“Many of our users regard the professional lift diagrams that they create as a competitive advantage.”Īs crane designs advance, lift planning software has to constantly adapt. “Using LiftPlanner Software allows users to create classic engineering style lift diagrams that look like they took days to prepare in a matter of a minutes or hours,” said Meehan in an article in ACT. “There is no better way to visualize the outcome of a lift than to allow the crane operator and other team members to simulate it in a virtual environment,” Weiss told ACT last year. Users can execute a 3D Lift Plan in a VR mode using a VR headset and controls. Innovations in lift planning software give crane companies more leverage in planning and executing a project.Ī1A Software is on the leading edge of advancements in lift planning using virtual reality (VR). Some of the world’s most prolific lifts have been planned using these programs. Most of the other lift planning programs available are produced by crane OEMs.

Most OEMs support 3DLift Plan and Lift Planner, providing the specs for their cranes. Lift Planner, developed in 1996 by Meehan, is another leading lift planning software. Today, Weiss’s 3DLift Plan, which was first developed in 2007, is the most widely used lift planning software in North America. Working for Compu-Crane, a young Weiss saw the big picture and started A1A Software. Meehan realized that crane lift planning was an idea whose time had come and started Lift Planner in 1996. Shortly thereafter, Hirschmann purchased PAT America. Jim Meehan of Lift Planner and Tawnia Weiss of A1A Software are also pioneers in this young industry.Īs crane companies automated and started embracing computer-aided design (CAD) technology, PAT America purchased Compu-Crane. Early players were Doug Williams and Earl Johnson III, who founded Compu-Crane.

The history of lift planning software is an amalgamation of a few people who envisioned a crane (or cranes) making a lift before the actual job took place.

Crane lift planning software