LiftPod

DCA worked with JLG to design and develop LiftPod, which is an innovative new quick-folding, low-level access lift designed for facilities maintenance across a wide range of indoor commercial environments.

LiftPod provides a more ergonomic and comfortable experience when working at heights, enabling single operators to work confidently at heights up to 3.5 m with both hands free to complete tasks. LiftPod has been designed for modern business environments, reflecting the growing emphasis on employee wellbeing and the need for equipment that feels intuitive from first use and requires only simple familiarisation. LiftPod is designed to provide an innovative alternative to traditional access methods such as aluminium ladders or podiums.

Once folded, its compact form moves easily through facility spaces and stores within a ladder-sized footprint, while its modern, unobtrusive design complements contemporary commercial settings. Its self-powered, charge-free operation is designed to support constant readiness for elevated tasks.

Our work at the start of the project involved investigating alternative folding arrangements that were quick and intuitive to use and provided a compact, manageable form in their folded state. In parallel, we considered the preferred manufacturing approach for each lift component and looked for opportunities to reduce part count and simplify the product architecture wherever possible.

This guided us to a shortlist of preferred product architectures and design proposals for this innovative new lift. 

To support the evaluation of these preferred concepts, we built full-size semi-functional rigs, utilising our in-house modelmaking capabilities.

This enabled physical confirmation of key dimensional characteristics, including the platform step height and size.  These were selected to ensure a comfortable and practical working platform in conjunction with the sprung saloon gates and an accessible tool tray that helps keep equipment within easy reach. 

The rigs also allowed us to assess the manoeuvrability of the folded lift, checking its movement through narrow aisles and doorways, and benchmarking its storage envelope against the traditional ladder alternatives. 

The project team then developed the detailed mechanical design of the LiftPod, refining the component resolution and performance.  This involved developing a robust, engineered structure to meet the highest industry standards.  We integrated lock-out features that prevent use until the lift is fully deployed, thereby reducing the likelihood of user error and supporting a more controlled, dependable way of working.

LiftPod has been engineered to help reduce physical load on the user. Its quick-folding mechanism was carefully designed to combine spring-balanced locking legs, a novel synchronised counter-balanced basket folding system and a spring-balanced lowering carriage to enable rapid unfolding and deployment with minimal user effort.

Once deployed, the platform can be raised to working height using a specially developed gas-lift-assisted belt drive, which delivers smooth, controlled elevation while reducing any strain on the user and supporting comfortable operation.

Towards the end of the development programme, we worked closely with the JLG production team to prepare low quantities of fully operational prototypes in production representative materials. This enabled production and assembly processes to be evaluated and fine tuned as well as supporting focused performance testing. The results gathered from working with these prototypes then informed the final optimised production component designs, focusing on efficient volume manufacture.

LiftPod’s innovative quick-folding architecture, synchronised counter-balanced mechanism and gas-lift-assisted elevation system distinguish it from other more conventional low-level access solutions. LiftPod delivers a markedly more ergonomic and efficient experience than ladders or podium platforms, as validated through independent ergonomic analysis and real-world FM trials.

An independent comparative ergonomic study against ladders, podiums and A-frame steps by Dr. Frank Emrich (Scalefit) and witnessed by TÜV SÜD showed that LiftPod:

• Supports upright, neutral posture
• Reduces spinal loading to levels below recognised ergonomic thresholds
• Lowers arm elevation and shoulder effort
• Eliminates knee-intensive movements seen in ladder use
• Encourages natural head and neck positioning

Feedback from two leading FM engineering organisations following direct back-to-back use of LiftPod and traditional equipment concluded:

• “The stable platform lets me reposition naturally without repeated climbs, which speeds up the job.”
• “Height adjustment is quick and precise, saving time compared with fixed ladder rungs or podium steps.”
• “Manoeuvrability is excellent, just as easy to move as step ladders around site.”
• “In a modern office, it blends in far better than industrial alternatives.”

A separate time-and-motion study by another FM team demonstrated clear operational efficiency gains in addition to the ergonomic advantages, estimating an annual saving of approximately 392 hours per site when replacing ladders with LiftPod for suitable tasks. 

By reducing physical effort, minimising awkward postures, enabling one-person operation and allowing compact storage within a ladder-sized footprint, LiftPod provides a practical alternative to traditional solutions for working at heights.