Building big in Belgium

30 November 2011


A new dealer agreement will see Manitowoc and NIBM looking to build their business in Belgium. Will North spoke to both companies about the deal, and their plans for the country.

Belgium seems to be a market to watch. Having no government for most of 2010 and 2011, the country is bouncing back from recession faster than its Eurozone neighbours. At the same time, the construction market is taking on bigger building projects, good news for the lifting industry.

Christophe Simoncelli, Manitowoc vice president of sales in Western Europe, says: “Belgium is an interesting market at the moment, one of the most active in Europe. It has not suffered as much as the Netherlands, and there is a need for fleet renewal. In most European markets, we've seen many business decline; in Belgium we've seen all business growing. We believe our market share has increased significantly in Belgium.”

Based in the Netherlands, NIBM has been a Potain dealer with a worldwide rental business for forty years.

Jean-Marc Desmolles, general manager at NIBM, explains: “In the Netherlands, NIBM was originally part of Zwaans. They were in the building industry, shipping equipment all over the world. They represented different brands, including Liebherr in Saudi Arabia and Potain in the Netherlands. In the early 1960s, Henri Gehlen was commercial director of Zwaans. The company eventually went into liquidation under Zwaans, and Henri Gehlen took over, creating NIBM (Nederlandse Industrie-Bouwmachine).

“The focus of NIBM was on two lines: industry, with Toyota forklifts; and civil works, with Potain, Alimak, etc. Around seven years ago, Henri Gehlen retired. His sons Gid and Hans took over, with Gid looking after the tower crane side and Hans taking over the Toyota forklifts. Toyota liked the industrial side so much, they eventually took over the business.

“So now, NIBM is focused on tower cranes and self erectors.” In platforms and construction hoists, it also sells Scanclimber.

The mother of invention
The construction industry in the Netherlands takes a different approach to concrete. Instead of pouring concrete at the job site, many buildings use large precast concrete forms. Tricky ground conditions in much of the country have led tower crane companies to innovate.

Desmolles says: “The Dutch market is very specific. Ground conditions are very difficult, with a lot of sandy ground. The trend was to build low-rise buildings and houses. NIBM adapted Potain self-erector cranes mounted on crawler tracks. These inspired Potain’s GME tower cranes, also on crawlers.

“In the Dutch market, labour costs are very high, so, in advance of other European markets, it has used bigger machines. So, we really focus on these for civil works. We also supply them for industrial jobs. On one job, they’re using six big machines to build oil tankers. A job like that is worth €9m, and takes two years to prepare for. “On the Erasmus project in Rotterdam we used two Potain MD 1100 tower cranes, two of the biggest in the range. We invested in them for that site, but we can also use them on other jobs around the world. For jobs like that, where the average price of the crane is €1.5m, it is completely different to the normal European rental market.

“NIBM also developed reusable fixing angles. Normally, the crane foot is lost in the concrete when the crane is taken down. NIBM’s system was designed so that the part in the concrete was very cheap, and the other parts could be reused.

“This is the main expertise of NIBM: job preparation, implementations, internal and external climbing, bridges. It’s about building a special relationship with the customer; what I call ‘pre-sale’. We’re strong in custom applications. With the big companies, NIBM accompanies them to projects all over the world. We can give them expertise anywhere.”

Building business in Belgium
Squeezed between Potain’s birthplace in France and NIBM’s in the Netherlands, Belgium seems like a natural place for both to do business, yet until recentlyneither looked hard for tower sales there.

Manitowoc’s Simoncelli says the turning point for his company was choosing BLE to handle the self-erector side of its Potain business: “Our selferector sales increased after our agreement with BLE two years ago. They did a tremendous job [and are still handling this side of the business]. Before that, it had been a market where we had not been so successful.

“We started selling top-slewing cranes to Neremat in Belgium for their rental fleet. They added a number of Potain units. The business with Neremat helped us grow in Belgium.”

Desmolles says: “NIBM initially worked with Dutch contractors. There were maybe 50 big international contractors 25 years ago. Now, there are only ten. We follow them. We accompany them worldwide: to Egypt, Qatar, Vietnam.”

NIBM’s successes drew Manitowoc’s attention. Simoncelli says: “NIBM has been active in Belgium, mainly through rental. They’d built a service organization that knew the market. They’d invested in cranes for their rental fleet.

“We’d always had some direct contact with rental players in Belgium. We made some nice deals that contributed to our sales growth there. We’re now officialising and extending our deal withNIBM, making them our exclusive distributor of top slewing cranes except some reserved customers that we manage directly. They’ve secured a few deals already to Dutch contractors operating in Belgium. They've secured some nice deals with key Belgian contractors, for example with BAM for NATO in Brussels, where they are supplying MDT 368s. The Netherlands is one of our biggest markets for big cranes like the MDT 368s, MD 560s and MD 1100s. We also see Belgium developing that way; the 368s on that NATO project are bigger than the cranes we were selling in Belgium.”

A familiar face returns
The Manitowoc/NIBM deal will see a familiar face return to the Belgian tower industry. Leo Theyskens was managing director and head of marketing for Belgian-based tower crane giant Arcomet but now works at NIBM in Belgium.

Alongside his twin, Dirk, Leo worked in the company set up by his father for more than two decades. He is discreet about the reasons for his departure, but acknowledges, “When I left Arcomet, it was a fundamental decision. I kept out of the crane industry in Belgium for five years, under a non-compete. It gave me a chance to look at the international industry.”

His sabbatical gave him a unique perspective on the market. He says, “I realised most companies in Belgium were moving to rental, with lots of machines. In 2006, 2007, I saw the crisis coming. I realised it was time to move back to the roots of the business; a good product, with good support, looking to the long term, not something with no support and no added value. We’ve got a long way to go, we need to work hard now.

“With Potain, we’ve got a leading brand, not represented by a dealer in Belgium. In Belgium, they are more used to using selferectors; they have different soil conditions. A 20t tower crane is very common in the Netherlands, much more than Belgium. But, there are lots of big tower developments planned in Belgium, which is where we come in. There are a lot of big jobs currently in Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp, where they are building to 20 or 30 storeys. This is very new.”

The way into this new market for NIBM will be to focus on offering crane customers a high quality product that can retain value. Desmolles says: “In the Netherlands, we developed our fleet management process; we offer sales, finance, all movement of cranes, servicing.

For Ballast Nedam [a Dutch-based international contractor] we manage all their fleet: we provide the bank, the service, the maintenance. In the past, people would buy their cranes, and have a fleet of technicians, to do their own servicing. We now do that for them.

“Manitowoc have set up a joint venture with a Belgian bank to offer finance to our customers through Manitwoc Finance (they did the same in the Netherlands). It’s more and more difficult today for customers to get finance themselves.

“We offer a good Potain crane, with a five-year guarantee. After five years, the customer has a good quality, wellmaintained, crane. Around the world, there are always customers for a six or seven-year-old Potain.


Manitowoc's Simoncelli: Manitowoc's Simoncelli: "Belgium is an interesting market at the moment, one of the most active in Europe"
Manitowoc and NIBM sign their Belgian dealer agreement: From left: Philippe Cohet, Manitowoc; Gido Gehlen, NIBM; Adri Van Groningen, Manitowoc; Christophe Simoncelli, Manitowoc; Jean-Marc Desmolles, NIBM; Steve Leenaerts, Manitowoc. Manitowoc and NIBM sign their Belgian dealer agreement: From left: Philippe Cohet, Manitowoc; Gido Gehlen, NIBM; Adri Van Groningen, Manitowoc; Christophe Simoncelli, Manitowoc; Jean-Marc Desmolles, NIBM; Steve Leenaerts, Manitowoc.