Manitowoc Opens Plant in Portugal

October 10, 2007 • Manitowoc recently celebrated the opening of its latest facility in Baltar, Portugal. The new manufacturing plant will operate in addition to the company's existing plant in nearby Fanzeres for the manufacture of Potain tower cranes.

“We are extremely proud to open this new facility and strengthen our presence in the important Iberica market,” said Glen Tellock, CEO of The Manitowoc Company. “Two of our core goals are to achieve manufacturing excellence and differentiate ourselves through customer proximity. That means establishing premium manufacturing processes and providing close and dedicated sales and service support. You will find both here at Baltar.”

 

Tellock said that three new models have been produced in Portugal in the past three years, which has caused to an upsurge in demand. The company is adjusting its manufacturing capability accordingly.

 

“We have also invested heavily in customer service and sales provision to ensure we have the on-the-ground support our customers deserve,” Tellock said. “We feel that combined with a customer-driven innovation policy, we are positioned to defend our place as a true market leader in the lifting industry.”

 

The Baltar plant will produce Potain's MC, MCT and MDT ranges working with the Fanzeres factory. Operations at the two facilities are split into upstream and downstream functions. The upstream operations • the majority of cutting and welding • will take place at Baltar. The downstream operations • the painting, assembly, testing and shipping • will take place at Fanzeres. This split enables Manitowoc to further improve quality as both areas of production require different skills, levels of cleanliness, flow management and technology.

 

The MC, MCT and MDT cranes produced in Portugal are popular in European, Middle Eastern, and African regions (EMEA) and beyond, and their designs are suited to contractors both locally and in markets as far away as the Americas. The plant will employ more than 100 people in all areas including production, sales and administration as well as customer service.

 

Manitowoc Crane CARE forms a large part of the Baltar plant's activities and it will be a major distribution point for spare parts as well as EMEA's Center of Excellence for the EnCORE program for repair and refurbishment.

 

The EnCORE workshop at Baltar includes several engineers working across seven individual work stations. The engineers have responsibility for operations such as welding, electrical maintenance, painting and more. The workshop has two test zones, one for self-erecting cranes and the other for top-slewing tower cranes.

 

The EnCORE facility has the capacity to refurbish complete cranes, mast sections, motors and reduction gear boxes.

 

Thibaut Le Besnerais, vice president of Manitowoc Crane CARE in EMEA, said the brand has dedicated significant resources to customer service at the Baltar plant.

 

“In addition to the EnCORE workshop and staff we have 20 fully-equipped service vans and we will be the point of source for over 200,000 parts for Grove, Manitowoc and Potain cranes,” he said. “We have a 1000 m2 warehouse which aims to handle all parts orders within 24 hours. We are also able to call on the substantial support of other MCG logistics centers in Decines, France and Wilhelmshaven, Germany • as well as Shady Grove and Manitowoc in the US.”

 

Philippe Cohet, executive vice president of Manitowoc Crane Group for EMEA, said there were three main points to the manufacturing facility.

 

“First, productivity. Demand for cranes is high so this new plant will help reduce current delivery times. But more importantly, it establishes a solid long-term production base in Europe,” he said. “Second, quality. We always believe we can improve the quality of our cranes and we have processes in place to do that and also to strengthen the Potain brand further. Third, safety. We have a strong culture of safety within our organization and that will be extended here.”