Big Lift for Big Towers

Moving Steel Plates Efficiently Makes a Huge Difference for Water Tower Builders

Maguire was founded in 1915 as a water tank maintenance and repair company servicing customers throughout the upper Midwest. Based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the company purchased Master Tank in Minnesota in 1982, which brought Maguire in-house design, fabrication, and erection capabilities. With roughly 225 employees, “we are one of the only companies in the country to perform maintenance, fabrication, and field construction” of water towers and tanks, says Brian Cooper, Maguire’s vice president of business development. Customers are now spread across 34 states.

The business has grown steadily over the years, and the company found that, although it had a good amount of space (60,000 square feet), operating from four separate buildings became inefficient. “Product flow was an issue. Our team moved material too many times,” Cooper says. The company recently relocated to a 70,000-square-foot facility, placing all processes under one roof. “Raw material enters at one end, and finished goods exit the other. This ensures that our product flow improves, boosting efficiency and quality in the process,” Cooper says. “After building the new facility, our goal is to double our capacity with the same amount of people,” he notes. “All of the equipment is all brand new.” The production team spent about a year researching equipment, including specialty material handling equipment.

Magnetic Lifting System Fail-safe

“One of the elements in our new material flow is exterior overhead cranes, which are more efficient for unloading steel. Before, we used forklifts,” Cooper says, which creates a potential safety hazard. After seeing the product demonstrated at Fabtech, Maguire purchased a Switchable Permanent Magnet (SPM) magnetic plate lifter with a telescopic spreader beam from Magswitch Technologies.

Unlike traditional electromagnets, Magswitch's SPM magnetic lifting system technology ensures fail-safe operation, maintaining grip even during power loss. According to Magswitch, this capability allows Maguire to effectively handle a wide range of plate sizes, from 10 feet to 50 feet long, using a telescoping lifting device system with a 40-ton lift capacity. The steel plate lifting magnets' reliability and 100 percent duty cycle align perfectly with Maguire's production requirements. According to Cooper, the Magswitch spreader beam, suspended from the overhead cranes, removes plates off material handling carts and places them onto a plasma arc burn table. “It can pick up multiple sheets or one sheet, so we have more flexibility,” he says, adding, “Our unit is telescoping, so it can handle short and long pieces of plate. We order different thicknesses and lengths of steel for our water towers.”

Market Demand

Much of Maguire’s work is to replace an old water tower or add capacity to a community because it is growing. “We work with cities, towns, rural water systems, and private owners—building vessels for new neighborhood developers and commercial areas,” Cooper says. Maguire’s elevated storage tanks typically range in volume from 50,000 to 750,000 gallons. “The great thing about the new facility is we can build spheroid water tanks that will hold up to 1.5 million gallons,” Cooper says. Before building the new plant and outfitting it with the Magswitch material handling tools, “we maxed out at a 1.5-inch-thick plate. At the new plant, we can go up to 2.5-inch-thick plate. It is a big deal to make tanks that use thicker steel.”

Benefits

The company began working in the new facility in early August. “We had pilot teams installing and testing equipment, ensuring product flow happens efficiently,” says Cooper. Maguire’s team is adamant about improving safety. “We wanted to eliminate forklifts inside the facility. They create a danger by moving around people, materials, and equipment. We now have 16 overhead cranes.” The company used a computer to lay out its floor plan, setting up where trucks enter and exit, inventory, and staging, and where every machine should go. “Once a flat sheet or plate comes in, it is laid on a plasma table.” After being cut, the cut plate parts are moved to subarc welding stations and then to blasting for surface preparation. “We had a small plasma arc table already. We also purchased a new table, twice as large, a 1,200-ton press, and two plate rollers from an Italian company, Seravesi,” Cooper says. From there, the parts are managed by one of two ESAB sub-arc welders. “Then parts go to the blast and paint booths. We purchased a Blastman robot” from Blastman Robotics Ltd. “It has a cab that an operator can sit inside, or it can be programmed to operate robotically.”

Fieldwork

Maguire’s team assembles the water tanks on site. “We send out of our fab shop subassembly pieces that fit on a standard flatbed truck. That gets shipped to the job site, and our field construction team goes and welds in the field and then erects it. “We do welded steel tanks and standpipes on the ground or as a tower.” Maguire’s leadership expects “twice as much production out of this facility,” and the volume depends on the size of the tower, its style, and the thickness of the steel used, Cooper says. “Every one of these tanks is custom-built to engineering specifications. We are a third-generation company that is family-owned and operated. We are excited to use the Magswitch and have it help us move plate steel more efficiently and safely,” Cooper says.

Quality

One of the things Maguire desired when building its new facility is the health, safety, and wellness of the employees, he says. “The entire campus is built around that; lighting, temperature control, and other extras went into the design. We want to be the fabricator of choice as an employer so our people have a better quality of life.” Magswitch Technologies’ systems align with Industry 4.0 standards, integrating automation that significantly reduces overhead costs and energy consumption, the company says. “This forward-thinking approach not only improves operational efficiency but also supports Maguire’s commitment to sustainability and innovation within the water tower industry,” a spokesman says.