Plant Equipment and Hire August 2019 | Page 24

PRODUCT FOCUS SEVEN QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE PURCHASING THAT OVERHEAD CRANE Overhead travelling cranes are big machines with price tags to match. A purchase dents even the most generous capital expenditure budget. For this reason, price often heads the list of factors holding sway over the buying decision. But is price the right focus? Could a price-based decision be flawed not only because it ignores maintenance costs, but also because it overlooks production losses should the crane be forced to stop work for any reason? At least one major player in Africa’s overhead crane market, Condra, believes that the buying focus should be different: first, it should be on the total cost to company over the life of the crane instead of on initial capital cost alone, and second, it should examine the projected productive uptime of the crane based on back-up service and the lead time on spare parts manufactured abroad. Johannesburg-based Condra boasts a manufacturing pedigree going back 50 years in manufacturing, construction and Condra’s managing director, Marc Kleiner. 22 AUGUST 2019 By Alan Thrush Completed double-girder electric overhead travelling crane undergoing testing in Condra’s Johannesburg factory prior to delivery. mining applications. It also claims the highest local content of any overhead crane supplier in the central and southern African region, a market dominated by Condra and three rival manufacturers headquartered in Europe. USA manufacturers are not strongly represented in the region and, although Chinese imports are available, their reputation for useful life and reliability is poor. Marc Kleiner, Condra’s managing director, is the first to point out that all South Africa’s Big Four crane companies have strong reputations for technical capability and long product life if their cranes are operated under the right conditions. But he points out that African operating environments are often less forgiving than those of Europe. And, he adds, European players manufacture only the steel structures of their overhead cranes in Africa. All key components such as hoists and end-carriages are imported, whereas Condra manufactures these components locally. So what does this mean in practical, useful terms? Kleiner lists seven questions that any overhead crane buyer should ask before deciding on supplier, and explains the potential impact of each of them on running costs and production: 1. Price: If the tendered price of a crane with imported components is low, how has that price been achieved with a weak rand? Kleiner does not mince his words on this point. “Condra is unquestionably the producer with the highest local content,” he says, “so if the price from a rival firm is lower, it means that either the hoist or the end-carriages, or both, are being imported from old European or Asian stock that cannot be moved because it lacks newer technological innovations and possibly even spare parts support into the future. In other words, the low price is made possible by a sub-par crane.” 2. Durability: Is the proposed crane the best machine for the operational environment? What is the reputation of the proposed brand in terms of product reliability under these conditions? Kleiner explains that it is the durability of the crane that determines the customer’s productivity. The ideal crane is one that continues working without the breakdowns that cause production stoppages. “Condra’s cranes are strong designs that are built to last,” he says. “They appear robust even to the non-technical eye. “But the technical excellence behind the durability of the machine goes more than skin deep. Live-axle drives in place of the more common ring-gear designs, for example, offer substantially lower maintenance costs in line with Condra’s mandate to deliver lowest possible overall lifetime cost to customer,” Kleiner says. Reliability is the reason that Condra is currently executing a repeat order from Lonmin Platinum for an overhead www.plantonline.co.za