Looking ahead to the coming issues of Hoist

14 August 2017

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It’s that time of year when, for many of you reading, work takes a back-seat and we can enjoy a well-earned break over the summer period. Here in the UK we don’t have a traditional widespread shutdown in quite the same manner as in some other countries, but nevertheless I will be spending a week in early August down in Cornwall. Planned activities include watching the boats rolling in to the bay and then watching them roll out again, and risking ejection from the region by publicly layering jam and cream on my scones in the order traditionally preferred by the neighbouring county of Devon.


It’s a good chance to take stock of what’s ahead for Hoist in the remainder of the year, and beyond. I took over the role of editor back at the beginning of January, and although the intervening few months have really flown by, I think we have published some excellent articles, thanks to both our great team of writers and members of the industry for continuing to support us with input, news and views.

Once I return from the south-west of England, it will be back to overseeing the next issues of this magazine for the autumn, winter and beyond. Looking ahead, I’m particularly looking forward to LiftEx, which takes place at the end of November in Telford, UK. It should provide a good opportunity to get to know the UK lifting industry in more detail, and hopefully produce plenty of ideas for coverage of the products helping our industry to lift, as well as some of the huge number of projects being completed all across the country and further afield.

We’ll be covering all the news from the show, alongside a broad range of features which should illustrate just how versatile and universal overhead cranes are. In September, we plan to look at cranes used in clean room applications—the equipment that operates alongside such high-sensitivity products, such as pharmaceuticals, that the potential for any contaminants being produced by the lifting kit must be eliminated.

October’s issue is set to profile the offshore sector, which has seen ups and downs in recent years but always requires hoists to operate, and a look at the manufacturers of the motors and gearboxes that power hoists. This was inspired by my visit to Messe Hannover back in April, where I met several companies working in this area—if I met you there, I’ll be in touch to find out more about your products, and equally if you are in the sector and would like to tell us more about your portfolio then please do drop me a line.

In November we’ll be reporting on the current approaches to training in the overhead crane sector—how people are trained, who is being trained, and whether the industry has enough new blood entering the sector to maintain growth. There will also be a profile of the ropes used in overhead lifting—the technology that helps to keep the products light, strong, and in some cases, made of synthetic materials.

And once we’ve tackled all of those topics—alongside all the latest news in the industry too, of course—we’ll be in December, which means Christmas and another welldeserved holiday. Where does the time go?

Daniel Searle, editor