Following the success of PowerClad, the hydraulically-operated cladding panel placement system designed originally for horizontal panels, Nationwide, the country's market leading powered access rental company, has launched a new version for vertical cladding panels. It can be used to install any size or thickness panel up to a maximum weight of 150kg and, like the original PowerClad, offers unrivalled increases in productivity and enables a smooth and consistent workflow to be achieved. It also drastically reduces the likelihood of costly panel damage, and is a significant boost to improved installer safety.

With PowerClad, a two-man team can do the work that would otherwise demand four, effectively doubling the workforce's potential productivity. However, the speed with which PowerClad can position and fix vertical panels means that, instead of four men installing just 26 or so ten-metre long panels in a day, a two-man team can easily fix 36 panels in the same time. Add the fact that, according to industry estimates, around ten percent of panels, each costing between £300 and £400, are damaged during installation and the cost equation swings even more convincingly in PowerClad's favour.

Approved by all of the leading cladding manufacturers, PowerClad has also been endorsed by being shortlisted for this year's Quality in Construction awards.

Prior to installing the cladding panels, a panel support track is laid down and the PowerClad-adapted Nationwide scissor lift is moved into position to start cladding. A 26mm hole - which will subsequently be concealed by a metal flashing - is drilled in the leading edge of the panel to accommodate the PowerClad lifting eyelet, and the panel is then loaded onto the support track.

The next step is to attach the PowerClad belt to the lifting eye and winch the panel, using an integral 110V winch pulley system, to the connecting pin on the PowerClad beam. The eyelet is then located on the pin close to the winch support and the belt is disconnected. The scissor lift can now be elevated to the desired fixing height, during which stage, all of the panel's weight is carried by PowerClad. Finally, panel fixing is accomplished using PowerClad's unique panel placement technique that allows adjustment with millimetre accuracy time after time. At no time in the installation process is there any panel lifting or "dropping".

PowerClad is designed for use with two of the most popular scissor lifts in the Nationwide hire fleet, the Genie 5390 and Genie 4390, both of which are fitted with 7.38-metre extended, strengthened decks. They also incorporate an on-board generator and ample power points for screw guns and drills.

Nationwide is part of the publicly-quoted Lavendon Group plc and is headquartered in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. Its hire fleet is twice the size of its nearest UK competitor and all of the company's depots comply with Nationwide's ISO 9002 accreditation. The Group is also the European market leader in powered access, trading under the name Zooom in Germany, France, Spain and Austria.

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March 2003 Nat3.083a