INTERNATIONAL COAL NEWS

Crane giant lifts Queensland presence

CLAIMED to be the world's largest crane maintenance organisation, KCI Konecranes has trebled the ...

James Bowen

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KCI has more than 230,000 cranes under service contract in 40 countries and annual global sales exceeding $A1 billion.

It has opened new Queensland offices in Gladstone, Mackay and Townsville and trebled staff numbers. The company's operations in the state were previously limited to Brisbane.

KCI Queensland manager Stephen Grant said one of the factors spurring KCI's growth was that it serviced all makes and models of cranes, from small jibs to those lifting more than 180 tonnes.

It had clients in the booming coal mining and civil construction sectors.

Grant said the knowledge and skills base of the company was important in the current business climate, in which companies were turning to outsourcing to gain access to a reliable skills base and free up their own production staff.

"Also, as companies' own skilled staff leave or are re-assigned, they want to be sure there are people remaining who know their equipment, its history and its safety and efficiency needs as it is called on to handle greater production than ever before," Grant said.

KCI Asia Pacific managing director Edward Yakos said the company was prepared for even further growth in Queensland, resulting from a greater swing to outsourcing from the estimated 70% of companies that still do their own crane maintenance.

"With enormous growth in Queensland we believe demand in this area will provide growth opportunities for decades to come," Yakos said.

"As skills bases are stretched by coal exports alone ballooning to as much as 250 million tonnes a year by 2010, more and more companies are coming to appreciate the benefits, security and safety of world-class outsourcing."

ConstructionEquipmentNews.net

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