There are hundreds of manipulators in operation around the world and if you talk to the users they will invariably say that they do a great job, save labour, increase productivity, improve safety and improve working conditions - but they always break down, cause stoppages and cost too much to maintain.
Clansman Manipulators are very different by design!
Every piece of the machine from the main control card (where there are no relays) to the main vertical boom (where a steel casting is used to avoid fatigue cracks in welds) to the rotating hydraulic joint in the wrist (which allows all hoses to be kept inside the wrist structure) has been analysed and reanalysed so that we obtain a long life. Long life means 10 years on 3 shifts a day with a cycle every 6 seconds - that is a ferocious duty of 40,000,000 cycles, requiring very precisely calculated stress levels.
The range of applications for Clansman Manipulators is continuing to grow and now includes manipulators with a true 20t capacity, the range of applications and examples of their use can be viewed here.
When Clansman build a manipulator it is selected for the specific duty taking into account the frequency of operation the loading and the stresses. It is never good to work a machine at the top level of its stress envelope, therefore all Clansman machines work well within that envelope.