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Customer story 3 min read

Replacing a 30-year-old crane brings greater efficiency to Abrolhos Steel

 Western Australia-based breakbulk steel distributor Abrolhos Steel has modernized its material handling operations by replacing a 30-year-old crane with a new Konecranes overhead crane. The investment improves reliability, efficiency, and performance at the company’s Geraldton facility
Alboros steel factory Image
Alboros steel factory Image

Reliable operations in a remote location

The new crane plays an important role in the safe and efficient handling and dispatch of breakbulk steel products, including plates, hollow sections, sheets, and other structural components. 

These large and often irregularly shaped products are transported to a variety of locations, including remote sites, using the breakbulk method of shipping. Because of their size and shape, they cannot be transported in standard shipping containers and require careful handling throughout the supply chain.

 As the company’s previous crane approached the end of its service life, sourcing replacement parts became increasingly difficult and additional work was required to maintain compliance with current standards. For Abrolhos Steel Managing Director Philip Martin, investing in a modern replacement was the right long-term decision.

Customer Quote

We chose Konecranes for our new crane because they have a reputation for high-quality products, good reliability, and outstanding service. Being in a remote area – about 400 km north of Perth – reliability was a key consideration when choosing our new crane. We could have selected a cheaper and less capable crane, but if there was a breakdown that caused downtime, it would have cost us more in the long run. Konecranes gave us the reliability and service availability that we required.” said Philip Martin, Managing Director, Abrolhos Steel.
Alboros Steel
Alboros Steel

Supporting daily steel handling operations

The new crane is a 5-ton single-girder Konecranes overhead crane with an 18-meter span, providing coverage across the entire width of the steel storage shed.

It is used to handle a wide range of products, including rectangular hollow sections (RHS), steel plates, steel sheets, steel pipe, steel roofing materials, and various parts and accessories. The crane supports both the storage of materials onto racks and the retrieval of products for loading and dispatch

“We serve a wide range of customers on the west coast of Australia – particularly the mining industry – so being able to efficiently store and retrieve steel parts using a crane is essential to our business,” said Philip Martin, Managing Director, Abrolhos Steel.

A smooth transition

Replacing critical lifting equipment can be challenging for a busy operation. To minimize disruption, the removal of the old crane and installation of the new one were completed within one week. “Taking a crane offline is always a challenging task, when you have customer orders to fulfil. With careful strategic planning from my team, combined with hard work and excellent communication from Konecranes, we were able to coordinate this highly effectively Having a modern crane means we now have modern features too. We are now able to monitor how many loads are being moved, so we can more effectively and strategically plan our crane services,and further minimise downtime. The crane is working perfectly in service, and the communication from the Konecranes team has been first class throughout the entire process.” added Martin.

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Related Industries:
General manufacturing, Metals production
Resource type:
Customer story
Related Products:
Overhead cranes
Related Services:
Crane inspections, Modernizations