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
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