Pit-Mounted Scissor Lift for Heavy Fabrication Shop in Pimpri-Chinchwad MIDC
⚠ The Challenge
The client is a precision fabrication company in Pimpri-Chinchwad MIDC — Pune's largest and oldest industrial hub, home to over 4,000 engineering and manufacturing companies. Their shop fabricates heavy structural assemblies (2-5 tonnes) for construction equipment and industrial machinery OEMs. Welders worked at fixed floor level, requiring overhead cranes to flip and rotate assemblies for multi-side welding. Each rotation consumed 15-20 minutes of crane time, created safety risks during suspended-load manoeuvring and bottlenecked the two shop-floor cranes shared across 8 welding bays. The company needed a positioning solution that freed up crane capacity and improved ergonomics for their welding team.
✔ Our Solution
Nio Equipment installed a pit-mounted hydraulic scissor lift with 5-tonne capacity and 1500mm stroke, flush-mounted in a custom-excavated pit so the platform sits at floor level when lowered. The 3m × 2m platform accommodates the client's largest fabrication fixtures. A foot-pedal hydraulic control gives the welder hands-free height adjustment, letting them position the work piece at optimal welding height without leaving the station. Heavy-duty anti-skid plate surfacing, toe guards and a mechanical locking bar for maintenance access completed the safety package. The hydraulic power unit was positioned in an adjacent machine room to reduce noise at the welding station.
Key Results
The Challenge
Pimpri-Chinchwad MIDC is Pune's industrial backbone. Established in the 1960s, it houses over 4,000 companies spanning automotive, defence, engineering and general manufacturing. This client occupies a 12,000 sq ft fabrication shop producing welded structural assemblies weighing 2-5 tonnes for construction equipment OEMs. Their work involves multi-side welding — top, bottom and sides of each assembly must be welded in sequence, requiring the piece to be flipped or rotated between stages.
With only two 10-tonne overhead cranes shared across 8 welding bays, every rotation consumed 15-20 minutes of crane time — rigging, lifting, rotating, repositioning and de-rigging. During peak production, welders waited 30-45 minutes for a crane to become available. The rotation process also created safety concerns: manoeuvring a 3-tonne suspended load through a 90-degree rotation with chain slings requires skilled riggers, and the shop had recorded 2-3 near-miss incidents per year involving swinging loads.
Our Solution
Nio Equipment recommended a pit-mounted scissor lift that eliminates the need for overhead crane rotation entirely. The 5-tonne capacity lift sits in a custom pit, bringing the platform flush with the shop floor when fully lowered. The welder places the fixture on the platform at floor level, then raises it to the ideal working height using a foot pedal — no hand controls needed, leaving both hands free for welding.
The 3m × 2m platform was sized to handle the largest standard fixture in the shop. Anti-skid diamond plate surfacing prevents fixture movement during welding. The foot-pedal hydraulic control provides proportional speed — gentle press for slow, precise positioning; full press for rapid traverse between heights. A mechanical locking bar allows the platform to be locked at any height for maintenance access underneath.
Installation in a Working Shop
Pit excavation was the most critical phase. Nio Equipment's civil team completed the 1800mm-deep pit in 4 days, working during the client's second shift to minimise disruption. The scissor lift mechanism and hydraulic unit were installed and commissioned over the following week. Total project time from excavation to handover was 12 working days — well within the client's requirement.
The proximity advantage was again significant: Nio Equipment's Bhosari facility is just 8 km from the client's Pimpri-Chinchwad shop. The project engineer visited twice daily during installation, and spare hydraulic fittings were delivered from Nio's stores within an hour when a site modification was needed.
Results and Impact
Fixture setup and repositioning time dropped by 60%. Welders now adjust work height in seconds using the foot pedal, instead of waiting 15-20 minutes for a crane cycle. More importantly, the two overhead cranes are now available for actual material handling — moving raw stock, finished assemblies and tooling — eliminating the capacity bottleneck that had constrained shop throughput.
Welding quality also improved. With the work piece at optimal height, welders maintain consistent torch angles and travel speeds, reducing rework on visual and dimensional inspections. The shop has recorded zero suspended-load rotation incidents since the scissor lift installation. The client ordered a second identical unit within 4 months for the adjacent bay.
“The scissor lift paid for itself in crane time saved alone. But the real win is welder safety — no more rigging chains around a 3-tonne weldment to flip it with the overhead crane. That was always a risk we worried about.”— Works Manager, Fabrication Company, Pimpri-Chinchwad MIDC