By any measure, Mannesmann Dematic is one of the world’s leading players in overhead cranes, both in terms of volume and product quality. Yet so big is its parent company, cranes – whether EOT or mobile – barely rate a mention in the annual report of parent company Mannesmann AG.
Fortunately Mannesmann Dematic produces its own annual report which reveals a wealth of information and shows the division to be in good health despite difficult market conditions.
Mannesmann Dematic is part of Mannesmann Engineering which in turn is part of Mannesmann AG.
Mannesmann has become an increasingly significant player in the telecommunications revolution, deriving 25% of its sales and 70% of its operating profits from the sector. But cranes of all
kinds remain a core business for
the German conglomerate. And as
cranes reach ever greater technological heights, synergies between materials handling and telecommunications should become increasingly apparent.
Mannesmann Dematic’s 1998 sales figure of e1,989m (about $2,180m) was up from e1,742m in 1997 and e1,508m in 1996.
The share of the e2,139m order intake (up 8% on 1987) for the four divisions of Mannesmann Dematic last year was:
• components 12%
• cranes and handling equipment 19%
• systems 47%
• mobile cranes 22%.
The components division includes hoists and drives. For hoists, business in 1998 is described as “above average” despite the downturn in Asia. “Business activity in Europe was normal – it increased steadily in southern Europe, but levelled out or declined in the Nordic countries,” the annual report reads.
“Domestic business was satisfactory and was supported by a high level of in-house deliveries to the cranes and handling equipment division and the systems division, as well as continuing high volume of general overhauls of rope and chain hoists which had reached the end of their theoretical service life.
“The positive overall trend in hoist and components business is attributable to the good acceptance of our new and improved products. In this context, particular mention should be made of the rounding off of the range of electric chain hoists by the addition of the DK 16 and DK 20 in the high SWL range, as well as the DKES chain hoist with electronic controls. This development will again continue in 1999 and provide an additional stimulus for overseas business.”
The major developments for the hoists business during the year were the acquisition of Donati Sollevamenti of Italy (HOIST issue two, p2) and the e15m investment in a new distribution centre.
On the research and development front, work is in progress on developing electrical components for determining the remaining service life of hoists. Also in development are electronic control systems for automatic load detection, and a rope balancer was launched in two sizes.
In the cranes and handling equipment division, orders received by the cranes business rose 16% in Germany and 5% overseas – an 11% rise overall. Exports accounted for 37% of business. Turnover was up 17% on 1997. Says the report: “While there was once again a major increase in deliveries to our own foreign subsidiaries, there was a slight decline in business with foreign agencies and other direct exports.”
Particularly strong sales growth was recorded in Brazil, Denmark, Switzerland and the USA. All foreign subsidiaries improved on 1997 except in Australia, Austria, Spain and South Africa.
Spain did, however, see an 18% rise in components orders and its highest ever volume of business. Contracts carried out in Spain included equipping a galvanising shop in Toledo with eight standard cranes and two process cranes, and supplying 20 cranes to a printing press manufacturer in Catalonia.
The year also saw crane production start in China “where a high quality standard has already been achieved and efforts are in progress to further improve productivity”. The Wuquiao plant opened in 1997 and produced its first crane, a five tonner, in February last year.
Despite the collapse in value of Asian currencies hitting the market, Singapore-based MHE-Dematic opened a new crane factory in Simpang Reggam, Malaysia. The factory, which has the capacity to turn out 400 units a year, shipped its first crane to a customer in Singapore in May 1998.
The standard cranes product management group completed the extension of the single girder crane with rolled steel girders from 3.2t x 13m to 5t x 15m. Development of the Demag travel units for overhead travelling cranes was also completed. A further development was the extension of standard crane hoist units with frequency inverters to include an electronic creep speed. This has enabled standard cranes to be fitted with variable speed hoist units at low cost, the company says.
For the systems division the year’s highlight was probably the handover of the cargo system of the Superterminal at Hong Kong’s new Chek Lap Kok airport.
The success of Mannesmann Dematic Rapistan in the USA, contributing e604m of the e1,009m orders received, made up for the downturn in Asian orders and helped ensure orders rose 7% across the systems division.
