ideal for loading and unloading steel sheets from burn tables or anywhere that limits operator access. They can lift and transfer steel and iron without slings, hooks or cables, and without marring the surface. They require fewer operators and helpers, and when properly installed and operated, provide greater safety than many other mechanical material-handling devices. These magnets, which can be used singly or in multiples on a spreader beam, turn on and off automatically to provide smooth operation for hundreds of lifting-positioning applications. Since they don't require any electricity, there's no chance of power failures interrupting operation.

Hayes explains that he was pleasantly surprised with just how smoothly the APL-154 operated right from the start. "Considering that our APL-154 was literally the first of its kind to come off the production line, we expected a few minor bugs and glitches," he said. "However, here we are years later and we have yet to have any issues with this fantastic magnet."