15.05.2003

Manitowoc to produce crawler in Europe

Manitowoc has disclosed exclusively to Vertikal.net that a 250 tonne capacity crawler crane will be rolling off its Wilhelmshaven production line by the end of 2003. The new crawler, dubbed model 15000, will be produced solely at the company’s German facility and targeted mainly for the European market. Senior vice president worldwide marketing and product support at Manitowoc Crane Group, Larry Weyers, told Vertkal.net that the decision to produce the machine in Europe was a huge step for the company and is a strong message of commitment to its European customers.

Vice president sales EMEA at Manitowoc Crane Group, Willem Hilderink, also announced the acquisition of the former Mammoet facility in Breda, The Netherlands, which will form the backbone of the Manitowoc's European crane service operations.

One of the main features of the 15000 will be the dimensions of its main boom. For transportation purposes in a standard European truck trailer, the boom’s width and height while lying flat will be kept to a maximum of 3 metres, while it will also be able house the luffing jib inside due to a low profile counterweight design. Others features will include Manitowoc’s Vision CAB with 20 degree tilt and CAN-BUS electronics which reduces the amount of junction boxes, cable length, connector count and the number of connections. The company’s Fast Alignment Connection Technology (FAST) has also been included in the design of the main boom, while cylindrical tube will be used in its construction in place of angled cord. The company said that it plans to produce 18 units by the end of 2004.

When asked by Vertikal.net what plans Manitowoc had for the future, the reply from Weyers was that the doors at the Wilhelmshaven facility had recently been enlarged, but not for production of the model 15000.