In a volatile world where the domino effects of covid, war, and rising costs can all impact the manufacture of cranes, for crane makers to take greater control of their supply chain makes good business sense.
This is what Hiab, part of Cargotec, has done as it continues its growth via acquisition campaign by acquiring the family-owned Swedish industrial group Olsbergs.
Olsbergs designs, manufactures and supplies hydraulic valves and remote control systems used to manoeuvre Hiab’s truck mounted loader cranes and forestry cranes and has, Hiab believes, been a key part of its success in the loader crane market.
The acquisition became effective on 1 January 2023, with Olsbergs becoming a business unit in Hiab’s Loader Cranes Light & Medium division – with all its 100 employees joining Hiab.
Olsbergs’ industry-leading hydraulic and remote systems have been used by Hiab since the mid-1980s. Remote controls from Olsbergs are currently offered to Hiab customers as CombiDrive 3 and CombiDrive 4. Olsbergs valves and CombiDrive remote controls combined with the SPACEevo software, developed by Hiab, are the three most important parts of Hiab’s advanced control systems, Hiab states.
“Olsbergs technology has been instrumental in making Hiab the leading provider of the most advanced loader cranes on the market,” says Barry McGrane, senior vice president, Loader Cranes Light & Medium, Hiab. “By making Olsbergs a part of Hiab, we strengthen our technology leadership and can accelerate the development of our loader cranes and shape the future of smart and sustainable load handling.”
BIG ORDERS
The acquisition follows several large orders for Hiab. The first is from Euromix MTP, a manufacturer of commercial vehicles for the construction and concrete industry, for EUR 4.75 million of equipment.
The order comprises medium and heavy range loader cranes and hooklifts. The loader cranes will be equipped with the Hiab’s most advanced SPACEevo control system – designed to provide improved productivity and safer operation – and remote-controlled with either the HiPro or HiDuo system.
The order was booked in Cargotec’s Q4 order intake with half of the deliveries scheduled for 2023 and the rest in 2024.
The second order is from Veho Oy Ab in Finland for seven Hiab X-HiDuo 188 loader cranes and 135 hooklifts, with installation, accessories and training.
The equipment will be installed on Mercedes-Benz trucks that will be supplied by Veho to the Finnish Defense Forces. The order was booked in Cargotec’s Q4 order book and deliveries will start in Q1 2023 and be completed in 2024.
“The Finnish Defence Forces have to work under some of the world’s toughest climate conditions, and we are proud to help them with their material transportation needs,” says Mika Liinanotko, director, Sales and Services, Hiab Finland. “We have had a cooperation with them for several years and they trust Hiab to supply customer-orientated, reliable equipment for their use.”
DEEP TECH
Lifting, loading, stacking, compacting and tipping solutions manufacturer Hyva has also strengthened its in-house capabilities through acquisition.
At the end of 2022 it acquired the Turin, Italy-based company Deepware – a specialist in electrical engineering for the automotive industry. With a strong background in the development of hardware and software configurations for vehicles and IoT solutions, Hyva says Deepware will further strengthen its in-house capabilities for digital innovation by working closely with our digital platform and electronic engineering teams.
“Deploy digital technology effectively is clearly going to be a major factor in the development of innovative transport solutions,” comments Jacob Biemond, chief technology officer, Hyva. “The addition of Deepware’s expertise and experience to Hyva’s existing R&D capabilities puts us in an even stronger position to maintain our market-leading position.”
SPARE PARTS
Austrian lifting, loading and handling systems manufacturer Palfinger has taken greater control of its supply chain in a different way. It has opened a third spare parts warehouse in Bremen, Germany in 2022. The two other warehouses are in Lengau, Austria, and Toulouse, France.
All three serve the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region – although the location of the latest warehouse in particular supports expansion of its spare parts in Germany and Scandinavia.
The new German warehouse has 2,000m2 of space which can be expanded to 6,000 m2, if required.
The opening of the new warehouse ties-in with Palfinger’s Strategy & Vision 2030 plan. This involves the ongoing digitalisation of all areas of the company, including spare parts.
For this Palfinger has opened an eCommerce shop available to registered distributors in the EMEA region. Using it they can choose from about 110,000 original spare parts, workshop and salesroom equipment, tools, and upgrades, and order them online. Thanks to the latest spare parts hub it says customers will benefit from even easier and faster access to parts.
“With the help of digital innovations such as the eCommerce shop we help our customers to make faster headway with their projects,” says Balthasar Gwechenberger, vice president Global Service, Palfinger. “This significantly reduces long waits for spare parts and avoids expensive interruptions to work.”
Away from the online world, Palfinger says it had a successful Bauma 2022.
“Direct exchange of experience with customers and partners forms the basis for our products,” said Andreas Klauser. “Personal contact is very important to us following the events of recent years.”
At the show Palfinger showed its new TEC series (see Cranes Today December 2022 for details) with a range of innovative functions and assistance systems. These included the Paltronic 180 control system, LX-6 control valve, Levelling Assistant, Smart Control to control the crane tip, and Memory Position that can store up to four crane positions.
In the 100-metre-tonne segment Palfinger’s PK 1050 TEC attracted a crowd with its 37 metre reach. The crane has Palfinger’s DPS-C system to maximise the lifting capacity in every crane position, as it knows the exact location of the crane tip at all times.
The PK 580 TEC was also on display, electrically operated with a power pack. It also had assistant and comfort systems and a tilting crane fork on the fly jib.
Palfinger’s smallest P-Profile crane to date – the new PK 250 TEC – was displayed electrically powered on a Volvo FE Electric. With a hydraulic reach of almost 20 metres, it offers a lifting capacity of 23.5-metre-tonnes.
One manufacturer that decided not to show at Bauma 2022 was PM, citing the uncertainties caused by covid and the ‘delicate geopolitical’ situation.
Instead the company is looking at strengthening its dealer network through a range of initiatives.
In the first few months of this year it has been inviting its partners to the group’s headquarters in San Cesario Sul Panaro, Italy, where it says it is building strategies for future development.
A flagship product it is promoting is its new 70.5 SP series truck crane model which it says offers an increase in operating efficiency of around 20 percent compared to its predecessor model, whilst also offering smaller overall dimensions and weight.
The 70.5 series has a double connecting rods on the joints and 360° continuous rotation on slewing. It utilises PM’s Power Tronic electronic management system which also monitor’s the crane’s stability.
Basic crane configurations up to nine extensions are possible for a maximum horizontal outreach of 23.05 m and a maximum vertical outreach of 26.50 m. The outreach width increases significantly with the new six extension jibs, bringing the maximum horizontal outreach to 33.70 m and the vertical one to 36.90 m.
The new 70.5 SP series has a redesigned boom pack where the extension cylinders, in particular the first two, are arranged laterally in relation to the secondary boom meaning the crane can remain compact – whether it be one with three extensions of nine.
The crane’s compact nature also means assembly/disassembly is easier, says PM. This has been enhanced through a new digital control system which automatically manages the opening and closing of the crane. The new control system has other benefits, highlights PM, including more precise handling, greater flexibility and simpler ease of use. Several manoeuvres, for example, can be made simultaneously to help save time. A load anti-oscillation feature is designed to increase safety while a CMI Multifunction Display, under a protective cover, constantly displays stabilisation and manoeuvre information, plus any errors detected.
A series of patented valves control all the machine stabilisation elements controlled by a CANbus system. With this crane PM believes it has found “a machine with amazing performance levels and a bold design”. The company also hints that more new models will follow.
Also looking to strengthen its dealer support and become more involved in international markets is German loader crane manufacturer Atlas. For this it has appointed Kai Busch as its new export sales manager cranes, excavators and specialty products. According to Atlas one of his key tasks will be to stay in close contact with Atlas’s national and international.
Before his current position Busch worked for 17 years in export for Atlas. He now returns with an extensive experience in the support of international customers and reports directly to management. His appointment comes shortly after European equipment service provider TIP purchased ten Atlas loader cranes.
With predictions from research companies all pointing to continued growth in the knuckle boom crane sector it’s no surprise that manufacturers are looking to secure greater control over their supply chains and expand their product lines.
Keep reading Cranes Today for further coverage on the latest knuckle boom models.
