PRODUCT FOCUS
also is eliminated once a client arrives
at Crane Link premises in Midrand — it
clearly has the most professional set-up
in the industry,” he adds with conviction.
All Zoomlion products come with full
factory warranty support that has both
technical factory support and warranty
spare parts held in South Africa.
Industry focus and finance
Another crane hire company that is well
recognised in South Africa is Concord
Cranes, a transport service company,
part of Industrial Services Holdings,
Inserve. CEO Herman van Staden
explains that Concord Namibia is located
in Okahandja, covering the northern
and central territories of Namibia, and
represents the group’s first concerted
push into Africa.
Concord AngloV3, Concord Castle,
and Concord Elcon make up the lifting
services side available in South Africa.
The group’s 170-crane fleet, ranging
from a 7T to a 550T, was recently
enhanced with the acquisition of a new
750T crane, which gives it a significant
advantage in the heavy-lift sector, Van
Staden points out. The fleet comprises
hydraulic mobile cranes, which includes
all-terrain cranes, rough-terrain cranes,
truck cranes, and tower cranes, with
underhook height capabilities of up
to 145m.
Market segments include cellular,
civil, steel erection, construction,
engineering, film production assistance,
mining, petrochemical, ports, steel, and
wind farms. “We are a preferred provider
of professional, compliant lifting services
customised according to our clients’
specific needs. Our fit-for-purpose lifting
services are combined with exceptional
technical support and safety as well
as regulatory compliance, hence our
ISO 9001, 14001 and OHSAS 18001
accreditations,” Van Staden elaborates.
A key focus is the redistribution of
existing assets to improve the utilisation
rate, which also expands the group’s
client base and gives it added visibility
in a highly competitive market. “There
definitely are opportunities out there,
especially in logistics. We want to get
our name out there and use our service
and aftermarket support as a key
sales tool.”
While JCH will supply the odd small
rough-terrain crane to the construction
sector “for pouring concrete on site
or handling steel work, for example”
and they may also assist in erecting
or dismantling a tower crane, it’s not
the key focus of their business. One
focus is mining, which is serviced
through its Rustenburg, Burgersfort,
and Middelburg branches, located in the
heartland of the coal, platinum, and gold
mining belt. It is in this region that JCH
undertakes its maintenance work.
“We supply cranes to the mines to
maintain their plants and, for example,
in Middelburg, we have cranes that are
on site permanently or on long-term
duration, handling ongoing maintenance,
keeping the mines in production,” he adds.
Of the projects undertaken by the
company, Yaman estimates that mining
comprises 25–30% of the workload. He
adds however, that the petrochemical
industry is also a key area, once again
hinging around maintenance work. “One
aspect is the day-to-day maintenance
required on plants for the likes of Sasol,
Engen, SAPREF, and Chevron.” The
main work, however, is when a plant
periodically shuts down for a scheduled
service. This can comprise a sectioned
shutdown or an entire shutdown.
Neither of these can be of any
long duration and, as Yaman explains,
“it’s really short, intensive work as we
have to have the plant up and running
in as short a period of time as is
possible, since the safety aspect of the
environment is a major consideration, as
is productivity.”
For this maintenance work a variety
of cranes are used, from the smaller
cranes up to the bigger 750-ton units,
dependent on requirement. During a
shutdown, they may undertake smaller
tie-ins, where they develop or build a
new section of the plant that needs to
be tied back into the main plant during
the shutdown.
JCH also focuses on the power and
energy sector, within the infra projects
such as Medupi and Kusile, as well
as the wind and solar energy arena.
The company also undertakes smaller
jobs such as unloading containers,
dismantling signboards, and other
general work; “jobbing”, he calls it.
AUGUST 2018
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