15 overhead cranes from SERE Maintenance now equip Manitou Group's new aerial work platform plant

To fit out its new rough-terrain aerial platform plant in Candé, Maine-et-Loire with overhead cranes and lifting gear, Manitou Group turned to SERE Maintenance, part of the EUROPONT and SAV VERLINDE network. Running since late 2021, the 18,000m2 facility belongs to a broader push to modernise industrial tooling across every group site, launched to lift production capacity amid strong pull from European and North American buyers.

Rough-terrain aerial platforms, electric models included, are the specialty of Manitou Group's new Candé facility, which houses a pair of automated production lines, a test centre and logistics areas, all split into zones for storing parts and finished machines. Its layout keeps delivery trucks and outbound collection traffic from crossing paths, by ergonomic design.

Candé already hosts Manitou Group's original plant, which builds industrial aerial platforms; this new site is its second unit there and the group's 6th across the Grand-West region. Lifting equipment supply and upkeep falls to SERE Maintenance — a designer and builder of lifting gear, handling systems and overhead cranes, and a member of the SAV Verlinde and EUROPONT networks covering Brittany and Pays de la Loire. Its versatile crew also runs every study, inspection and repair this machinery needs.
Given how pleased it was with this provider's service and products, Manitou Group opted to extend the partnership to the new site.

A set of 15 overhead cranes, custom designed and manufactured

SERE Maintenance studied what Manitou Group would need for two full aerial-platform assembly lines, then put forward 15 overhead travelling cranes fitted with Verlinde EUROBLOC VM hoists — an electric wire rope range spanning 2,000 to 20,000 kg with 2 built-in steering and lifting speeds to streamline output.
SERE Maintenance built every one of these cranes, from 1.6 to 4 tonnes, tailoring each to the factory's ergonomic needs:

• One crane was lengthened to span two bays so it can shift between production lines.

• A second crane's hook was engineered to clear an office area safely.

• The cranes above the assembly lines have feedback built into the feeder shaft so that the line does not start until the hoists reach the safe position. The contact is electrical, without a radio link, which guarantees its reliability.

Every crane runs on radio control. Power reaches the hoists via cable chains, a setup that keeps snagging risk low and spares the lines from damage.

According to Ludovic Mathys, Sere Maintenance's CEO: «We're glad to have met our customer's technical needs. Having worked alongside Manitou Group for years, we knew exactly what they required and what constraints applied. The order came together in only 5 months, with the unit up and running by November 2021.»

Michel Merceron, who heads Industrial Development at Manitou Group, added: «What Sere Maintenance delivered matches exactly what we wanted for our new plant's performance. Our teams get top-tier safety from these hoists, sized right for our site. Working with local partners matters enormously to us too — it keeps communication easy throughout a project…»