It is a well- known fact that any army will need a good logistics system behind it to keep it prepared and supplied and to enable it to sustain the firepower in conflict situation. Hiab Government Business Operations has been supporting defence forces over the past three decades and the global requirement for Hiab load handling systems in defence logistics has grown by ten-fold from its inauguration in the mid-80’s.  To date, Hiab Government Business Operations has supplied over 40,000 military products for defence forces worldwide, providing a flexible and highly effective logistic support.

Hiab’s  product range consist of a range of truck mounted lifting systems that enables the truck driver or crew to load/unload the vehicle independently, without any help from other people or external loading devices.  Products include HIAB Loader Cranes, MULTILIFT Demountables, MOFFETT Rough Terrain Forklifts and ZEPRO, WALTCO and DEL Taillifts.

Hiab is a global company with a matching service network. Our products are well accepted in Europe, Americas as well as in Asia and our recent success in India means that Hiab will soon have delivered over 2000 new loader cranes for the Indian Army.

HIAB HiVision™ was first developed for the civil market having its first application in the forestry crane business. It enables the crane operator to work his loader crane by sitting in the comfort of his truck cabin. HiVision™ 3D vision goggles provide the operator the same view as he or she previously had when sitting on a seat that was mounted on the top of the crane column by the control mechanism. 

Hiab GBO is now adapting HiVision™ to defence applications. The main benefit is that the operator can use his loader crane from the safety of the trucks armoured cabin. Hiab is also developing its tool offering which enables a load to be attached and detached to the crane boom without any need to leave the vehicle cabin. The main benefit is naturally safety but there are other benefits too, gains with speed of operation, lower fuel consumption and driver comfort are considerable.

HiVision™ will offer benefit also for MULTILIFT demountable “DROPS” operation, particularly when adapted for ISO container handling. Operation is not so easy as the vision from the drivers cab is often restricted by heavy cab armouring and small rear view window on the back of the truck cabin. Rear view camera can help but these only provide 2D image.  HiVision™ 3D image gives far superior image and can enable much more confident and speedy operation of the system, saving time and fuel.

Hiab Crane Operator Training Systems are part of wider Hiab HiSafe™ offering that provides safety system to different industries. Training loader crane operators can be a costly business. The hands-on operator training burns a lot of truck fuel and it adds hundreds of extra running hours to the truck engine. Early steps in the crane operation tie down training personnel and mistakes do happen despite of a closely guided approach. Cranes are hydraulically powered so damage to the kit is inevitable and often costly.

Hiab Operator Training rigs have been developed to remove these wasteful elements of operator training. The crane operator can learn to operate the crane controls by using augmented reality. The controls system and operating lever sequence can be learned by operating the digital image of the crane rather than the real thing. It saves fuel, the engine and nerves. If things go wrong, nothing gets broken. Only when the novice operator feels confident enough to operate the real thing, will he be able to start the truck engine and operate the loader.

For further information about Hiab Defence solutions, HiVision , HiSafe and other developments.

Hiab Limited

Government Business Operations

Email: gbo.enquiries@hiab.com

Website: www.hiab.com