Aerial Work Platforms
The aerial work platform or AWP is a machine engineered and designed to elevate employees and gear to a certain height for the completion of tasks. The kind of machine varies with the particular brand and unit. Before aerial work platforms were made, all tasks which require work at high levels needed to be done with scaffolding. Therefore, the invention of aerial work platforms has kept a lot of workers safe and increased the overall productivity of similar tasks.
There are 3 key kinds of aerial work platforms. They are mechanical lifts, scissorlifts and boomlifts. These types of machines can be operated with pneumatics, mechanically utilizing a pinion and rack system or with screws or by hydraulics. These units may be self-propelled with controls located at the platform, they may be unpowered models requiring an external force to move them or be mounted to a vehicle so as to be transported.
John L. Grove was an American inventor and industrialist who is widely credited to devising the aerial work platform. However, in the year 1966, prior to the first unit of JLG, a company known as Selma Manlift launched an aerial lift model.
During 1967, after selling his previous business Grove Manufacturing, John L. Grove and his wife decided to take a road trip. They opted to make a stop at Hoover Dam. While the couple was there, Grove unfortunately saw 2 employees electrocuted while they were working on scaffolding. This terrible incident led John Grove to discover an untapped market for a new product that could safely raise employees in the air for them to do maintenance and construction tasks in a better way.
When John returned home from his trip, he purchased a small metal fabrication company and formed a partnership along with 2 friends. They soon began designing ideas for the aerial work platform. The new business was named JLG Industries Inc. They proudly released their very first aerial work platform in 1970 with the aid of 20 employees.