In 2018, an 8+8-ton intelligent warehousing crane, custom-manufactured by Henan Mine Crane for an unmanned cold storage project at an industrial park in Shandong, China, officially entered service. This was the first automated warehousing crane in China to be deployed in the agricultural sector. 

I. Product Introduction

In Jinxiang, Shandong, China, the garlic cultivation area remains stable at approximately 700,000 mu (approx. 46,667 hectares), with a total annual output exceeding 800,000 tons. Within traditional cold storage facilities and warehouses, quality inspectors and manual laborers work amidst the garlic's characteristically strong, pungent odor. Due to these harsh working conditions, personnel handling storage and transport must wear protective face masks or oxygen masks to perform tasks such as intake, stacking, and transfer over extended periods.

Traditional garlic warehousing relies heavily on small-crate storage and manual stacking and handling. This approach is not only labor-intensive but also results in low space utilization—both for land and cold storage facilities—and high overall storage costs. Consequently, the garlic industry urgently requires an automated, unmanned warehousing solution.

Henan Mine Crane has long specialized in lifting equipment and focused on addressing pain points within the agricultural sector. After conducting in-depth research into garlic storage practices and identifying significant room for improvement in space utilization and operational workflows, the company developed a tailored, intelligent garlic warehousing solution. This system has rapidly gained widespread recognition from local garlic growers and storage enterprises, as well as strong support from the government.

The equipment boasts excellent core performance specifications:

II. Technical Parameters

Table 1 

Table 2 

III. Innovating Garlic Storage Methods: Large-Crate Storage + Smart Cranes Replacing Manual Stacking

The new storage solution replaces traditional small-crate methods with specialized large crates for storing finished garlic, complemented by custom-designed lifting gear. Utilizing intelligent warehouse cranes, the system automatically identifies crate codes to execute the entire process—from automated palletizing to retrieval—thereby completely eliminating the need for manual stacking.

By integrating hardware with control systems, this equipment eliminates high-intensity, high-risk manual labor, liberating workers from the pungent and physically demanding environment of garlic storage facilities and driving the transformation of garlic cold storage toward an unmanned, digital model.

IV. Four Core Advantages of Intelligent Warehousing Cranes: Solving Pain Points in the Garlic Storage Industry

1. Enabling high-density storage and significantly improving land and cold storage utilization

Intelligent warehouse cranes facilitate high-density, multi-level storage within cold storage facilities, dramatically enhancing storage efficiency per unit of floor area. A single cold storage unit under this project can accommodate up to 60,000 tons of inventory—delivering ten times the land-use efficiency of conventional cold storage facilities. This approach exponentially increases storage capacity amidst limited land resources while significantly reducing the space required for facility construction.

2. Continuous 24-hour operation, precise data, and reduced cargo loss

Computer systems facilitate the tracking of large-crate cargo information, location logging, load optimization, and precision positioning. The equipment supports continuous, round-the-clock operation, significantly minimizing downtime. Automated overhead cranes capture operational data in real-time, ensuring seamless alignment between physical inventory and system records; furthermore, the integration of high-precision positioning and electrical anti-sway technologies effectively mitigates impact damage during the lifting and transport of large crates, thereby reducing losses associated with garlic storage and handling.

3. Overall warehousing costs reduced by 60%—savings in electricity, labor, and time

The comprehensive solution delivers cost savings across the board:

Electricity savings: Centralized stacking of goods concentrates the refrigerated space and minimizes heat exchange with the outside environment per unit of space, significantly lowering refrigeration energy consumption.

Labor savings: Standardized, intelligent workflows drastically reduce the number of personnel required for inbound, stacking, and outbound operations.

Time savings: Highly coordinated equipment scheduling significantly shortens the operational cycle for goods entering and leaving the warehouse.

The combined benefits of saving electricity, labor, and time result in a direct 60% reduction in overall warehousing costs.

4. Liberating the workforce and eliminating high-intensity manual labor in harsh environments

In traditional garlic cold storage facilities, stacking operations for intake and retrieval require twenty to thirty workers who must perform heavy physical labor while wearing padded clothing and gas masks in environments characterized by low temperatures and pungent odors. With the adoption of fully automated intelligent warehouse cranes, the entire facility requires only two on-duty personnel for management. Loading and unloading a single truck takes just five minutes—achieving an efficiency rate 100 times that of traditional manual methods—thereby completely liberating workers from harsh and grueling on-site operations.

V. What Exactly Makes Intelligent Warehousing Cranes "Intelligent"?

VI. Application Scenarios

Many buyers ask: "Is this system designed solely for storing garlic?" The answer is no.

The core capabilities of this solution center on "large containers, automatic identification, automated stacking, and automated outbound processing." It is suitable for any goods handled in crates, boxes, or on pallets that require high-density storage and rapid inbound/outbound operations, making it applicable across sectors such as grain, produce, frozen goods, food, pharmaceuticals, and e-commerce warehousing and distribution. While the industrial park implementation focuses on an agricultural setting, the technology itself constitutes a universal, comprehensive intelligent warehousing solution.

The solution supports both the retrofitting of existing warehouses and the construction of new ones. Its core components are "large bins, specialized lifting attachments, intelligent cranes, and a management system"; the cranes operate along rails mounted on the warehouse ceiling, coordinating with ground-level storage zones. Existing warehouses can be upgraded—provided their structural specifications regarding span, height, and load-bearing capacity meet the requirements—without the need for demolition and reconstruction.

Compared to forklifts, AGVs, and conventional cranes, the positioning of intelligent warehouse cranes is distinct: Forklifts are suitable for short-distance horizontal transport but require operators, face limitations in stacking height and density, and impose a physical strain on personnel in cold storage environments. AGVs excel at horizontal ground transport but require additional equipment for multi-level stacking, and low-temperature environments place high demands on their batteries and sensors. Conventional cranes offer basic lifting and lowering capabilities but lack automatic identification, positioning, and anti-sway functions; they still require manual assistance for stacking, falling short of true automation. In contrast, intelligent warehouse cranes integrate lifting, automatic positioning, automatic stacking, and information management into a single system, serving as a comprehensive solution for high-density, unmanned warehousing. If your goal is a "low-manpower, high-density, and 24/7 operation" model, this is the ideal solution.

VII. What Exactly Should You Look For When Purchasing an Intelligent Warehouse Crane?

1. Rated Lifting Capacity: The maximum weight of the load must be below the rated value, allowing for a safety margin.

2. Span (L): The center-to-center distance of the crane rails; this must be customized based on the actual width of your warehouse and is a key factor influencing cost.

3. Lifting Height (H): Calculated based on the height of the top storage tier plus the height of the lifting attachment and a safety margin; it is better to err on the side of a higher specification.

4. Duty Class (A3–A8): Determines the equipment's workload capacity. Class A4–A5 is generally sufficient for agricultural warehouses, though higher classes may be needed for high-throughput operations. Selecting a class that is too low will directly impact the equipment's service life and failure rate.

5. Lifting Attachment Type: Options include hooks, grabs, electromagnetic chucks, or specialized clamps. Selection depends on the nature of the goods; grabs are suitable for bulk grain, while hooks are ideal for pallets and bulk bags.

6. Operating Environment: Factors such as dust (e.g., grain dust), temperature, humidity, and corrosive gases determine the required ratings for explosion-proofing, corrosion resistance, and dust protection.

7. Power Supply and Rails: Verify that the facility's power supply, rail beams, corbels, and foundations meet installation requirements; civil engineering modifications can represent a significant hidden cost.

8. Level of Automation: Refer back to Section 5 and confirm your specific list of required functions item by item.

VIII. Intelligent Warehousing Cranes + Smart Agriculture: Future Development Trends

In terms of industry trends, agricultural warehousing is shifting from a "manual labor plus forklift" model toward intelligent, digital, and low-manpower operations. The 8+8t intelligent warehouse crane represents just one component of this evolution; looking ahead, several other directions are emerging:

Fully automated, unmanned overhead cranes: Pilot programs are being rolled out in large-scale grain depots and distribution centers with high throughput, utilizing computer vision and AI to enable unmanned palletizing.

Digital twins and remote O&M: Equipment connectivity allows for real-time operational monitoring, fault early warning, and remote diagnostics.

Deep integration with the agricultural IoT: Linking data on temperature, humidity, and pest conditions with warehousing operations to create truly "smart grain depots."

Green energy efficiency: The use of variable-frequency drives and energy recovery technologies to reduce energy consumption.

IX. Conclusion

Overall, the 8+8t intelligent warehouse crane for agricultural applications is no longer a "high-end luxury" reserved for large grain depots or agricultural supply enterprises; rather, it has become a practical tool for reducing costs and boosting efficiency in smart agricultural warehousing.

When selecting equipment, enterprises need not blindly pursue every available intelligent feature; the key lies in matching the load capacity, span, and intelligent modules to their specific warehouse conditions, cargo types, and budget constraints.

As the digitalization of agricultural warehousing continues to advance, the application scenarios for intelligent warehouse cranes will keep expanding. If you are planning a warehouse upgrade, it is advisable to conduct on-site visits to existing installations and compare various options based on your actual operational needs to select the lifting solution best suited to your business.