Quality & Safety

Preventing accidents and reducing maintenance costs are the two goals we set ourselves when designing our products. On a machine that carries people upward, material selection, weld quality and inspection are not matters for negotiation.

Manufacturing and certification

Mast production is carried out under German DIN 18.800-7 Class D certification. Welds are laid by robot to remove human error, every mast is given a serial number, and torsion, strength and deflection tests are applied.

• Mast production certified to DIN 18.800-7 Class D
• Robot welding, with a standards-compliant serial number on every mast
• Torsion, strength and deflection testing
• Masts and racks made from crack-inspected material
• Steel grade additionally verified in our own factory laboratory
• The rack is welded to the mast rather than bolted

Encomat and many other original manufacturers apply quality control systems appropriate to the risk and responsibility involved: one platform in every hundred is loaded to destruction as a test.

Safety equipment

The motors have electromagnetic brakes that release only when energised, so the machine locks whenever a safety device cuts the circuit or power is lost. Each unit carries two motors, and each motor engages the rack with two pinions — four motors and eight pinions on a twin platform. If vertical descent exceeds 0.5 m/s, the mechanical safety brake engages automatically and a limit switch cuts the circuit. In addition there is automatic platform levelling, a travel limiter on the last mast section, an end-of-mast detector, a half-length top section, emergency stop, an audible travel warning and manual descent in a power cut.

Compliance with standards

An original product keeps you current with CE and machinery standards. Many copied machines are still built without meeting these requirements. Critical parts such as the safety brake frequently lack their own CE certification.

Periodic maintenance

Across the market, periodic maintenance is usually carried out without reference to standards such as ISO 9926 — and often not at all. Under construction-site conditions, and given the known variability in operator competence, its importance is self-evident. We perform all maintenance ourselves in our 2,800 m² facility, and our hot-dip galvanised platforms last up to 20 years when maintained.