INSIDE: LOCAL BUSINESS An interview with The Crane People POWERFUL TESTING MACHINES REDEFINING THE BIGGEST & MOST SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2009

Transcription

1 2804 FOSTER AVENUE NASHVILLE, TN SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2009 INSIDE: REDEFINING LOCAL BUSINESS An interview with The Crane People THE BIGGEST & MOST POWERFUL TESTING MACHINES

2 SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2009 WEATHERING HEIGHTS How does one crane company stand tall in a down economy? We sit down with Elliott/AmQuip to discuss how keeping it local is the right recipe for good business. pg. 30 THE ISSUE GUIDE: 5 9 EDITOR S NOTE LISTER INDEX CATALOG 13 -WIRE ROPE 26 -BLOCKS 37 -CHAINS 38 -CLAMPS 38 -CLIPS 38 -EQUIPMENT 39 -HOOKS 41 -LINKS 41 -MILLIMETER WIRE ROPE 42 -MISC 44 -ROPE 44 -SHACKLES 48 -SHEAVES 48 -SLEEVES 48 -SOCKETS 50 -THIMBLES 50 -TURNBUCKLES 51 -EYEBOLTS 51 -MASTER RING 52 -PRESS 52 -SLINGS 52 -SWIVELS 52 -WINCHES 30 FEATURE ARTICLE 34 INDUSTRY NEWS 54 PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT 58 EVENTS 58 ADVERTISERS INDEX ABOVE: High Above 3rd Street Bill Cendak, Cendak Photography 2009 COVER: Elliott s 260 Ton Liebherr Crane, Nashville, TN. WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE September - October

3 [FEATURE ARTICLE] The Crane People. AN INTERVIEW WITH ELLIOTT/AMQUIP. by: Bryan Moore Looking around the yard of Elliott, The Crane People, I could have mistaken it for any crane company at first glance. But AmQuip is not just any company, they are continuously rated a top IC50* company. For 2009 they are rated the 4th crane company in the USA and 10th in the world. Even during these extraordinary economic times their business remains strong and outlook beams bright. So what sets them apart from the rest of the field? I sat down with Scott White, VP of Elliott, and we discussed the clear and simple strategies that keep their cranes out of the yard and in the field. Just as all politics is local, the same rings true in business. White understands that the key to their success has been to not only continue to grow the business when opportunities exist but to maintain the local value that created those opportunities in the first place. Meeting with him at their branch offices in Nashville, Tennessee, White personified this sentiment with ease. I was welcomed with a firm handshake and undivided attention, making me think that he has all the time in the world to sit down and talk. In some regards this is accurate as White virtually eats, breaths and sleeps Elliot/AmQuip full-time and has worked long days and weekends for years. But White knows that fostering relationships, whether new or old early or late, is the only way to do business and is too often overlooked when companies continue to expand. White joined Elliott Crane Service 15 years ago before Bud Elliott, the Founder and President of Elliot Crane Service, retired and before the partnership between Elliott Crane Service and AmQuip had taken place. 30 September - October 2009 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE

4 White appreciated certain values in Bud Elliott right away, and describes him as extremely focused and embracing the value of every-day hard work. He never liked down time and idle time only meant that there was new business to stir up. Bud Elliott set the standard at Elliot Crane Service, emphasizing that everyone in his company say what you are going to do and do what you say. It s this mindset that has kept both employees and customers in business with Elliott for years. In 2006, Elliot Crane Service and AmQuip formed a strategic alliance to better serve their customer base. In an interview with Cranes Today, Dennis Bates, AmQuip VP of Tower Cranes summed up the agreement best, stating the Elliott/AmQuip partnership will help strengthen our localised customer support and service network in the Tennessee and Georgia region, and increase our ability to provide our customers with the best service and support. Elliott Crane Service has one of the most complete inventories of hydraulic and conventional cranes in the region. By joining forces with AmQuip, Elliott/ AmQuip now offers its customers the ability to be a complete one stop shop. This includes a complete line of hammerhead and luffing tower cranes, rough terrains, large crawler cranes, hydraulic truck cranes, and all-terrain cranes. Their largest crane is a Manitowoc 18000, 660 Tons, and with a wagon it can be rated at 826 Tons. After expanding into the tower crane market and opening offices in Cincinnati, Ohio and Birmingham Alabama, we have been looking for the perfect match to tie in the two regions said Joseph L. Wesley, founder and CEO of AmQuip. Both Wesley and Elliott knew right away that the Elliott/ AmQuip partnership was the perfect marriage. AmQuip is the perfect fit of quality equipment, people, and reputation, said Bud Elliott. We believe this partnership will allow Elliott Crane and AmQuip to continue to succeed as the best crane rental company in the region and offer all of the employees an opportunity to grow for Pictured Above: Setting bridge beams with a 200 Ton Liebherr on a job in Glasgow, KY for Garrison Construction out of Greensburg, KY. generations to come. AmQuip and Elliott are both family owned businesses who put the employees first. That is the reason we chose to form the relationship with AmQuip and Joseph L. Wesley, Sr, stated Elliott. In addition to expanding the range of cranes both firms (and Elliott in particular) can offer, the arrangement will extend the reach of each firm s service and support teams. Article continued on page 33 * The IC50 ranks the world s largest crane-owning companies by their IC Index value, calculated by adding together the maximum load moment rating, in tonnemetres, of all mobile and crawler cranes in the fleet. The 2009 IC50 includes data from 134 companies. WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE September - October

5 [FEATURE ARTICLE] and strategic growth. Richard Bard, Chairman of Bard Capital, now serves as the Chairman of AmQuip. Bard brings a dimension of financial epertise and operational guidance that will continue to take AmQuip to great heights. Teamwork: Two AmQuip branches come together. Setting bridge beams with a 200 Ton Liebherr from Nashville, TN and a 300 Ton Grove from Cincinnati, OH on a job in Glasgow, KY for Garrison Construction Frank Bardonaro, Jr., COO and President of AmQuip, explained, The closest location to the customer will provide the best and fastest customer support. This means that if an Elliott customer is working closer to an existing AmQuip branch, we will respond to their needs, and the same reciprocity will be there if an AmQuip job is closer to an Elliott branch. Both firms are keen to stress the importance that their reputations, and staff, will play in making the alliance a success. Bardonaro continued both Elliott and AmQuip have successful operations and a well established name in the regions they currently provide equipment and services to. We know that some companies, in the past, have dropped their names and developed a brand x type of mentality to get a new name in the market for whatever reason. Both Elliott and AmQuip have outstanding reputations, and we expect to use the partnership to continue and even improve on those reputations. Bud Elliott and Joseph L. Wesley are two of the most well respected names in the crane rental industry. In 2007, just a year after Elliott Crane Service and AmQuip came together, Bard Capital Group acquired the assets and business of AmQuip. The transaction has provided AmQuip with the capital, operational oversight and other resources necessary to foster continued organic Today, just a few years into their alliance, Elliott/AmQuip is not only holding that local charm but redefining it in the process. They have found a vital key to business even in the economic downturn and it stems on continuing to provide quality service, especially as they build a strategic market share. The combination of branch offices forged between Elliott and AmQuip allows each branch to work independently as well as under the umbrella that a nationally based network of equipment and technical capabilities provide. If Bud Elliott and Joseph Wesley found the perfect marriage between these two companies, then the branches are nothing short of a family providing each other support so they can focus on their vendors needs without worrying about logistical logjams or painful inefficiencies. In doing so, they ve also found a way to unite the local quality of service and support of one company that any customer can appreciate with a regional network that covers the eastern U.S. As Scott White stated, The relationships we ve formed and the parnterships we ve made are taking us into the future, and it looks pretty bright from here. About AmQuip Corp. AmQuip Corp. is a leading provider of crane rentals and related services in the United States with a dominant presence in the Eastern and Southeastern regions. AmQuip offers manned and bare rentals of every type of crane including crawler, tower, rough-terrain and truck cranes. The company is headquartered in Bensalem, Pennsylvania and operates from ten locations in eight states. AmQuip serves customers in every market segment, including infrastructure, petrochemical, commercial construction and industrial plant maintenance. Questions or Comments: wireropeexchange@gmail.com or visit AmQuip s website: WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE September - October