Business
SPRINGFIELD — For 25 years, Konecranes had experienced growth, but the Springfield-based crane and overhead lifting manufacturer couldn’t avoid the recession in 2009 and shed 18 jobs.
That turned out to be only a temporary blip for the Finland-based company.
Konecranes Region Americas, headquartered at 4401 Gateway Blvd. in the PrimeOhio Corporate Park, has more than 200 employees, more than it had before the 2009 layoffs, and is hiring more, company officials said.
“We’re hiring in all divisions of our business, primarily service — the maintenance service that keeps the cranes running,” said Scott Gilbey, director of marketing and communications at Konecranes. “Plus, we’re looking to geographically expand in industrial parks throughout the country, and we can’t do that until we find some good people who are able to take on those responsibilities.”
The growth comes despite the persistent lull that has hit Ohio’s manufacturing job numbers. Ohio has gone from 781,000 manufacturing employees in 2007 to 614,000 in 2010, a drop of 21 percent, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Konecranes advertises its ability to “design, manufacture and service standard and heavy lifting equipment.” And it does manufacture cranes in Springfield that can lift anywhere from 500 pounds to 80 tons.
But the one of the biggest areas of growth is the service end. The Springfield plant houses one of the company’s four monitoring services that are able to retrieve data and condition information directly from customers’ cranes.
“We’re able to access the condition and the working environment of the crane without actually being on site,” Gilbey said. “That area is quite a competitive advantage for us right now.”
It also was a major reason behind Konecranes’ acquisition of Gruas Koman Limitada in early January. The South American company has an installed base of almost 500 cranes, most of those built by Konecranes, in Chile, Peru and Bolivia.
In the Western Hemisphere that the Springfield operation oversees, Gilbey says South America has the strongest growth potential.
The cranes can be built and adjusted for any kind of lifting job, from sea ports to auto shops to concert halls. Konecranes devices were used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Springfield also offers crane parts along with many different styles of lifting rope.
To help advertise all the functions of the cranes, the Springfield plant is run using mostly cranes. Even during the financial struggles of 2009, Konecranes never cut research and development funding. That has meant constant updates and changes to the plant.
“They got me hopping all the time, trying to be more proactive in lean management and how we can move product quicker through the factory to be more productive,” said Safety and Facilities Manager Matt Ghiloni.
What’s the biggest change in recent years?
“Safety,” Ghiloni said. “Across the board, we’re trying to get everybody from management down to think we’ve got to be safe first before you build this equipment. If you have the safe culture in mind, then the equipment you’re building is quality driven and it’s safe. This is stuff that’s a tool, but it could become a weapon very quickly. So we’ve got to make sure we’re building it right.”
The Springfield plant won the recent safety award for Region Americas.
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