Lifting aids that fit the task – not the catalogue.

With a lifting aid, the person guides the load and the device carries it. That sets it apart from a crane, which is operated, and from a robot, which works on its own. The glossary explains exactly what the term covers; this page is about which lifting aid belongs at which workstation.

An ergonomic lifting aid has to do two things at once: take the weight off the worker and not slow the work down. The second is often underestimated. If picking up a part means hooking on, finding a button and waiting for the device, people soon go back to lifting by hand – and the investment has changed nothing.

Industrial lifting aids differ mainly in how the load is suspended and whether the device merely balances its weight or also takes up moments. That gives six basic forms, which can often be combined:

The first is the load – including the gripper. A vacuum gripper for large panels can use up a considerable share of the rated capacity on its own. The second is the moment: if the load is gripped off-centre, rotated or turned over, the device has to take up that moment. A rope cannot.

The third is the cycle. How many lifts per shift, and how much time is there for one pick? That decides whether a balancer is enough or whether a fast-gripping system is needed. The fourth is the working area: from where to where the load moves, what is in the way and how high the room is. Area and height determine the supporting structure.

Only once these four figures are known is it worth opening the catalogue. Our calculator gives a first estimate of rated capacity and load moment.

A pneumatic lifting aid balances the load with compressed air, via a cylinder or a rope drum. Its advantage is feel: the load floats, and the operator guides it by hand to where it belongs. It needs a compressed-air supply that delivers enough volume at the required quality – 6 bar operating pressure for our balancers and lifting columns.

Electric lifting aids, such as an articulated arm with chain hoist, lift at the push of a button. They have the edge where there is no compressed air, where longer strokes are needed, or where the movement should be steady rather than sensitive. Which drive fits is rarely a matter of taste but of the task – our guide on pneumatic and electric drives goes through it in detail.

In Germany there is no fixed weight above which a lifting aid becomes mandatory. What counts is the Manual Handling Ordinance: the employer assesses the risk of lifting and carrying and takes measures if it is too high. The usual tool is the Key Indicator Method of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA). Besides weight, it considers frequency, posture and working conditions.

Measures follow a hierarchy: technical before organisational before personal. Back training therefore does not replace a lifting aid where the strain can be reduced technically. Our guides on ergonomics and on the risk assessment describe the procedure and the thresholds the method uses.

We start at the workstation: recording load, cycle, paths and postures – as a workplace analysis with a Key Indicator Method rating if required. From that comes the design: type, supporting structure, drive and the gripper, which we design and build for your workpiece where needed. Installation, commissioning and instruction are part of it.

Combining a device and a gripper raises the question of whether a new machine is created under the Machinery Directive – from 20 January 2027 the Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230. We clarify that and supply the documents. After commissioning we inspect and maintain the equipment, including units from other manufacturers.