The Essential Guide to Complex Machinery Lifting

Complex heavy machinery lifting is just that – and it requires specialist support and expertise to make lifting and moving valuable assets across European borders seamless and efficient.

Machinery is at the heart of industry, but the downtime needed to lift and move heavy machinery impacts output and profitability. As such, businesses in all sectors, from aerospace to defence and manufacturing to food and drink, must carefully consider the timing of complex heavy machinery lifting and transportation projects, especially when they cross international borders.

Finding the right specialist support from trusted partners with European reach is a crucial part of this – not just in terms of accessing the right expertise and equipment but also ensuring they understand the business-critical nature of the work, the broader operational drivers behind the project, the unique challenges involved and the practical realities of European moves.

Recognised as an industry leader in heavy machinery lifting and the movement of large-scale assets across Europe, the AIS Eurelo team is adept at handling the most complex and sometimes unusual projects.

As planning and delivering complex heavy machinery lifting projects is one of our core services, we’ve created this helpful guide to explain the stages involved and why we’re best placed to help with European projects:

What is the process for complex machinery lifting?

Relocation of machinery, production lines or entire manufacturing facilities often involves complex, technical, heavy machinery lifting requirements. Whether customers are installing, removing, constructing, dismantling, extracting, refitting, supporting or moving machinery or equipment, we use the following process:

• The first stage relates to finding a lifting and moving partner with a proven track record of delivering complex heavy lifts. Choosing a partner with experience is necessary to ensure a safe and efficient project delivered by skilled professionals.

At AIS Eurelo, we can handle even the most challenging heavy-lifting and installation projects thanks to our highly skilled team, in-house fleet of equipment and meticulous approach to planning. As our team provides a complete turnkey service – from dismantling to lifting, logistics and final commissioning – we can help customers return valuable assets to operation seamlessly, minimising disruption and downtime.

• The second stage is understanding the broader context, as every complex machinery lift project is unique. Whether the lifts are required as part of an asset realisation programme or a more extensive factory relocation across international borders, context allows the AIS Eurelo team to consider customers’ wider operational priorities and identify where other support and expertise may be required.
• The third stage involves detailed project planning. Planning underpins the success of a project and is a crucial stage. This includes creating a full method statement, risk assessment, and a tailored lifting and moving plan. It will introduce the lifting team, set out their core competencies, and identify the lifting methods and machinery to be deployed. This document will also set out the timescales involved with the project.
• The fourth and final stage is to execute the lifting and moving plan on-site with the support of our team. The team has health and safety front of mind at every stage to ensure the complex machinery lift is completed safely, on time and within budget.

How does AIS Eurelo approach complex machinery lift projects?

Health and safety is a priority at all levels of our business, especially on complex machinery lifting projects.

We adopt a systematic and safe approach, starting with identifying and mitigating risks through to disconnecting and dismantling machinery, undertaking complex lifts safely and removing heavy machinery from customers’ sites.

We employ cutting-edge technology and specialist equipment such as hydraulic jacks, skates, and gantries to move heavy machinery and mobile, crawler and tower cranes to ensure even the most difficult loads and complex lifts are completed successfully. Combined with a highly skilled team, we have the turnkey expertise to plan and execute every project stage.

Many of the complex machinery lift projects we deliver also require specialist transport to move items across European borders. In these instances, customers can also benefit from our extensive factory relocation and installation expertise, which involves packing, transporting and installing assets in their new location.

Whether moving heavy equipment across a manufacturing site in Slovenia or relocating it across multiple European borders – our team can respond with heavy haulage, abnormal load transport and rigging support. We also utilise specialist equipment to ensure all customer projects are completed safely and efficiently.

Professional project management is crucial to the success of our complex machinery lifting projects, and it’s why all tasks are assigned to a dedicated project manager to drive the assignment forward and communicate with the customer and on-site team. Part of this involves ensuring the correct compliance and accurate paperwork is in place and in the required local languages for lifting and transit.

What lifting methods does AIS Eurelo use?

The needs of every project are unique and determined by several factors – including the weight of the load, the available space to work in, specific site conditions and how far the machinery is being moved. As trusted experts, our team can consider these factors and determine the unique needs of each project and the challenges and risks it presents before selecting the most suitable heavy lifting and moving method and equipment.

The team has the know-how to identify and work around common issues, such as confined working spaces or restricted floor loadings, to ensure the task is completed safely.

When access on site is complex, jacking systems can be deployed, while lifting heavy loads in tight spaces might require the use of specialist ‘Megalift’ hydraulic gantry systems. These systems allow safe load raising, lowering, turning, tilting and traversing to overcome even the most unusual heavy machinery lifting challenges while minimising cost and avoiding the need to dismantle roofs or steelwork.

Why choose AIS Eurelo for your European heavy machinery move?

AIS Eurelo can handle even the most complex heavy machinery lifting projects. Calling on decades of heavy lifting experience and a flexible 24/7 European network, we have the technical expertise and resources to help.

Our fleet of specialist lifting and moving equipment can be mobilised within Europe and across borders with ease. We have international reach, a network of nine locations worldwide, and a trusted and vetted supply chain to support the delivery of projects.

We work outside traditional business hours to help customers minimise disruption, optimise efficiency, control costs, and meet project deadlines.

Our team of highly experienced riggers, fitters, M&E engineers, lifters, project managers, logistics experts, and our in-house fleet of specialist lifting equipment and transport and logistics capabilities enable us to provide a turnkey approach to complex lifts and more expansive factory and heavy equipment moves.

Our commitment to delivering projects safely, on time and within budget underpins our reputation as an industry leader in heavy machinery lifting and the movement of large-scale assets across Europe.

We are the trusted choice.

Contact us to discover how we can help move heavy machinery across Europe.