Moving solutions Cargotec Corporation

MOVING SOLUTIONS

Finland headquartered Cargotec Corporation provides cargo handling solutions, including onroad load handling equipment, container handling equipment for ports and terminals, heavy industrial material handling equipment, marine cargo flow and offshore solutions. Barbara Rossi reports.

The Cargotec Corporation has been formed through a series of mergers and acquisitions during the last couple of decades. Specifically it was formed in June 2005, when the Kone Corporation demerged, giving birth to two companies, namely Cargotec and New Kone. After the demerger, Kone Corporation’s load handling (Hiab), container handling (Kalmar) and marine cargo handling (MacGregor) businesses became part of Cargotec. Despite the corporation being only seven years old, the businesses within Cargotec have much longer histories, during which their know-how, product offering and customer relationship have been built. They are in fact recognised leaders in cargo and load handling solutions around the world.

In 2010 Cargotec’s sales reached €2.6 billion, it employs 11,000 people worldwide, and the corporation has been listed on the Helsinki stock exchange since 1 June 2005, as well as being now present in more than 160 countries. The corporation has production units located in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Poland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, the USA, China, India, Korea, Malaysia, and Singapore. Moreover, part of Cargotec’s manufacturing has been outsourced to

partner plants based in Asia. Cargotec serves customers globally, either through its own sales companies or through distributors.

There are, in fact, few places in the world without a Cargotec presence of some kind. Key customer groups include ship owners, ship and port operators, shipyards, distribution centres, fleet operators, logistics companies and truck owner operators, as well as the defence forces of various countries. In addition to those, there are other major customers in heavy industry, terminals and municipalities.

Each of its brands – Hiab, Kalmar and MacGregor – has a different field of specialism. Hiab provides solutions for on-road load handling, Kalmar for container and heavy material handling, while MacGregor is specialised in the marine business area, offering solutions utilised in the maritime transportation and offshore industries.

The Cargotec mission is that of improving the efficiency of cargo flows, and its vision encompasses being the world’s leading provider of cargo handling solutions. A fundamental element, alongside its customer focus, enabling the company to turn these aims into reality, is R&D. In fact, many of the solutions that Cargotec offers were unimaginable some decades ago, while today they represent industry benchmarks.

Cargotec has research facilities in both India and Italy, respectively based in Pune and Massa, with the Indian researchers focusing on design, structural analyses and software development, while their Italy based colleagues work on concept planning of new products and design of new features for existing Hiab and Kalmar products. Furthermore, in order to stay at the forefront of technological development, as the corporation often works with customers who are runners in the field, Cargotec is also involved in R&D partnerships.

The company has a real customer focus, and for this reason, understanding the industry and the needs of its customers is central to its research and development. This ability to understand customers’ applications is one of Cargotec’s most significant competitive advantages and allows it to be able to provide its clients with optimal solutions. The company offers extensive services close to its customers to ensure the continuous usability of the equipment. Environment, health and safety

In terms of strategy, the corporation aims to grow faster than the industry average, expanding its presence and offering, especially in emerging markets and in the service business. However it won’t lose its focus on the balanced development between financial results and the well-being of people and the environment, which it has already achieved, by implementing the best possible practices, taking into account local circumstances. This ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified company employs its own code of conduct and has safety and well-being as its top priorities, as well as being committed to environmentally responsible practices, of increasing importance in recent times, due to strict requirements and fuel costs. For instance, in terms of product safety for users, Cargotec has developed applications decreasing the possibility of human error. This has now extended to monitoring suppliers’ management prin-

ciples with regard to the environment, health and safety. Among its commitments, there is the pledge to reduce the fuel consumption of its machines by 10 per cent over the next few years, as well as having produced, as part of the Clinton Global Initiative, the first straddle carrier featuring hybrid technology.

Furthermore the corporation has developed the Future™ mark in 2008. This mark is awarded to environmentally friendly equipment that passes criteria in energy efficiency, power source, emissions, noise pollution and recyclability. With the help of these solutions, customers can genuinely develop more sustainable operations and reduce fuel consumption. The new previously mentioned Kalmar straddle carrier using hybrid technology is an example of this. Other Pro Future™ products include the variable speed rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) crane, automatic stacking crane, battery-driven forklift truck and ship-to-shore crane with a regenerative energy source.

With regard to latest developments, Cargotec has secured MacGregor RoRo equipment orders for two of the French Navy’s Mistralclass ships. Cargotec, which has previously delivered similar MacGregor RoRo access equipment to three Mistral-type vessels, will deliver the design, hardware and installation of MacGregor RoRo’s equipment, as part of this recently signed contract with STX France, which will undertake the construction of the ships under a subcontract with French yard, DCNS. The previous Mistral-type vessels for which Cargotec has provided similar MacGregor RoRo access equipment were also built by STX and DCNS, respectively in 2006, 2007 and early 2012. n