17.05.2012

Manitowoc opens Wilhelmshaven

Manitowoc has held an open day at its plant in Wilhelmshaven, Germany to highlight the improvements that it has made over the past few years.

The two day event also gave visitors the first opportunity to see the 400 tonne Grove GMK6400 All Terrain crane in action.

The company claims that the six-axle GMK6400, unveiled at Bauma 2010, is the strongest machine in its class, offering a 60 metre boom and self-rigging MegaWingLift attachment. It demonstrated its strength by lifting eight tonnes with a combination of 55 metres of main boom and 79 metres of luffing jib.
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The event gave visitors the opportunity to see the 400 tonne six-axle GMK6400 in action

Andreas Cremer, product manager for All-Terrain cranes, said: “This is a market leading machine that is impressive on paper but even more impressive when you see it working. It is entering serial production with the first units due for delivery to customers in Germany, Italy, France and the US later this year.”
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The range of cranes on display at Manitowoc's Wilhelmshaven plant

When highlighting the latest plant improvements Manitowoc said it has spent several years focused on improving the infrastructure at Wilhelmshaven, refining all aspects of the crane production. The quality improvements ranged from design and purchasing activities through to technical services, training, manufacturing and delivery.

Thomas Steuer, vice president of operations at Wilhelmshaven, said: “We want to be open and transparent with our customers and not just talk about our improvements but also show them, explaining why they’re important. Improving quality is a continuous process and our primary focus, but we never forget the importance of maintaining close relationships with our customers. We closely monitor the feedback we get from every crane we deliver and this information helps us continually improve what we do.”

The Wilhelmshaven factory produces 10 models from the Grove All-Terrain range, from the four-axle GMK4080-1 up to the seven-axle GMK7450, while the GTK1100 – which was also demonstrated at the event – is built nearby in its own dedicated facility on the site.