Home: Issue 1 2013 › Feeling uplifted
Feeling uplifted
06/03/2013 | Channel: Engineering
VSL heavy Lift is taking its experience of heavy lift operations into the wind energy sector
The last time European Supply Chain Management featured VSL Heavy Lift (issue three 2010) the company was heavily involved with building stadiums for upcoming sporting events including Euro 2012 and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Those projects have since been completed successfully but VSL Heavy Lift’s work in the stadium construction sector continues. As a leader in the heavy lift market, the steady stream of international sporting events provides an important source of activity for the company.
“Sports stadiums are one of the most important aspects of our success,” states managing director Daniel Junker. “Our work on the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, one of the biggest stadiums in the world, is to be completed imminently and in time for the 2014 World Cup. That is the second Brazilian stadium we have worked on. At the moment we have our eye on the 2018 World Cup stadiums in Russia, and even potential 2022 World Cup stadium projects in Qatar. The authorities in Qatar have a very particular idea of dismantling some of their stadiums following the end of the tournament and sending them to less developed countries as a present to build up again. It sounds strange but it is already in the planning and we hope to be a part of that.”
As the geography of these projects suggests, VSL Heavy Lift is a Swiss-based internationally minded business. The company is part of an organisation with two central design offices – the other in Singapore – with additional production facilities in Spain and China, and a small office in Dubai. This wide scope has been essential in guaranteeing the organisation a steady stream of business, even throughout the recession years, and helping it to expand the capabilities of its fleet.
“Generally speaking, until September 2012, we had not felt any impact on our prices,” Daniel says. “Since September, however, we have started seeing activity slow down a little bit. Surprisingly there are more enquiries than ever before but contractors and other potential clients are slower in making decisions whilst also putting more pressure on price. There has recently been some good news for us in that the exchange rate between Swiss Francs and the Euro has eased a bit, with the Franc weakening by three to four per cent. That is a good sign for our business.”
Looking beyond stadium construction, VSL Heavy Lift is becoming more involved in the on- and offshore wind energy sector where its expertise is advantageous in the erection of wind turbines. Hoping to gain its first projects in the sector by the end of 2013, VSL Heavy Lift has already innovated two new techniques for installing the tower, motor, and rotors without using or with very limited use of cranes. Though marginally slower than using cranes, these techniques provide a number of environmental and political benefits.
Onshore wind farms often require big access roads to be created across landscape so that cranes can travel to the desired location; VSL Heavy Lift’s methods reduce the need for crane access and reduce the size of those roads that are needed. Traditional installation techniques also require large plateaus to be created in order for a crane to function properly; VSL Heavy Lift reduces or eliminates the need for such earthworks. These issues are often political rather than economic so though craneless installation may take slightly longer, the lighter environmental impact they have makes a green light for the contract more likely. VSL Heavy Lift is looking at projects in Brazil and Australia, two countries where environmental restrictions are incredibly stringent. Being able to deliver more environmentally friendly alternatives will be very beneficial in these regions.
VSL Heavy Lift’s equipment is highly advanced, utilising a strand post-tensioning system alongside hydraulic pumps for efficient heavy lifting of loads. Beginning as a small post-tensioning subcontractor, an ongoing focus on developing its technology has helped the company retain an excellent reputation. As heavy lift projects become more complex, IT engineering company Deleproject develops and progresses VSL Heavy Lift’s control systems platform in order to remain at the forefront of the sector. The software helps the VSL heavy lifting system remain accurate, efficient, and working in co-ordination with other equipment.
During September 2012, VSL Heavy Lift moved into a new office building to provide some of its staff with more space. Growth of business means it will soon need a new workshop as well. “We have much more equipment today than three years ago so we are extremely tight on space,” Daniel explains. “The last few years have also seen us invest in units with a larger capacity, meaning the machines themselves are bigger, heavier, and reaching the limit of what the existing workshop can handle. We also wish to have a workshop space where we can have state-of-the-art facilities for testing and performing trials in front of clients. We hope to have this new site ready by spring 2014.”
Daniel goes on to conclude with the VSL network’s aims for the long-term future: “We have a vision set out for us by senior management in Paris at a group symposium in March 2012. The basic principal is for VSL as a whole to grow by 50 per cent over the next five years. It sounds very ambitious but we are all working very hard to achieve that.”
VSL Heavy Lift
Employees Approx. 100
Services Heavy lifting
“Sports stadiums are one of the most important aspects of our success,” states managing director Daniel Junker. “Our work on the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, one of the biggest stadiums in the world, is to be completed imminently and in time for the 2014 World Cup. That is the second Brazilian stadium we have worked on. At the moment we have our eye on the 2018 World Cup stadiums in Russia, and even potential 2022 World Cup stadium projects in Qatar. The authorities in Qatar have a very particular idea of dismantling some of their stadiums following the end of the tournament and sending them to less developed countries as a present to build up again. It sounds strange but it is already in the planning and we hope to be a part of that.”
As the geography of these projects suggests, VSL Heavy Lift is a Swiss-based internationally minded business. The company is part of an organisation with two central design offices – the other in Singapore – with additional production facilities in Spain and China, and a small office in Dubai. This wide scope has been essential in guaranteeing the organisation a steady stream of business, even throughout the recession years, and helping it to expand the capabilities of its fleet.
“Generally speaking, until September 2012, we had not felt any impact on our prices,” Daniel says. “Since September, however, we have started seeing activity slow down a little bit. Surprisingly there are more enquiries than ever before but contractors and other potential clients are slower in making decisions whilst also putting more pressure on price. There has recently been some good news for us in that the exchange rate between Swiss Francs and the Euro has eased a bit, with the Franc weakening by three to four per cent. That is a good sign for our business.”
Looking beyond stadium construction, VSL Heavy Lift is becoming more involved in the on- and offshore wind energy sector where its expertise is advantageous in the erection of wind turbines. Hoping to gain its first projects in the sector by the end of 2013, VSL Heavy Lift has already innovated two new techniques for installing the tower, motor, and rotors without using or with very limited use of cranes. Though marginally slower than using cranes, these techniques provide a number of environmental and political benefits.
Onshore wind farms often require big access roads to be created across landscape so that cranes can travel to the desired location; VSL Heavy Lift’s methods reduce the need for crane access and reduce the size of those roads that are needed. Traditional installation techniques also require large plateaus to be created in order for a crane to function properly; VSL Heavy Lift reduces or eliminates the need for such earthworks. These issues are often political rather than economic so though craneless installation may take slightly longer, the lighter environmental impact they have makes a green light for the contract more likely. VSL Heavy Lift is looking at projects in Brazil and Australia, two countries where environmental restrictions are incredibly stringent. Being able to deliver more environmentally friendly alternatives will be very beneficial in these regions.
VSL Heavy Lift’s equipment is highly advanced, utilising a strand post-tensioning system alongside hydraulic pumps for efficient heavy lifting of loads. Beginning as a small post-tensioning subcontractor, an ongoing focus on developing its technology has helped the company retain an excellent reputation. As heavy lift projects become more complex, IT engineering company Deleproject develops and progresses VSL Heavy Lift’s control systems platform in order to remain at the forefront of the sector. The software helps the VSL heavy lifting system remain accurate, efficient, and working in co-ordination with other equipment.
During September 2012, VSL Heavy Lift moved into a new office building to provide some of its staff with more space. Growth of business means it will soon need a new workshop as well. “We have much more equipment today than three years ago so we are extremely tight on space,” Daniel explains. “The last few years have also seen us invest in units with a larger capacity, meaning the machines themselves are bigger, heavier, and reaching the limit of what the existing workshop can handle. We also wish to have a workshop space where we can have state-of-the-art facilities for testing and performing trials in front of clients. We hope to have this new site ready by spring 2014.”
Daniel goes on to conclude with the VSL network’s aims for the long-term future: “We have a vision set out for us by senior management in Paris at a group symposium in March 2012. The basic principal is for VSL as a whole to grow by 50 per cent over the next five years. It sounds very ambitious but we are all working very hard to achieve that.”
VSL Heavy Lift
Employees Approx. 100
Services Heavy lifting