STANDARD AND STEEL - Konecranes Ukrainekonecranes.com.ua/magazine/08.pdf · industrial cranes and...

8

PULP & PAPERpage 20

HEATHROW AIRPORTEXPANDS WITH THE HELP OFKONECRANES (UK) Ltd.page 6

STANDARD AND STEEL page 3

Double Eagle Steel Coating Co.

Georgia-Pacific Finland Oy

Konecranes world No.8 pdf 4.8.2003 11:40 Sivu 25

TECHNOLOGY ANDPERFORMANCE

Developing leading-edge technology for the material

handling industry – this is our commitment at KCI

Konecranes’ Standard Lifting Equipment. We bring our

customers the latest in modern lifting equipment built to pro-

vide exceptional performance, reliability and safety. Through a

potent combination of technical innovation and decades of

experience we can tailor optimum solutions for each cus-

tomer.

Standard Lifting Equipment offers a wide variety of lifting

products from 100 kg up to 100 tonne capacity for many differ-

ent industries and applications. Our product range consists of

industrial cranes and an extensive selection of crane compo-

nents, including wire rope hoists, chain hoists, electrical control

systems, workstation cranes, jib cranes and explosion proof

components.

We have a track record of being the first in our industry to

introduce important new lifting solutions. The new CXT wire

rope hoist design is one of our most recent innovations. Its

compact design combined with stepless speed control and

built-in safety features guarantees a level of performance that

fulfils even the most demanding expectations.

But, our work never ends. If we are to offer new products

and solutions tomorrow we must stay focused on our goals

today. A thorough understanding of our customers’ needs

combined with a work force of experienced, highly trained

and motivated personnel ensures that we will continue on our

chosen path of leadership in overhead material handling.

This issue of Konecranes World focuses on KCI’s standard

lifting equipment business. It includes informative stories about

customer applications from all around the world and the latest

product news. I hope that you’ll enjoy the articles and hopeful-

ly find some new ideas for the lifting needs in your own busi-

ness.

For further details we’ll invite you to visit our homepage at

www.konecranes.com and try our interactive crane design

tools. On this page you can also find our global contact

address list to reach the KCI Konecranes representative near-

est you.

With best regards,

Pekka Päkkilä

President

Standard Lifting Equipment

2 K O N E C R A N E S ’ W O R L D N o 8

PUBLISHER KCI Konecranes PlcStandard Lifting EquipmentP.O.Box 664, FIN-05801 Hyvinkää, FinlandTel. +358-(0)20 427 11Fax +358-(0)20 427 3099

EDITOR IN CHIEF Timo Toni, Marketing DirectorStandard Lifting Equipmenttel. +358-(0)20 427 3040Fax +358-(0)20 427 [email protected]

PRODUCTION OnePartner Oy and KCI Konecranes Plc

COPYRIGHTS KCI Konecranes Plc

www.konecranes.com

STANDARD AND STEEL.....................................................3

HEATHROW AIRPORT EXPANDS WITH THE HELP OF KONECRANES (UK) LTD. ..................................................6

PRIM & KONECRANES’ RECIPE FOR GROWTH BLENDS PRODUCTS AND SERVICE ...................................9

CUTTING-EDGE PLASTICS MANUFACTURER RELIES ON CXT CRANES ..........................................................11

CHAIN HOISTS – ONWARDS AND UPWARDS! ................12

KONECRANES VLC IS GOING STRONG IN RTG'S ...........14

NEW COMPANY ESTABLISHED IN KOREA ......................14

KCI KONECRANES INTO JAPAN ....................................15

KCI KONECRANES DELIVERS HOT METAL CRANES TO NUCOR STEEL ..........................................................15

PILKINGTON KEEPS THE GLASS MOVING, THANKS TO OUTSOURCED CRANE SERVICING ...........................16

CRANE LAUGH .............................................................17

THE NEW REMOC RADIO CONTROL IS DESIGNED FOR ERGONOMIC AND PRODUCTIVE USE ....................18

CONTROLPRO FOR INCREASED SAFETY AND PERFORMANCE CONTROL............................................18

KONEDUCTOR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS .......................19

HOISTING IN HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS – NEW EXPLOSION-PROOF CXT WIRE ROPE HOIST ...................19

PULP & PAPER ..............................................................20

DELIVERY OF THE 5000TH EOT CRANE IN AUSTRIA.........21

NEW INDUSTRIAL CRANE PLANT IN GERMANY SUPPLYING CENTRAL EUROPE.......................................21

A SAGA OF DRUMS AND WIRE ROPES ..........................22

CORPORATE FIGURES ...................................................24

KCI KONECRANES GROUP AT A GLANCE .....................24

THIS MAGAZINE FOCUSES ON OUR STANDARDLIFTING EQUIPMENT BUSINESS AREA.

CONTENTS:


3N o 8 K O N E C R A N E S ’ W O R L D

Double Eagle Steel Coating Com-

pany is the largest producer of

electro-galvanized steel in the

world. It is a co-owned venture of U. S.

Steel Corp. and Rouge Steel Co. based in

Dearborn, Michigan, near the Rouge

Complex where Henry Ford pioneered

the assembly line manufacturing process

during the early years of the automobile.

Available through parent companies,

Double Eagle’s rolled steel products are

predominately used by automotive man-

ufacturers and suppliers for parts such as

doors and body panels, as well as other

industries where high quality, corrosion

resistant sheet steel is required.

Double Eagle contacted KCI

Konecranes in July of 2001, requesting a

STANDARD AND STEELTwo words almost never found in the same sentence (or on the same quotesheet) when specifying cranes for the North American steel industry. But asDouble Eagle Steel Coating Co. discovered, a standard crane product from KCIKonecranes performed extremely well under pressure – with far better value anddelivery than a traditionally-specified steel mill crane.


quote for a backup maintenance crane

to supplement an existing 25-ton process-

duty crane in its galvanizing plant. Its

Class E Kranco crane had been used for

15 years in the harsh environment above

the galvanizing line, and the line’s main-

tenance requirements were increasing.

Planning an extensive renovation of the

galvanizing plant, Double Eagle needed

to accomplish the overhaul without

impacting production.

Double Eagle’s strategy was to pur-

chase a new crane that could handle

the same capacity as the existing crane –

25 tons – to do routine maintenance while

the original process duty crane was used

to move out and replace all of the equip-

ment identified for renovation. This

involved doing maintenance on plating

tanks plus all of the ancillary equipment

associated with them, including large

diameter rolls, passline rolls and the main

conductor rolls for each tank, each of

which weighs in at 23 tons.

According to Steve Strawsburg,

Konecranes’ sales representative for Dou-

ble Eagle, the renovation project was on

a fast track and delivery was the number-

one priority.

“The crane was described to me as a

back-up maintenance unit over the high

bay coating line. There were no written

specs initially other than the original

crane’s drawings. Based on their descrip-

tion and time frame I developed a quote,

making clear that this was a CMAA Class

“D” crane which came nowhere near

meeting traditional steel mill specifica-

tions,” Strawsburg said.

In a series of round-table discussions

between Strawsburg and Double Eagle,

Double Eagle representatives and consul-

tants accustomed to specifying steel mill

cranes repeatedly questioned the

crane’s capabilities, going through every

aspect in great detail.

“Due to the project timing, delivery

was paramount in our requirements,” says

Frank Carnevale, Engineering / Mainte-

nance Manager for Double Eagle. “We

were looking for an inexpensive crane

that we could put up in the bay quickly.

We knew going into the purchase that it

would not be a typical steel industry

crane. We knew we were dealing with a

standard product hoist assembly.”

But the crane was only intended for

maintenance and backup, and the

importance of meeting the timetable

tipped the scales in favor of the

Konecranes proposal. Double Eagle

decided to go forward with the pur-

chase: a 25-ton single hoist, double box

girder crane from Konecranes’ broad

range of standard industrial cranes. Fully

inverter-driven with variable speed

remote control, it spans a 72-foot high

bay and delivers 106 feet of lifting height.

The crane also features a powered, rotat-

ing bottom block that enables the opera-

tor to rotate the deflector and conductor

rolls into the correct angle for delivery to

the tanks. The new crane was only weeks

away from its scheduled installation when

unforeseen circumstances took the

plant’s primary Class E crane out of ser-

vice. The new crane was promoted from

backup to primary crane virtually

overnight.

“Everyone we dealt with at

Konecranes – from sales through delivery

– made good on their promises,” said

Carnevale. “Delivery was our most critical

item at that point, and the crane was

here within a day of when we expected

it.”

The new standard series crane from

Konecranes became the sole mover of all

the equipment – both routine mainte-

nance and renovation – for the plating

tank replacement. It did its own equip-

ment maintenance tasks to keep produc-

tion going and all of the remove-and-

replace work for the renovation as well.

“This was a very large renovation,” said

Carnevale, “and it was our only crane for

two months. We still don’t consider it to

be a process crane, since it’s not used

every hour of every day. Yet, over the

course of that two months we made as

many lifts with it as we thought we’d

make over two years.”




John S. Kennedy Jr. is Konecranes’

General Manager Operations, USA Indus-

trial Cranes. According to Kennedy, the

superior crane performance experienced

by Double Eagle isn’t surprising, because

a similar experience curve about the val-

ue of Konecranes’ standard hoist technol-

ogy occurred in the paper industry some

years ago.

“The paper industry was and is a very

demanding market segment, and in that

regard is somewhat similar to the steel

industry,” says Kennedy. “When a steel

line or paper mill goes down it’s big mon-

ey, and nobody wants the crane to be

the reason.”

Konecranes has introduced standard

lifting products as an option to the paper

industry, and those products have proven

themselves with years of satisfactory per-

formance. “The paper industry had long-

standing preferences for lifting equip-

ment, and they typically provided all of

the specifications when they placed an

order,” Kennedy said. “Ultimately, we

were able to convince them that by

telling us what they needed to accom-

plish rather than how the crane should be

built, we could often design a solution

from a line of cost-effective standard

components larger than the entire prod-

uct range of most of our competitors. Bot-

tom line, we were able to deliver superior

lifting technology at a substantially better

value.”

Konecranes’ pre-engineered solutions

became so successful that today they

are considered to be the standard in the

pulp and paper industry worldwide.

Kennedy believes this can also be the

case for certain portions of the steel

industry, where conventional solutions in

some applications can be replaced with

cost-effective standard solutions.

“The challenge is ours to prove that

these products will do the job,” says

Kennedy.“We don’t want to extend our

standard products into an application

where those products aren’t well-suited.

We still have a custom product for those

special and most demanding applica-

tions. But for some coil-handling, tube

mills, machine maintenance, pickling,

shipping bays and other similar steel mill

tasks, we can offer technologically superi-

or, cost-effective standard crane solutions

rated up to Class E, well-supported by the

Konecranes global service network and

unmatched product warranty.”

For example, Konecranes’ SM series

cranes can be rated up to 400 tons; and

are available in speeds, duty cycles and

capacities well beyond that which is cov-

ered by Konecranes’ CXT line. Although

SM cranes are still considered standard

products, they offer a wider variety of

motor and speed options and many spe-

cial features, extending into Class E capa-

bility.

Change begins with a single step, or

in this case, a single customer with a

problem to solve. According to Frank

Carnevale, Double Eagle’s purchase from

KCI Konecranes turned out to be an

excellent investment for both its plant ren-

ovation and for future operations.

“This crane made sense for us. With

the renovation finished, we now have two

cranes that give us long-term benefits in

terms of reduced downtime and the abili-

ty to do multiple tasks at once, instead of

just tasks in series with one crane,” says

Carnevale. “As for performance, operat-

ing now in what we consider a pure main-

tenance mode, our Konecranes pur-

chase is doing the job we need for sub-

stantially less cost than a direct replace-

ment or duplicate of our original crane.”

“Konecranes was able to perform at

the level we required with its ‘modern’

solution,” Carnevale said.“If we hadn’t

been able to get this crane when we

needed it our downtime cost would easily

have been many times the cost of the

crane. Compared to the cost of not hav-

ing it, the price of the crane itself was

minor.” ■

For further information:John S. Kennedy Jr.,

General Manager Operations, USA Industrial Cranes

[email protected]



HEATHROW AIRPORT

EXPANDSWITH THE HELP OF KONECRANES (UK) Ltd.

Heathrow is the world's busiestinternational airport and the world's secondbusiest cargo port. Regarded as the hub ofthe aviation world, over 90 airlines havemade Heathrow their base. With such aninflux of both passengers and cargo therehas long been a need for expansion andfor over ten years there has beendiscussion about a fifth terminal.



T5 becomes a realityFinally, in 2001, a decision was made

and T5 was no longer a pipedream. The

vision was that T5 would be one of the

world's most exciting airport terminals,

visually attractive, easy to get to and

through, comfortable and accessible for

all. To address the hot topic of air traffic

control at Heathrow, a new state-of-the-

art control tower will also be built.

The new terminal will supplement

Heathrow's existing four terminals, allow-

ing the airport to grow in the future and

accommodate the most advanced air-

craft including those not yet in service

such as the Airbus Industries A380. Fortu-

nately, the actual site for the terminal lies

between the two existing runways so the

core terminal building and two satellite

buildings are ideally located and do not

require additional land for their construc-

tion. Transport links are of key importance

and T5 is designed to be a world-class

public transport interchange served by

rail and road links.

A Herculean task A stand-alone construction, the new

terminal will be completed over an esti-

mated five to six-year period providing

some 6,000 construction jobs. New termi-

nal buildings, baggage bays, parking

ramps, fuel ports and transportation ways

for passengers between terminals all have

had to be developed from scratch, and

with minimal effect on current Heathrow

operations. The new terminal will eventu-

ally have the capacity to accommodate

around 30 million passengers and will

occupy a site of 260 hectares, just under

a quarter of the 1,200 hectares occupied

by Heathrow currently.

Enter KONECRANES (UK) Towards the end of 2001, Express

O’Rourke JV Limited asked KONECRANES

(UK) Ltd, to provide a number of cranes

for use in the custom built Rebar Factory,

to be built at Colinbrook near Slough, a

few miles from Heathrow Airport. The fac-

tory was to be specifically designed for

the manufacture and distribution of the

special reinforcing rods used in the con-

struction of the terminal’s huge concrete

structures.

KONECRANES (UK) Ltd had previously

delivered cranes to each of the JV part-

ners in this project, albeit at different loca-

tions. Initially, nine CXTS overhead cranes

were delivered in 2001 to an Express Rein-

forcements factory near Bristol in the

south west of England. Then a number of

Goliath cranes were delivered in 2002 to

another joint venture project involving

O’Rourke for the construction of the new

rail link between central London and the

Channel Tunnel.

The new Rebar facility required fifteen

cranes, types CXTD and CXTS, three 10t

CXTS of 28m span to operate in a com-

mon bay 116m long. These cranes were

supported by seven 10t CXTS models of

24m span, operating in 3 bays each of

116m in length, where 1 of these shared a

track with 2 x 10t CXTD models of 24 span

and a 1 x 10t CXTS of 12 m span also in a

116m long bay.

Additionally, two 10t CXTD cranes,

each with two 5t CXTD hoists and an M6

(duty) were installed where the hoists are

set at fixed centres and used in tandem.

These cranes work in a reception area

complete with extended runway to allow

the unloading of steel from railway wag-

ons. One of these cranes has an open

cabin, joystick control, partial platform

and the facility for the end user to add

hook-on magnets if required. The cranes

also utilise Remox remote radio control

with pendant back up, with one of the

twin trolley cranes equipped with a joy-

stick radio for use with a magnet. The oth-

er cranes rely on pushbutton control. With

the exception of the twin trolley cranes at

A6/M6, the duty is A5/M5, all long travel

speeds are 0–63 m/min via DynAMove



inverter controls, all traverse drives are

0–32 m/min via DynADrive and all hoists

are 8/1.3 m/min via Pole Change control.

“We believe the original enquiry was

based on the success of the delivery to

Express Reinforcements, where we deliv-

ered seven cranes of similar dimensions to

do a similar job. The cranes have per-

formed well and this almost certainly led

to the enquiry for the terminal 5 project,”

said Gordon Adie, head of KONECRANES

(UK) Ltd.

Faster operating speeds, maximised throughput

Despite the size of the cranes the

operating speeds are fairly fast which was

an essential factor as the client had expe-

rienced disappointing results when using

cranes with lower speeds. High levels of

throughput were essential to obtain the

manufacturing program required for the

overall project. With this in mind, it was

agreed that the DynA Technology per-

fected by KCI KONECRANES should be

used so speeds could be controlled to

maximise throughput with no adverse

effect on the mechanisms or structures.

Overload protection, anti-collision moni-

tors, end of travel 2 step limit switches and

2 step traverse limit switches were also

added to provide as much operator safe-

ty as possible.

“Once we had the enquiry we jointly

selected the specification for this facility

at Heathrow, making the necessary

changes from the previous contract to

suit a higher throughput and layout.”

recalls Adie. “The cranes at Heathrow

have faster travel speeds to suit the

longer building and a number of double

girder cranes to suit a different handling

scheme and higher loadings in two key

areas.” Adie adds.

Signed, sealed, deliveredThe order was placed at the end of

October 2002 for delivery to start at the

end of February 2003 with the largest

cranes first. It took time to get dimensional

approval and the outdoor specification

was only added for 2 cranes at the end of

December 2002.

“Our ability to meet the change in

their requirements with the minimum of

effort yet still meet the delivery require-

ments, coupled with a fair price, led to

KONECRANES (UK) Ltd winning this con-

tract,” explained Adie.

The cranes were all delivered on time

and were erected by end of March 2003.

The last crane (10t (two x 5t) CXTD models

with provision for magnets) was installed

in April 2003. It was triumph indeed that

KONECRANES (UK) Ltd. secured this con-

tract against stiff UK and international

competition, Perhaps a key overriding

factor in the procurement of this presti-

gious contract was an unblemished track

record with each of the joint venture

companies and unmatched delivery per-

formance. “We were pleased to work

with the client to obtain the best offer

possible, with cranes suitable for the job in

hand that would prove, as in previous

contracts, to be up to the job – reliable,

easy to operate and maintain.” con-

cludes Adie. ■

Gordon Adie, Managing Director, Konecranes (UK)

[email protected]

“Our ability to meet the change in theirrequirements with the minimum of effort yet stillmeet the delivery requirements, coupled with afair price, led to KONECRANES (UK) Ltd winningthis contract,” explained Gordon Adie, head ofKONECRANES (UK) Ltd.

KONECRANES erection supervisor surveys his work on completion of erecting the 15 cranes, prior to the machinery moving in.



PRIM & KONECRANES’ RECIPEFOR GROWTH BLENDS PRODUCTSAND SERVICEThe sale of more than 1500 cranesand 1700 hoists in three year’s timeindicates that PRIM SpA, KCIKonecranes’ licensee in Italy, hasdeveloped a successful salesapproach for the Italian market.

“Establishing a proactive relation-

ship with customers, taking

care of their problems and

proposing innovative service solutions up

front determines whether we continue to

sell to that customer,” says Mario Girelli,Managing Director of PRIM SpA. “In addi-

tion, it is important that the products we

offer are state-of-the-art in terms of tech-

nology, performance and reliability.

”Girelli believes this combination of

proactive service and superior technolo-

gy was the reason Konecranes products

were selected recently by two high-pro-

file industrial groups in Northern Italy

whose existing fleet of lifting equipment

had been purchased from German and

Italian vendors.

TESMEC GROUP and REGGIANIMACCHINE choose CXT quality and PRIM’s maintenanceservices

TESMEC GROUP and REGGIANE MAC-

CHINE are building a new production

facility in Grassobbio near Bergamo con-

sisting of three warehouses covering

28,000 square meters, and plan to add

another 6,000 square meter warehouse

soon.Machinery assembly for both com-

panies will be carried out at this new

industrial complex, which also includes

offices for management, technical design

and sales.

Konecranes supplied 31 overhead

traveling cranes for the Bergamo facility,

including single and double girder

designs. The cranes are equipped with

CXT hoist units in capacities of five, 10, 12

and 20 tons, and will be used to handle

goods in the production area, as well as

receiving and shipping. The scope of sup-

ply also includes scheduled maintenance

and parts for a period of 5+5 years.

TESMEC GROUP is one of the leading

Italian manufacturers of machines and

tools for voltage lines and telecommuni-

cation lines suitable for stringing both

overhead and underground cable. The

company also manufactures digging

machines used in difficult soil conditions

including solid rock and equipment used

in offshore applications.

REGGIANI MACCHINE designs, manu-

factures and sells textile printing and tex-

tile ennobling machines. REGGIANI MAC-

CHINE products are recognized by textile

ennobling companies as top-tier solutions

based on a very modern, high-technolo-

gy platform. TESMEC GROUP is linked to

REGGIANI MACCHINE as the source of its

equity capital.

CXT fits service center profile for leading international specialsteel distributor

Italy is one of the most important mar-

kets worldwide for special steel and high

speed steel. Böhler Uddeholm Italia SpA

initially purchased four KCI Konecranes


suspended single girder overhead travel-

ling cranes equipped with CXT hoist units

in 5 and 3,2 ton capacities for their Steel

Point service center in Milan. Steel Point

handles most of the orders collected from

Italian customers by Böhler of Austria and

Sweden’s Uddeholm, two of the world’s

best known and highly regarded special

steel brands. Together, they account for

roughly 28 percent of the international

tool steel market. The parent ownership

group Böhler Uddeholm AG of Vienna,

Austria is active on five continents, and its

directly-controlled sales companies are

among the world’s leaders in the special

and tool steels business.

Distribution of Böhler and Uddeholm

division products ranging from tool and

special steels to high speed steel is man-

aged partially through exclusive dealers

and partially direct to the customer.Both

divisions require a high service level and

short delivery time, which is why Steel

Point operations run continuously from

6:00 a.m. Monday – 6:00 p.m. Saturday

with three daily shifts. To maintain cus-

tomer expectations, all machinery includ-

ing cranes must be ultra-reliable and able

to operate continuously without failure.

Due to the design of the Steel Point

warehouse calling for bridge cranes to

be suspended from the roof without sup-

port pillars, weight of the cranes was a

major factor in selecting Konecranes CXT

products. The warehouse has a span of

36 meters, with the span divided in two

sections of 18 meters each. For each sec-

tion different cranes are in operation:four

on the right side and one on each side of

the left section.

Other factors influencing Böhler Udde-

holm Italia SpA’s decision to purchase

Konecranes’ CXT cranes were its space-

saving design and reduced hook

approach dimensions that enable it to

operate very close to building walls. Stan-

dardization and the ability to interchange

components with other CXT hoist units of

different load capacities was also a fac-

tor. But it should be noted once again

that the service capability of Prim SpA

also helped make the difference – and

the sale. Prim SpA was able to install the

new cranes and 115 meters of runway in

only two weeks during the month of

August, during the customer’s normal

summer shutdown. They also agreed to

supply scheduled maintenance for three

years.

In the final analysis, the PRIM

Konecranes’ product mix of reliability,

flexibility, technology and service has

proven to be profitable for both customer

and supplier, as Böhler Uddeholm Italia

SpA placed a new order for two addition-

al CXT cranes as we went to press with

this issue of Konecranes’ World. ■


CXT suspended cranes installed at Boehler Uddehlom Italia's Steel point service center in Milan.

Mario Girelli, Managing Director,

Prim SpAwww.primgru.com



Can you give us a brief background ofKonzelmann, its development and prod-ucts?

Konzelmann is a mid-sized manufac-

turer of plastic products. The company is

41 years old and is in its second genera-

tion of family ownership with about 90

employees. We produce various types of

plastic parts and products, mainly for the

dental, pneumatics and automobile

industries. Our specific know-how is in the

fabrication of high precision plastic – it is

our speciality. Konzelmann also has the

reputation of being a strong develop-

ment partner. Our customers work with us

at a very early stage in the development

of their new products. We do our own

tool manufacturing and also have the

engineering capacity to develop pre-

series tools and prototypes.

How did you get into contact with KCIKonecranes?

When we began planning our new

factory building we were not aware of

KCI Konecranes. However, the construc-

tion company we were working with had

a strong track record of previous projects

with KCI Konecranes. They introduced

your company as a potential supplier for

our cranes, which led to our first personal

contact.

Please describe your lifting needs and thespecific requirements you had for a cranesupplier.

Our manufacturing process required

cranes to service the plastic injection

moulding machines for changing the

tooling and tooling transportation. Cranes

were also needed in the tooling manu-

facturing area to handle the tooling and

half-finished products during fabrication.

The two factory halls called for six

cranes with spans of 18,71m and 11.14m

and load handling capacity of one and

two tons. In a very early stage of the plan-

ning process we prepared a detailed

requirement specification for the cranes.

It was important for us to purchase mod-

ern technology for all functions, but most

of all we needed the maximum possible

lifting height in order to get optimum

usage of our factory interior.

With these requirements, what were theprimary reasons you selected KCIKonecranes as the supplier of yourcranes?

In building the new factory we want-

ed to focus our efforts on certain critical

matters related to our manufacturing

process. That’s why we wanted to rely on

a dependable manufacturer who could

provide good technology and above all

CUTTING-EDGE PLASTICS MANUFACTURERRELIES ON CXT CRANESWhen German plastics manufacturer Konzelmann GmbH built its newmanufacturing plant in 2001, their state-of-the art facility in Löchgau nearStuttgart was equipped with only one brand of lifting equipment – CXTCranes from KCI Konecranes. Konecranes World asked Mr. FrankGreminger, Konzelmann’s plant manager, how the relationship with KCIKonecranes came about.

straightforward and effortless project han-

dling and delivery. During the planning

phase the very competent guidance and

support provided by KCI Konecranes con-

vinced us that KCI Konecranes would fulfil

these requirements.

In dealing with the measurements and

data required by the architect, advice for

planning installation and start-up or tech-

nical questions, our needs were fully

addressed at all times. As the financial

and commercial factors of the offering

were also in line with our requirements, we

decided to select KCI Konecranes as our

crane supplier.

After the order was placed, what wasyour experience regarding delivery andperformance of the cranes?

The manner in which our order was

handled and the practical co-operation

we experienced during delivery proved to

us that our decision in choosing the crane

supplier was the right one. I can say that

we are very satisfied with the initial plan-

ning and advice, the delivery and installa-

tion and now the after-sale service. We

have also experienced quick response in

solving any problem that arises, and spare

parts delivery has been rapid. The service

we have received from our KCI

Konecranes representative has been and

continues to be very good. The cranes

have now been in operation for six

months and we are absolutely satisfied.

Mr. Greminger, thank you. We are glad tohave you and your company as satisfiedcustomers and we wish you continuedsuccess in your business. ■

For further information:W.R. Conrad, Sales Baden-Würtenberg

Konecranes T&H GmbHwww.konecranes.de



The design of our hoist units is the

result of the combined efforts of

a number of KCI Konecranes

teams whose experience and

technological acumen has led

to a revolution in the construc-

tion of chain hoists. Early efforts were a

great success, and today three further

frame sizes have been added to the

range for capacities between 60 kg and

7500 kg. KCI Konecranes now offers the

most compact and complete range of

electric chain hoists in the industry.

However, technology cannot be

allowed to stand still and KCI Konecranes’

research and development is already

investigating possible adaptations and

future applications such as a special

chain hoist to cater for the windmill mar-

ket. XN units are now being tailored for

Chain hoists –

Onwards andUpwards!It is only a few years ago since theXN05, the first generation of XNelectric chain hoists, appeared on themarket. State-of-the art features, suchas a combined brake and anoverload slipping clutch assemblyoffered optimum levels of safety foroperators. If a hoist was overloadedthe slipping clutch would engage,and by releasing the button on thependant, the load would remain inplace – a feature not found on any ofour competitors' chain hoists.



specific uses on a weekly basis -whether

it’s mining in New Guinea or handling

loads in a marine environment in Norway,

chain hoists from Konecranes can pro-

vide the right solution.

The Light Lifting Equipment Market –trends lead to positive changes

Providing light lifting equipment for

individual workstations equates to a high-

er long-term trend in demand on the mar-

ket as a whole. KCI Konecranes products

meet this demand by providing a large

range of lifting equipment with vertical

and horizontal movement to cater for 60

to 7.500 kg loads. Such provision means

that immediate advantages are gained

in the safety of material handling, increas-

ingly ergonomic working environments

and a significant reduction in process

times.

“You might say we are the light part

of the Group’s lifting capacity, but with a

15% annual sales increase in this market

segment, we are gaining more weight

each day” Jean-Maxime Guhur, Presi-

dent of KCI Chain hoists says with a smile.

XN chain hoists have not only revolu-

tionised the world of Chain Lifting, but

with advanced manufacturing processes,

have contributed to even faster delivery

times. We believe well-managed distribu-

tion is imperative in good customer ser-

vice and this is exactly why Konecranes

maintain an organisation with close cus-

tomer relationships and local coverage.

The Light Lifting Equipment range –making light work of materialhandling

XN Electric chain hoists represent a

compact solution for all lower and medi-

um load hoisting applications. Perfectly

adapted to industrial requirements, XN

electric chain hoists use high technology

for increased reliability and modern

design for easy and ergonomic load han-

dling. In applications where the impor-

tance of hygiene and safety in produc-

tion is paramount, electric belt hoists are

the ideal choice. Industries like food, agri-

culture, chemicals and precision indus-

tries all benefit from the inherent qualities

of electric belt hoists. The XB Electric Belt

hoist boasts many exclusive patented

features to make it THE “clean hoist”: the

polyester belt runs without grease and the

stainless steel version is perfectly suited to

the steamy conditions so often found in

food production.

KCI Konecranes’ XM workstation

cranes are ideally suited for productive

and ergonomic material handling in man-

ufacturing and assembly operations

where loads of up to 2000 kg have to be

transported. XM cranes provide solutions

for customers' exact load, span and oper-

ational requirements. Due to a modular

design, XM also offers a flexible solution

for the transportation of light loads

between workstation units. Effortless load

handling and monorail, single or double

girder cranes, curves, turntables and

switches mean tailor-made solutions are

readily available.

Jib Cranes are commonly used for

load handling around machines or in

confined spaces.

Customised mechanical lifting at

every workstation is often essential for effi-

cient production and sufficient load han-

dling capacity. KCI Konecranes supplies

an extensive range of jib cranes for lifting

capacities of 80 kg to 5000 kg equipped

with chain or wire rope hoists.

On the up, thanks to new improvedproduct ranges

We believe in maximising customer

satisfaction and this is exactly the reason

why our sales team is always on hand to

reply to questions and inquiries. Whether

it’s information about our product range

or questions about special applications,

we’re happy to help. KCI Konecranes’

engineers are constantly studying market

requirements to provide the appropriate

technology for the specific application.

Standardised solutions are modified to suit

different applications and new innovative

products are developed.

Thanks to our on-line tools selecting

and configuring the lifting systems is now

easier than ever. Once selected and con-

figured requests for lifting systems can

then be forwarded to the closest local

sales contact for a quotation. Next, a KCI

Konecranes representative will make

immediate contact to provide the neces-

sary information. We are committed to

constantly updating and improving our

on-line tools and see them as a highly

important customer service measure.

Despite a tough market situation

where many suppliers are experiencing

difficulties we have experienced a period

of growth. Our success, we believe, is

attributed to constant developments in

our product offerings. New products and

wider ranges make it easier for our cus-

tomers – a greater choice from one sup-

plier. ■

For further information:Jean-Maxime Guhur, President,

KCI Chain HoistsTel. +33 2 3738 9595, Fax +33 2 3738 9623


Konecranes VLC has received a

number of new orders for Rubber

Tyred Container Handling Gantry

Cranes (RTG's) from North and Central

America during the first months of 2003.

Majority of the cranes will be made in

Europe and delivered to site fully erected.

The customers are APM Terminals (Eliz-

abeth, New Jersey and Houston, Texas),

Maryland Port Authority (Baltimore), Geor-


C O R P O R A T E N E W S C O R P O R A T E N E W S

KONECRANES VLC IS GOING STRONG IN RTG's

To strengthen the market position in

the large Korean hoist and industrial

crane market KCI Konecranes estab-

lished in the beginning of 2003 a new

company Konecranes (KOREA) Co.,Ltd.

The President of the company is Mr.

Hyong Duk Choi. The sales office is locat-

ed is Soul and headoffice and logistics

center is in Kimhae in the southern part of

Korea close to Pusan. ■

Mr. Hyong Duk Choi, President1003 , Byongdong-Ri, Hallim-Meyon, Kimhae City,

Kyongsangnam-Do (Kyongnam).621-873.Korea

[email protected]

New company established in Korea

Two of the three RTG’s delivered to PSA Sines Terminal in Portugal 2002.

gia Port Authority (Savannah), and Oper-

adora Portuaria de Manzanillo (Mexico).

The total number of new cranes is 27.

All of above are repeat orders, which

indicates that our customers have been

very satisfied with the earlier deliveries.

Konecranes VLC has gained the num-

ber one position in the world amongst the

high capacity RTG suppliers. All new gen-

eration Konecranes RTG’s are with 16

wheels and have no hydraulics in them.

High performance is achieved with

Konecranes’ state-of-the art Active Load

Control System and Konecranes’ AC dri-

ves. Typically the cranes have been spec-

ified for 50 LT lifting capacity, with one-

over-five lifting height and a span of six-

plus-truck lane.

All these features give following advan-

tages to the operator:

• More productivity (boxes / hour)

• No need for special reinforced runways

• Low fuel consumption

• Low level of pollution

• costs

These new orders bring the total num-

ber of Konecranes' RTG's to 153. ■

C O R P O R A T E N E W S



C O R P O R A T E N E W S C O R P O R A T E N E W S C O R P O R A T E N E W S

Konecranes America Inc. has the

contract to supply two key hot met-

al cranes and a service crane to

Nucor’s steel mini-mill in Jewett, Texas,

USA. This transaction marks the first time

Nucor has bought from KCI Konecranes,

and the first time an American steelmaker

has purchased hot metal cranes featuring

In April 2003 KCI Konecranes closed the

agreement with Meidensha Corpora-

tion of Japan (part of the Sumitomo

Sphere) to become joint venture partners

in Japan.

“Meiden being the most well-known

and the oldest hoist brand in Japan and

KCI Konecranes the world leader in

advanced hoisting technology the com-

bination of the two will create a strong

and paramount player in the domestic

Japanese market”, conclude Mr. Katao-ka, President of Meidensha Corporation

and Mr. Gustavson, President of the KCI

Konecranes Group.

KCI Konecranes owns 49 % of the Joint

Venture’s shares, Meiden Hoist System

Company Ltd (MHS).

Under the Joint venture partnership

MHS has introduced to the Japanese

market a new hoist range based on

Konecranes technology. The technology

has been adjusted to meet with local

industry standards and technical specifi-

cations.

The MHS headquarters and manufac-

turing plant are located in Nagoya. ■

For more information, please visit: www.konecranes.com

KCI KONECRANES INTO JAPAN

Osaka

Wakayama

ToyamaKanazawa

Nagoya Shizuoka

Hamamatsu

YokohamaTOKYO

Kyòto

Gifu

SendaiNiigata

Nagano

Kòriyama

Iwaki

Utsunomiya

Aomori

Sapporo

Hakodate

Kushiro

Nemuro

Abashiri

Wakkanai

Asahikawa

Akita Morioka

Kòbe

HiroshimaOkayam

a

Nagasaki

Sasebo

Kitakyùshù

Kumamoto

Òita

Matsuyama

Kòchi

Kagoshima

Honshù

Osumi-Shoto

Oki-Shotò

Gotò-Rettò

Tsushima

Sodo-Shima

Okushiri-Tò

Rishiri-Tò

Rebun-Tò

Hokkaidò

Shikoku

Kyùshù

JAPAN

Kiso

Tone

EAST CHINA SEA

YELLOWSEA

S E A O FJ A PA N

PA C I F I C

O C E A N

KCI KONECRANES DELIVERS HOT METALCRANES TO NUCOR STEEL

The trolley for the Charge crane on the final testrun with Nucor team present in Hyvinkää KCISpecial Cranes works before shipping toHouston.

AC variable frequency motors, which

offer significant maintenance savings

over traditional DC controls.

Nucor is building a new melt shop to

Jewett steel mill, which will include a new

ladle crane, charge crane and a caster

service crane supplied by KCI

Konecranes. The charge crane is a CMAA

Class “F” crane rated at 200 tons with two

auxiliary hoists rated at 75 and 25 tons.

The ladle crane is essentially the same

configuration without the 25-ton auxiliary.

The caster maintenance crane is rated at

100 tons with a 35-ton auxiliary. All three

cranes feature innovative AC drive sys-

tems with variable frequency controls and

WLAN diagnostics. The cranes also fea-

ture numerous safety systems to safe-

guard both employees and production. ■

Truck transportation from Hyvinkaa works toMäntyluoto port, port of Pori. Trolley widthoccupied whole width of road. Transportationrequired special arrangements and about 250km (160 ml.) transportation took 12 hours.



Pilkington (Australia) has a total of

about 60 cranes at its site in Dande-

nong, with ten of these cranes in

production areas and about a dozen in

despatch.

“We are hugely dependent on our lift-

ing equipment,” said Dandenong site

despatch manager Mark Forbes. “We

freight about 110,000 tonnes of glass a

year and if we lose a crane, despatch

stops. We simply can’t afford downtime.

And in fact it’s now quite rare to have

any.”

Pilkington makes many types of glass

products at Dandenong, including auto

glass, laminated safety glass, mirrors,

annealed glass for windows, and glass

panels for sliding doors. The plant manu-

factures around the clock, every day of

the year, although downstream functions

such as warehousing and despatch work

to more normal hours, operating a morn-

ing shift and an evening shift.

The despatch department at Dande-

nong has one 25 tonne crane, with the

Pilkington keeps the glass moving,thanks to outsourced crane servicing

Australia’s premier glass manufacturerhas achieved very low levels ofdowntime in the crucial despatchdepartment at its majormanufacturing site in Victoriafollowing the signing of acomprehensive crane maintenanceagreement with Konecranes.

remainder ranging in capacity from 7

tonnes down to 3.2 tonnes. Most are over-

head hoists that track across the ceiling

of the warehouse, remotely controlled by

radio.

“Our servicing has not only reduced

downtime, but more importantly has

identified areas where Pilkington’s equip-

ment could be upgraded to improve its

performance,” said Brad Leckie, Victoria

and Tasmania branch manager for

Konecranes, which manages the three-

C O R P O R A T E N E W S C O R P O R A T E N E W SC O R P O R A T E N E W S



CRANE LAUGH

year-old crane maintenance contract at

the site.

“For example, we have installed two

new hoists as well as production cranes.

We also installed accessories such as

radio controls that

replaced manual pen-

dants, a Dynahoist to

enable matching speeds

on hoists, and travel

inverters to improve

crane performance and

handling.

“As well, we created

exclusion zones for the

cranes, to automatically

lock them out of produc-

tion or warehousing

areas that they shouldn’t

travel into,” he said.

Before Konecranes’

contract with Pilkington,

the glass makers man-

aged crane mainte-

nance work themselves

but found advantages in outsourcing to

specialists.

“Our arrangement with Konecranes

means we now need to spend less

resources on maintenance planning and

management. They do all that for us. We

also require fewer engineers on site. In

fact, most manufacturing companies of

our size will outsource their maintenance

work for these reasons,” Mr Forbes said.

“Konecranes inspect and maintain to

the Australian Standard, prioritising work

that needs doing and reporting to us reg-

ularly. They’ll make suggestions if we have

any problems and are very good at pro-

viding quotes for repairs or upgrades.

They also attend to any breakdowns and

can be here on site within an hour. There

are no ‘issues’ in our contract with

Konecranes,” he said.

Using its experience with more than

200,000 cranes of all

makes worldwide,

Konecranes’ inspection

and assessment proce-

dures are based on the

premise that systematic

and regular preventive

inspections of equip-

ment are the key to

safe, reliable and cost-

effective performance.

“We are continually

addressing the potential

downtime issues for

clients through our regu-

lar assessments and ser-

vicing,” said Mr Leckie of

Konecranes.

“The programmes

applied to Pilkington’s

Dandenong site are designed to go

beyond preventive and predictive main-

tenance, to a top-tier solution of reliabili-

ty-based maintenance management.

The service agreement integrates

Konecranes’ expertise with Pilkington’s

own, to achieve the best blend of on-site

and outsourced knowledge.”

Konecranes has more than 100 spe-

cialists in commissioning and mainte-

nance at 24 locations throughout Aus-

tralia and New Zealand. ■

For further information:Mr Edward Yakos, Managing Director,

Konecranes Pty [email protected]

C O R P O R A T E N E W S C O R P O R A T E N E W S C O R P O R A T E N E W S

Mr Brad leckie, Victoria and TasmaniaBranch Manager of Konecranes.

KCI Konecranes is one of thesponsors of the EFQM Forum2003, 8–10 October, Finland withthe theme “Inspired People DriveSuccess”. KCI Konecranes is con-tinuously investing in Perfor-mance Excellence and Qualityin its activities. The EFQM, Euro-pean Foundation for QualityManagement, is a EuropeanQuality organisation dedicatedto assist organisations throughoutEurope to participate in activitiesleading ultimately to excellencein customer and employee satis-faction, impact on society andachieving global competitiveadvantage.

www.efqmforum2003.org



S L E Q N E W S S L E Q N E W S S L E Q N E W S S L E Q N E W S S L E Q N E W S

ControlPro for increased safetyand performance control

ControlPro is an unique and

advanced electronic control

device, which measures, calculates,

monitors and controls the performance,

safety and condition of the crane. It

makes the crane easier and more safe to

operate.

Basic overload protection and inter-

mediate load limits programmable

according to application requirements

increase personnel safety. In high temper-

ature environments and exceptional

peak usage situations additional perfor-

mance guarantee is provided by con-

stant temperature control and thermal

protection of the hoisting motor.

Versatile data about the actual

usage of the hoist and crane makes plan-

ning of maintenance easier. KCI

Konecranes pendant and radio controls

can be equipped with displays to bring

crane usage and condition information

down to the production and mainte-

nance personnel. This saves time and

enhances safety awareness. Cranes with

several hoists can be equipped with a

ContrlPro system, which continuously

monitors the accumulate load handled

by each hoists and protects the lifting of

too heavy loads. ■

The new RemoC radiocontrol is designed forergonomic and productive use

RemoC is handy to use and carry as

the transmitter’s strap gives a perfect

grip. All operating elements are located

in the front panel of the transmitter ensur-

ing that each function is easily located –

even in a rushed/emergency situation.

The extremely fine touch provided by sen-

sitive 2-step pushbuttons ensure easy and

safe speed control. RemoC’s new fre-

quency sharing technology offers flexibili-

ty because two or three cranes can use

the same frequency without disturbing

each other.

All RemoC system parameters are

stored in a unique microchip. In case of

mechanical damage to the transmitter

the chip can be moved to a sparetrans-

mitter. The remote control of the

crane can continue immedi-

ately without any new setup of the

system.

RemoC is designed for control of

cranes with one hoist and three

movements.

The model RemoC Optic is made

for the control of cranes with two hoists

and provides interactive communication

with KCI Konecranes crane safety and

performance control system ControlPro.

Constant information of the load being

lifted as well as information on crane per-

formance and usage can be read from

the display. ■

L A T E S T

N E W S




This new line of hoists is characterised by

high performance and high standard

of safety. Its innovative and compact

design provides maximum utilisation of

factory space.

The advanced explosion proof tech-

nology is based upon European stan-

dards and the components are tested

and approved by independent notified

Hoisting in hazardousenvironments – Newexplosion-proof CXT wire rope hoist To further strengthen our position as a supplier to chemical andpetro-chemical plants, oil refineries, gas power plants and otherapplications operating in hazardous environments, KCI Konecraneshas developed the new explosion-proof CXTex wire rope hoist range.

bodies. The new hoist range is also

designed to meet the recent ATEX Direc-

tives that became mandatory July 1,

2003. The most standard ex-proof classifi-

cation for CXTex is EEX de IIB T4 but EEX de

IIC T4 is also available.

Currently CXTexhoists are available for

loads up to 40 ton lifting capacity, with

higher capacities available later in 2003.

KCI Konecranes’ explosion proof

product line also includes industrial and

jib cranes, electric chain hoists and belt

hoists. ■

Veijo Mattila, Sales Manager, Ex-proof Products, KCI Hoists Corporation

[email protected]

L A T E S T

N E W S

KONEDUCTOR power supply system has

now two alternative model ranges.

KONEDUCTOR power supply with con-

tinuous copper conductors is ideal for

long track lenghts and high capacity sys-

tems. It is available in unlimited track

lenghts and can be installed both indoors

and outdoors under widely varying

weather conditions. Due to the compact

design the system requires minimal space.

The copper conductors carrying the elec-

tricity are inside the plastic housing and

all components are designed for safe use.

The advantage of KONEDUCTOR-X

premounted bars is quick installation and

easy modification. Joining of two bars

and fixing them to the hangers does not

require any screws or tools. Extension and

replacing of single bars between any joint

is fast and easy. The design provides free

expansion of the copper strip and plastic

housing. Copper strips are connected

with a copper clamp. During tempera-

ture changes the clamp allows the cop-

per ends to move closer or wider from

each other without effecting the reliable

current connection. ■

For more information please visit us at:www.konecranes.com

Jari Jalkanen, Electric’s Product & EngineeringManager, KCI Hoists [email protected]

KONEDUCTOR power supply systems




Despite regular maintenance the

crane was becoming increasingly

unreliable due to aging components.

Repairs to the old UN3 hoists were not

practical or cost-effective because

replacement parts were becoming obso-

lete, causing Georgia-Pacific to take one

of the crane's three hoists completely out

of service. Replacement of only one trol-

ley was not possible because the hoists

were used together and hoisting speeds

had to be similar. Also, Georgia-Pacific

required creep speed to be as slow as

possible to ensure safe operation. In order

to turn this situation around, Konecranes

recommended that all three hoists be

replaced.

Scope of modernisationThe scope of the modernisation

included three complete new CXT trol-

leys, frequency controls for the hoist and

trolley and new festoon cables. The exist-

ing frequency controls for the bridge dri-

ves and the radio controls were to be

KCI Konecranes uses CXT hoists to modernise a critical maintenance crane for Georgia-Pacific Finland Oy Crane K3882was originally deliveredto Georgia-Pacific's Nokia mill in1971. Commissioned as amaintenance crane for the wet end ofthe paper machine, its main functionwas to replace the paper machine'sdrums. Because it was also the spareunit for the dry end’s tambour crane,K3882 was a critical element of theproduction process, which focuses onsoft paper products such as napkinsand tissue.

PULP & PAPER

retained and incorporated into the new

control system. Konecranes was asked to

submit a proposal for the new equipment

and a detailed plan for its installation.

Crane down-time to carry out the mod-

ernisation had to be kept to an absolute

minimum to avoid disrupting Georgia-

Pacific's production.

The Konecranes solutionAs the project got underway, the

main issue for the customer was installa-

tion time. Konecranes developed a plan

involving careful co-operation with Geor-

gia-Pacific's production schedule which

allowed them to continue using the crane

during installation, reducing the total shut-

down time to only eight hours. To make

this feasible, all the new equipment was

tested and connected over a two-day

period in the hoist factory before it was

shipped to the Nokia mill.

Olli Riipanen, the Konecranes Nordic

electrician who conducted the factory

tests also supervised installation at the site

to ensure a smooth transition. The crane's




Technical specifications

• 3 CXT 20 000 kg hoists mounted on

double girder trolleys

• Maximum load of modernized crane

with load summation 25 000 kg

• Hoisting speed 4 m/min variable

(DynALift2L015V)

• Traversing speed 25 m/min variable

(DynAMove2T)

• New bridge panel, festoon cables

and pendant station

• Revised wiring diagrams incorporat-

ing existing components

existing hoists remained operational dur-

ing the one-week installation period while

the new control components, including

bridge panel, festoon cables and pen-

dant station were mounted at the other

end of the crane. During the final part of

the hookup, the crane was shut down

completely for eight hours while the old

bridge inverter was replaced with the

new panel and the existing radio control

and main power were reconnected.

When the project was complete,

Konecranes' promise to limit Georgia-

Pacific's downtime to only eight hours

without the crane in operation was ful-

filled. Thorough preparation, ongoing

communication with the customer and

extensive tests prior to delivery made that

possible. Konecranes also supplied Geor-

gia-Pacific with updated documentation

and wiring diagrams to help expedite

future maintenance.

According to Product Manager for

Industrial Cranes and Components PenttiMäkelä, Konecranes' close relationship

with the customer was key to being able

to satisfy their needs.

“We have a service agreement at the

Nokia mill and are very familiar with how

Georgia-Pacific manages their equip-

ment and production process,” says

Mäkelä. “When we promised that we

would limit their shutdown to only eight

hours, they trusted us. If you understand

the tremendous cost of downtime in the

paper industry, then you can also appre-

ciate the value of that trust.” ■

For further information:Pentti Mäkelä, project manager,

Industrial Cranes and ComponentsKCI Hoists Corporation

[email protected]

KCI Konecranes opened in September

2002 a state-of-the-art Industrial Crane

plant in Liebengrün, Germany.

The plant is constructed for manufac-

turing of box girder cranes up to crane

spans of 30 meters and lifting capacity up

to 100 tons. It is equipped with most mod-

ern production methods, new logistic

concept and IT solutions to guarantee

high efficiency and flexibility for a volume

of 1000 box girders per year.

In this plant Konecranes manufactures

industrial cranes for the Central European

market. ■

New Industrial Crane Plant inGermany supplying CentralEurope

In the first quarter of 2003 Konecranes

delivered the 5000th EOT crane in Austria

to Gruber & Kaja Druckguß- und Metall-

warenfabrik GmbH in Traun, Upper Aus-

tria.

Gruber & Kaja is an important supplier

of die-cast products to the automotive

industry. The crane will be used to erect

and maintain the die-cast machinery,

also to change and move the casting-

moulds.

Gruber & Kaja and KCI Konecranes

look back on more than 20 years of

cooperation. In the early days, when the

original plant was located in the city cen-

ter of Traun, Konecranes was already sup-

plying the hoists and cranes for the facili-

ty. In 2001 Gruber & Kaja expanded its

operations and built a new die-cast plant

in St. Marien, close to Traun.

In this first stage of the expansion, a 20

ton crane from Konecranes was installed

and taken into operation in the die-cast

works. At the beginning of 2003 the com-

pany continued its expansion program

and again chose Konecranes products

for their die-cast plant. The crane sup-

plied by Konecranes handles a load of up

to 20 t and has a span of 20.9 m. It has a

stepless trolley and bridge drive, which is

standard on CXT cranes and offers great

advantages to the user, especially for the

handling of the extremely expensive cast-

ings-moulds. In addition, the crane is

operated with a Konecranes Remox

remote radio control, which allows the

operator to move freely when handling

the moulds.

We are very proud at Konecranes to

have been chosen again to work with

Gruber & Kaja and that we were able to

meet their high requirements with regards

to quality of product, order processing

and delivery time. ■

Delivery of the 5000th EOTCrane in Austria


A Saga of Drumsand Wire Ropes


@ K O N E C R A N E S K N O W - H O W

All our competitors had wire rope

hoists that followed a very similar

design. The designs were influ-

enced by industrial standards governing

wire rope hoist design and by the type of

wire ropes available at the time. In the

past 20 years new developments in wire

rope technology meant that much heav-

ier loads could be lifted with same diame-

ter of wire rope. For safety reasons, indus-

try standards specified the minimum ratio

between the rope and hoist drum diame-

ter. Such factors resulted in hoist designs

all having close to the minimal drum

diameter to fulfil the safety requirements

whilst at the same time, limiting costs,”

says Ari Kiviniitty, Managing Director of

KCI Hoists Corporation.

KCI beats with a different drumKCI Konecranes came up with the

revolutionary and inherently simple con-

cept of using a large diameter drum in

order to optimise space. The use of a

large drum alone would lead to space

limitations however; the new drum was

designed to actually incorporate the

motor internally. A larger drum with an

internally mounted motor constitutes the

optimum use of space – the large circum-

ference drum was born.

Many advantages were immediately

apparent when using a short, fat drum.

For instance, the horizontal travel of the

hook during lowering is minimal, which

means loads are easier to position. Fur-

thermore, the rope’s life is also increased

due to being coiled around a larger

diameter drum. A drum with double the

diameter of traditional designs means

greater longevity for the rope. As the new

design is also narrower, the hoist can be

positioned much closer to factory walls

and floor space can be bettered utilised.

Clearance can also be optimised, both

on the floor and the ceiling. Ultimately,

even smaller buildings can be built.

Control – a key factorInverter control was a key factor in

the development of new wire hoists as,

previously, there was only two or even

one speed, which caused the loads to

swing. The new inverter works like an

automatic gearbox speeding up and

slowing down gradually. This stepless

speed feature and smooth movement

used to be an option but now this is stan-

dard across our range – much to the dis-

appointment of our competitors.

The reason this feature became stan-

dardised was because production vol-

umes allowed us to offer the inverter con-

trol feature across the product range –

the large amount of time and money

invested in this kind of technology had

paid off. Consequently, this is now a fea-

ture that customers expect when looking

for new cranes and wire rope hoists. A fur-

ther advantage of using Konecranes

products is that, unlike our smaller com-

petitors, we are able to use high volume

components due to the modular design

of the product range. This in turn leads to

improved reliability.

Planes, cranes and automobilesWire rope hoists are used in numerous

end products i.e. industrial cranes, jib

cranes, monorail systems and fixed posi-

tioned hoists, so KCI’s whole volume

could be utilised.

The new wire rope hoists now cover all

KCI’s product platforms to deal with dif-

fering loads, using four different drum

diameters to cover six frame sizes. The

largest of KCI’s wire rope hoists, designed

for a load handling capacity of up to 80

tons, have motors positioned outside the

drum however space and height are still

optimised as a result of their side by side

configuration.

Two motors, like in aeroplanes, means

additional safety and reliability because if

one stops the machine does not come to

a halt. In fact the machine can be used

with lighter loads when using our electron-

ic control system limiting the maximum

load to half the total capacity. If a brake

The innovative wire rope hoist rangecame about as a result of an in-depthmarket and technology study carriedout between 1998 – 99 in which KCIKonecranes established that a highperformance, space saving designcould be utilised in a new generationof hoisting devices. They had to bestrong and reliable with easy loadhandling characteristics. Newcustomer requirements dictated aneed for new technologies andfeedback echoed both theirrequirements and their ideas for newproducts.

Two motor design for additional safety.



fails there is another brake in the other

motor and, let’s face it, buying one back-

up motor is cheaper than one huge

motor. The load distribution to the motors

is critical and this was tested thoroughly

and studied with the most advanced

computer modelling available. KCI

Konecranes’ R&D utilised very advanced

modelling and calculation tools in design-

ing the new hoist range – an investment

which brings our customers the ultimate in

safety and reliability.

In terms of construction, our steel parts

in smaller frames are pressed parts like in

the automotive industry, or to use the offi-

cial term “deep drawn.” KCI’s production

volumes mean we can invest in tooling

and therefore offer customers better val-

ue for money and consistent high quality.

Higher performance for price is what we

are aiming for and inverters as standard

are a good example of our commitment

to providing industry-leading products.

Our technology also means that we can

easily replace old hoists running on old

steel crane structures as we utilise a small-

er trolley with greatly improved features,

speeds and controllability.

Timed to perfectionKiviniitty goes on to say, “modular pro-

duction platforms mean that solutions

can be tailor made and our construction

methods are such that we can make spe-

cial adjustments to suit the customer's

needs while still using standard volume

parts. We use advanced computer pro-

grams to design and calculate the best

solution for customers' specific material

handling requirements.”

“Our delivery times are the best in the

world due to modularity and flexibility in

production combined with a global mar-

ket presence. In addition to actually com-

ing up with the ideas, we had to spend

millions on developing such revolutionary

designs. As KCI Konecranes is now

approaching 20.000 units sold worldwide,

we think the timing for our R&D efforts was

perfect.” ■

Ari kiviniitty, Managing Director, KCI Hoists Corporation

[email protected]

The CXT hoist range is designed using advanced modelling and stresscalculation tools ensuring ultimate reliability.

The innovative CXT technology provides superior benefits.


KCI KONECRANES GROUP

AT A GLANCE

VS

008

. ON

EPA

RTN

ER/S

P-PA

INO

OY

6/20

03

Sales* by Business Area

* Including internal sales

Total Sales 713.6 MEUR

Sales by Market*

Sales by Industry

Personnel By Business Area

Americas242.4 MEUR

34 %

Nordic and Eastern Europe

179.4 MEUR25 %

EU(without Nordic)

220.9 MEUR31 %

Asia-Pacific70.9 MEUR

10 %

StandardLifting

Equipment204.5 MEUR

26 %

HeadquartStaff1092%

Special Cranes68515%

MaintenanceServices

2,69862%

OEMCrane Builders

3 %

Others6 %

Pulp and Paper9 %

Power Plants6 %

GeneralManufacturing

22 %

Automotive 4 %

Primary Metals9 %

Shipyards 11 %

Resellers9 %

Petrochemical3 % Construction

2 %

Steel & otherwarehousing

3 %Transport,

Shipping1 %

Harbours 11 %

1 %Refuse

Handling

StandardLifting

Equipment94921%

Special Cranes209.2 MEUR

27 %

MaintenanceServices

372.4 MEUR47 %

CORPORATEFIGURES

Headquarters:KCI KONECRANES PLCP.O.Box 661 • FIN-05801 Hyvinkää • FinlandTel +358 (0)20 427 11 • Fax +358 (0)20 427 2099 www.konecranes.com

PLEASENOTE!Our new company name is

KCI Konecranes Plc

SE


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