Another is that despite the recession, or maybe because of it, there has been no slackening in the demand for greener, more environmentally friendly bulk handling equipment, including grabs. “There are signs over the past few months that orders are picking up, but mainly outside Europe” says Eric Visser, Managing Director of Verstegen Grabs, of Holland, which has sold over 10,000 grabs to 84 countries since it began operations in 1951. So far, 2011 “looks good, back to normal,” adds Visser. Verstegen is the main grab supplier for the leading manufacturers of mobile harbour cranes, Gottwald and Liebherr. Not far away in Holland, another Top 3 grab maker, Nemag, sees markets “picking up very fast,” according to Sales Manager, Riny Stoutjesdijk . “We’re in a buoyant market and I expect this to continue into 2012.” Nemag focuses on bulk movements for steel plants, power stations, and major grab crane manufacturers as its prime customers and is having considerable success in Asia, South America, and India and other developing economies. Furthermore, Europe remains steady, particularly for replacement grabs. At German rival Orts GmbH, 2010 was a good year but not a record year, according to Vice President Sigvard Orts Jr, and 2011 will be about the same. “This year will be more or less the same as last year,” says Orts Jr, “It will be a good year, but we won’t be overworked, we’re about as busy as we should be.” Another German manufacturer, Salzgitter Maschinenbau AG (SMAG), which leads the world in sales with its Peiner brand grabs, is looking for a slightly improved sales year in 2011 “with the same turnover as in 2010, maybe even a bit more,” says Arnulf Kohnemann, Area Sales Manager. “One reason is that we still have a big backlog of orders, especially for grabs for the marine industry.” In fact, Kohnemann says SMAG, which counts on sales outside Germany for 70% of its grab business, was surprised at how quickly the international grab market had rallied from the months and months of global economic meltdown. Major uses of grabs are found on ship cranes, harbour cranes, and for grab cranes used at power plants and incineration plant facilities. And in North America, for Ray Bergeron, President & owner of Cable Arm Inc, specialist grab sales were maintained in 2010 and the 2011 order book so far looks as if business will be about the same as a year earlier. Cable Arms fulfills a niche in environmental and navigational dredging with its popular environmental grab buckets, as well as others designed for bulk movements such as coal.
Fared well
Overall, the world of grabs fared surprisingly well during the harsh bite of the global meltdown and grab makers are now looking for the ports of the world to open their purse strings once more. “Every year that you make a profit is a good year,” says Bergeron, echoing the feelings of many as the recession looks like an unpleasant piece of history. For Verstegen, the work force was kept busy on lower production volumes. “We had sufficient work to keep the staff busy,” says Visser. Orts was able to keep its grab manufacture at a sustainable level right through the recession without job cuts or order cancellations. “We were even creating new jobs during the recession years . . . perhaps we were luckier than other grab makers.” Orts kept its workforce busy supplying grabs for European customers, but shipped directly to Chinese shipyards for addition to new build vessels. “Three or four ships from some of our customers took from 16 to 20 grabs,” says Orts Jr. “There were not so many fleet orders, but a stable basis of customers for new builds.” The bottom line was helped by 25% of revenues coming from parts, service and repairs, although Orts Jr says this was probably lower than other grab makers “as our grabs are more stable and we don’t sell them just for service and parts afterwards.”
Europe success
The sales success for Orts came 80% in Europe in 2010, followed by sales to the United States, Asia and sometimes to Africa. A group of German shipping companies has bought 48 grabs for their vessels over two years and that contract is almost complete, says Orts Jr. “Two new contracts are in the pipeline.” Most of Orts customers are repeat buyers and they’re not going after the cheapest on the market, says Orts Jr. Instead, they seek quality so the need for spare parts and costly downtime is reduced. About 20 years ago, Orts introduced an alternative grab type to the world of mechanical, single rope grabs – radio controlled diesel-hydraulic grabs. Both types operate with only a single hook, says Orts Jr, but the hydraulic grab is faster, has a higher turnaround when it come to tonnes per hour, and is proving much more effective in heavy bulk cargo than mechanical, single rope grabs with or without radio control. Another advantage is that hydraulic grabs have no problems with their much shorter working height. Mechanical single rope grabs always have several meters of rope between the closed grab and the hook, which can cause problems with fluctuating tides, often leading to shut downs during low tide. And Orts Jr takes satisfaction seeing other grab makers copying the idea of using a diesel engine to run the hydraulic system of a grab. “This means to us that the idea was good,” he says.
Going green
While there up to 10 different types of grabs – from clamshell buckets to orange peel and cactus types – each manufacturer is being put under growing pressure by buyers to maintain the green momentum. At Verstegen, Eric Visser says they have adopted “a very green approach” offering high volume, low weight grabs that optimise productivity through faster unloading to reduce time and energy costs and demurrage. Sigvard Orts Jr says these days environmental concerns are always on top of customer needs and market trends. Orts prides itself on producing a range of grabs that have the lowest deadweights compared to others, which brings savings and lower energy use. Enclosed clamshell grabs offering less spillage have been evolving since the 1980s and are now made by many grab manufacturers. For its part, SMAG provides custom-designed grabs that offer as components environmentally friendly dust guards, specialised grab lips, and use of bio oil, says Arnulf Kohnemann. The Peiner motor dual scoop grab (type MZGL), as well as the Peiner radio controlled single rope grab for the marine industry in the bucket range of 14 cubic meters to 20 cubic meters are the most popular sellers, backed up by SMAG’s worldwide network of agencies and representatives. And SMAG is not afraid to build bigger and bigger grabs to meet market demands. “Increasing crane lifting capacities require bigger-sized grabs always with optimised electrical, hydraulic and mechanical components,” says Kohnemann. The company has also modified its grabs to meet extreme applications such as underwater operation.
Innovation
When it comes to innovation, Nemag of Holland has unique grabs that include quick release links and rope pear sockets – two functions that make the swapping of grab buckets easier and achieved in a matter of minutes. In fact, the Dutch maker of grabs, which has been in business since 1924, claims it builds the world’s largest and strongest grabbers, as it calls them. So much so, that Konecranes of Finland, one the world leaders in the lifting business, notes that Nemag clamshell or scissor-type grabs are the most preferred by its customers. Nemag’s Riny Stoutjesdijk says their grabs are becoming more and more environmentally friendly through innovations in better closing grab shells and lip sealing systems, plus methods that restrict spillage from the grab to the hopper with dedicated hopper systems and hopper spraying systems. “We have a very good design that offers high productivity, high reliability and low environmental impact,” he adds. Biggest sellers are the clamshell and scissor grabs.
US makers
At Cable Arm, based near Detroit, Ray Bergeron sees its environmental grab bucket as its
No 1 seller and the company is enjoying success in environmental dredging because of the cleaner, greener performance of grabs and cranes over excavators. “Grabs will continue in dredging for a long time,” says Bergeron, “because it will be a long time before an excavator can go down 100 feet.” Grabs also offer fewer emissions and clamshell buckets do well meeting the higher and higher emission standards in US ports. Cable Arm, which also custom builds coal and navigation grabs, is about to introduce an environmental cleanup grab that can efficiently go deep in environmental spills that need a “big footprint” bucket, says Bergeron. “We will put it on the market because there is a need for a deep water recovery bucket that can go down in 100 to 200 feet of water.” The grab has a 30 foot x 30 foot footprint when the bucket is open and can complete from 15 to 20 operations in an hour.
Another US manufacturer, Anvil Attachments of Louisiana, makes grabs, grapples and clamshell buckets for a wide variety of users. The company offers hydraulic, electro-hydraulic, and traditional cable operations and is the only US maker of clamshells that has passed a two-year testing program of the US government for quality and strength, according to its President Jon Craft. Anvil uses finite element analysis and 3-D design software to create grabs for numerous material handling needs using both cranes and excavators and backs up its after-sales service using standard replacement parts found in every new unit it makes. Craft says Anvil can often retrofit existing units to accept the standard parts and this dramatically cuts lead times, resulting in savings of both dollars and time – both good for the bottom line.