David Ayling, director at Straightpoint, said: “The previous sizes were based on an incremental capacity scale that was adopted by the company even years before my arrival. We stuck with what the customers were already familiar with for good reason and at great success; however, we were increasingly quizzed on why the range didn’t align with, say, the Crosby, Green Pin, or GN Rope lines of shackles.”
After an 18-month programme involving Straightpoint’s whole team, including in-house engineers, as well as the end users of the company’s products, the decision to move to conform with industry-standard shackle sizes was given overwhelming backing by relevant stakeholders.
Straightpoint has also increased the capacity of the loadlink range up to 500t, from 300t, with the lowest-capacity unit remaining at 1t.
A further motivation for change was the DNV GL Type Approval Certification process, following which Straightpoint’sLoadlink, Radiolink and Wirelink product ranges now comply with DNVGL-ST-0378, the standard for offshore and platform lifting appliances.
Finally, the smaller loadlink models now have improved waterproof sealing. This process focused on the cavity in which the chassis and front plate fits, said Ayling.