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Konecranes – 106 years on

2nd February 2016

  

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Konecranes  (0.14 MB)

Company Announcement - Konecranes, today one of the top crane and hoist companies in the world, started off from humble beginnings in an old stable in the suburbs of Helsinki, Finland, in 1910. The history of the company is a rich and varied one, with the company growing into a major player in the world’s crane industry. The Group now has over 12 000 employees, at 634 locations in 54 countries, including ten branches in South Africa. With the advent of the First World War, Kone (as the company was known then) supplied electric motors and machinery to the Russian war effort. In 1930 the company began developing electric hoists. Needing more space, the crane assembly operation moved to Hyvinkää in 1943, where Konecranes Head Quarters still stands today.

In 1950 Kone began producing harbor cranes. Ten years later, the company realized that non-operational cranes are a drain on their owners’ resources and that equipment always needs to be well-maintained to prevent failures occurring.  So, well ahead of their time, a separate department was established for crane service which, until this day, remains a core part of Konecranes’ business. Later the same year first service agreement was signed. In 1962, Kone signed its first preventive maintenance contract outside Finland. Initially Citroen 2CVs were used for its service operations, but they quickly proved much too small.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Kone moved into the bulk materials handling business in a big way, delivering turnkey projects to numerous customers abroad. Kone became a leading supplier of paper mill cranes, winning virtually every order in the demanding Canadian and European markets. Kone also became a leading supplier of key wood yard process equipment as well as acquiring a small forklift manufacturer’s workshop.

Under the leadership of crane industry veteran Stig Gustavson, who joined in 1982, the company grew into one of Finland’s most profitable and international engineering companies. As a dynamic, forward-thinking leader, Gustavson successfully expanded the business with a number of acquisitions. Gustavson served as Managing Director until 2005, when he became – and still is - Chairman of the Board.

Kone changed its strategy in 1994 and decided to concentrate on lift building activities and divest its other activities. As a result of the split, the KONE Crane Unit became an independent company and changed its name to KCI Konecranes. With lean profitable operations and a solid growth strategy, it became a publicly listed company on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. KCI Konecranes launched a new range of wire rope hoists for the lower end of the product range in 2000 that immediately became an industry benchmark worldwide. The totally new design concept of the range strengthened its position in the high-volume market for standard cranes, enhancing safety and efficiency and improving the use of factory space.

Since then the company has grown steadily and expanded into many countries, including the US where in 2005 it won an order to build 30 RMG cranes for APM Terminals, the largest single private investment in container terminals in the United States. KCI Konecranes opened its own hoist assembly factory in Shanghai in November 2002. This was followed in 2004 by the opening of a port cranes factory in Dalian and a lift truck factory in Shanghai in 2007, giving Konecranes access to the mid-sized hoist and crane segment in China. The acquisition of Swedish-based SMV Lifttrucks AB in 2004 added reach stackers and lift trucks to the product range. Today, Konecranes is one of the leading manufacturers of forklift, container lift trucks and reach stackers with lifting capacities from 10 to 60 tonnes.

In 2009 Konecranes (by then the KCI was dropped) entered into the South African market by acquiring Dynamic Crane Systems in Johannesburg. Two years later the second branch was opened in Durban with branches in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Witbank, Klerksdorp, Richards Bay, Maputo, Ngodwana and Rustenburg following, bringing the total to ten in South Africa today, with others in the pipeline. Says John MacDonald, Service, Marketing and Sales Director who joined Konecranes Southern Africa in 2012, “It has been a privilege and at the same time a challenge to have contributed towards the tremendous growth of Konecranes in South Africa. The wealth of experience and technical know-how and back-up within the company as well as the opportunities afforded to the staff, with highly specialised courses around the world, has built us into one of the strongest forces to be reckoned with in the lifting industry today.


“We have a great team and a great spirit, as well as top of the range products and we strive to offer the best service for all makes of cranes and hoists. Despite economically difficult times ahead we believe the company will remain strong – and able to deliver”, MacDonald concludes.

Visit www.konecranes.co.za for more info.

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

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