“It was a very difficult year, but now it is behind us.” Once Seram operated four factories throughout Europe, now it has consolidated its manufacturing into a single 7,500 square meter plant in Perpignan, France. The inventor of the equilibrium crane concept back in 1973, Seram has more than 650 cranes in service worldwide and is still ranked as the world’s No. 1. Although smaller by world sales so far, the upstart E-Crane International (part of the Belgian Indusign NV engineering company) has continued at a record pace right through the global recession. It followed a record sales year in 2008 with another in 2009 and 2010 looks even better, according to Bas Tolhuizen, International Sales Manager for E-Crane Worldwide. “Every year we have seen 10 to 15% increases in sales, notwithstanding the economic situation,” says Tolhuizen. “We are steadily growing year in, year out and can’t complain.” E-Crane has full order books in Belgium at its Adegem production facilities and now has 150 balanced cranes in operation around the world.
Excellent year
In North America, 2010 is proving to be an excellent year, according to Mark Osborne, President of E-Crane International USA in Ohio. “We have done a lot of proposals from clients that we feel will go ahead. We have a lot prospects going forward and I am proud of our performance,” says Osborne. A year ago, Osborne predicted a “spike” in business late in 2010 and while it hadn’t happened by early December, he says there definitely has been a “spike in inquiries.” And another of the world’s leading balanced crane manufacturers, Metso Minerals with its equilibrated crane, is struggling to get sales back to the more traditional levels it enjoyed before the economic storm hit. “Our 2010 will be a fair year for us as many of the projects our customers placed on hold have been released and we are also seeing new projects,” says Tom Lippencott, Vice President Mining Capital Sales for Metso USA-Canada. Metso has seen market activity steadily increasing – not yet at the level of several years ago – but moving in the right direction. “We have seen activity in the world terminal market and this is the market that we feel is growing,” adds Lippencott. Metso Bulk Materials Handling Group in Pittsburgh, PA owns the exclusive rights to the Sobemai equilibrated crane technology from Belgium and has over 100 cranes installed around the world.
Trouble in France
Strikes and other labour troubles in France recently over reforms could present new opportunities, according to Julia of the Seram Group. Previously, port equipment such as balanced cranes, conveyors and the like, were owned by the French Government. Now, ownership of much of the bulk handling and other port equipment has been turned over to private operators in charge of port handling. As well, says Julia, the workforce has also gone private and is no longer entirely state employees, a move that led to many strikes in 2010. The good news for Seram and other balanced crane operators interested in the French market is that the operators can order whatever port equipment they can afford. Julia says that was difficult in the transition in 2010, but in 2011 placing orders for new equipment such as balanced cranes will be much easier throughout France. “We are getting orders; customers are starting to invest again.”
Order successes
As for contract successes, Seram reports the 2010 sale of about six balanced cranes to Australian recycling companies, plus new orders from Spain, which could not be spelled out at this stage of the contracts. In Europe, E-Crane Worldwide commissioned a rail-mounted 2000 series E-crane at the Port of Kokkola in Finland in October 2010. The new model 17359 GAE crane runs along the Deep Port Dock and handles iron ore, zinc, and coal up to 1,000 tonnes per hour using its outreach of 35 meters. Tolhuizen says Asia is becoming more and more important in E-Crane Worldwide’s future with “an explosion of eight orders from Bangladesh in 2010, one of our biggest growth markets.” Most of the balanced crane orders have been for smaller models. In Holland, the expansion of the Port of Rotterdam saw an E-Crane assist in building a concrete breakwater in a joint venture with Puma Dredging. With 40-tonne blocks to lift at a reach of 61 meters in the port project, E-Crane produced its biggest balanced crane ever by weight at 1,200 tonnes and with a lifting capacity of 50 tonnes. The giant crane is mounted on six crawlers. And in Argentina, a 2000 series E-Crane was commissioned in September for Siderar and used in handling iron ore. Tolhuizen says E-Crane has a growing reputation throughout the world and the company is signing more and more clients to maintenance contracts offering full crane service or solely to perform scheduled maintenance. E-Crane International USA commissioned a stationary 11-tonne capacity crane for the PPG Natrium industrial chemical company in West Virginia in April-May, says Osborne. The crane is now in use unloading coal used in on-site power production and steam processes. It took the E-Crane commissioning crew only eight days to replace an old cable crane at the dock with a new, Series 1000 model balanced crane. At Corpus Christi, Texas, E-Crane successfully commissioned two rail-mounted balanced cranes in September for Sherwin Alumina. The two cranes are being used to unload bauxite used in the aluminum process. Many of the new projects at proposal stage involve biofuels, wood pellets and industrial processes which the company hopes to get more involved in during 2011. Osborne says clients appreciate E-Crane’s quick response to parts inquiries and technical support and this work played an important part in keeping the company vibrant during the economic recovery in the US. For the worldwide company Tolhuizen sums it up by saying: “There’s no doubting us being among the market leaders. It’s our core business; it’s the only thing we do. So we are offering service as we supply, and we are the ones offering solutions such as we did for the Puma dredging joint venture in Holland.” E-Crane is expecting “a decent year in 2011 with a solid year of work ahead.”
Why balanced?
But, why are balanced cranes from the big three manufacturers growing in acceptance? Balanced or equilibrium cranes are based on an ingenious design incorporating a parallelogram boom that provides a direct mechanical connection between the counterweight and the load. According to E-Crane, this unique system ensures near perfect balance throughout the crane’s full working range. Conventional cranes can use as much as 80% of their available energy just to move the boom, stick and grab. Not so for balanced cranes which offer significantly lower maintenance and operating costs. Seram’s Julia explains that balanced cranes manufactured by the group don’t use much power to operate, just the energy needed to carry the load, not the boom and frame. “This gives us much lower operating costs than conventional cranes and makes us more popular than mobile cranes.” She instances, for example, a comparison between an electrically-powered balanced crane with a 5 tonne lifting capacity and a boom reach of 25 meters. Running costs for such a crane with its 160 kilowatt motor and an average consumption of 110 kW per hour, would give it an electricity cost of Euro 6-7 an hour. A typical diesel powered mobile crane would consume about 32 litres of diesel an hour at about Euro 1 per litre for a cost of Euro 28-29 an hour. “That’s a Euro 22 an hour cost difference and over a year of about 20,000 hours of operation that’s over Euro 44,000 in savings.” Diesel cranes also need 15 minutes to preheat the motor, 20 minutes to refuel and over 250 hours of maintenance a year. Balanced cranes don’t need that and Julia says the savings for these elements alone total 200 hours a year or 25 to 30 work days. And balanced cranes are highly versatile with most manufacturers offering them on rails, pedestal, free standing, trolley, and gantry or on legs. The Seram Group offers balanced cranes ranging from mod
els that can lift two to four tonnes at 17 meters reach up to 28.5 tonnes at 35 meters.
Innovations
Metso and other balanced crane makers use a system of continuous improvements for their cranes, particularly the control systems. Joystick controls mounted on consoles that are part of the operator’s chair have simplified operation and a touch screen is mounted above the operator to help easy monitoring of all crane movements. Recent models have an articulating operator’s cab that is positioned to give the crane operator the best vantage point Seram’s Julia says real time improvements have been achieved to the French company’s balanced crane series. And to make cranes even more economical and environmentally friendly, energy from braking is reused in running the crane.