Saudi Cranes is a relatively new player but has worked on several exciting projects
CMME looks at the success story of Saudi Cranes, one of the Kingdom’s up and comers in the rental crane market.
Saudi Crane’s Jamil Assafiri says the Saudi market has reached that stage where the pie is big enough for everyone to get a slice.
Saudi Cranes is a relatively young crane rental company having started in 2007, but it has made solid progress in that time, deliberately scaling up its fleet without over-stretching itself. As part of its service it provides operators for jobs ensuring that it straddles the divide between supplier and sub-contractor on an array of projects.
“As a crane rental company we come under the Saudi Bin Laden Group. Relative to our age I think we are doing very well,” he says. “The strength of the Saudi market is that in can absorb different size companies with different levels of qualifications: the most and… the least professional.”
According to Assafiri, the big projects in the Kingdom and their geographical spread make it a particularly exciting market.
“It can absorb all kinds of expertise,” he enthuses. “In whatever industry you are in you can find the right job. Whether you are in timber, steel, sand, cement, soil, compaction, industry, rental, selling you will find a need for machines on all levels.”
“The strength of the Saudi market is that in can absorb different size companies with different levels of qualifications: the most and… the least professional.”
Saudi Cranes is a crane rental company that operates across the Kingdom providing a rental fleet of Tadano, Liebherr, Kobelco and Grove Cranes. Investors in the company include HUTA and Saudi Cranes, it also has partnership with Kanoo Machinery, which acts as its supplier and service provider.
It currently has a fleet of 75 cranes and operates across the Kingdom. With the market hungry for cranes, Saudi Cranes has continued to expand. The last 12 months has seen Saudi Crane Services have purchase 17 brand new cranes from various manufacturers, including Grove, Liebherr and Kobelco.
Ten of those machines, says Assafiri are Grove rough terrain cranes with the company preferring the RT 765 E, which he explains was chosen with the operator in mind.
“This 65 UST capacity RT crane shares the MEGAFORM boom found on GMK cranes, but adds the synchronized telescoping boom found on Grove RT cranes,” he says. “Four wheel multi-mode steering and the full vision cab optimise mobility and operator confidence on the jobsite.”
Complementing the RT, the company has taken two HS 895 HD, 200t Liebherr machines. The duty cycle crawler cranes (HS series) are specially designed for all kind of material handling jobs, he says.
For a rental company like Saudi Cranes, the Liebherr’s offer enough flexibility to appeal to a wide selection of contractors. He lists their attributes as that they can act in material loading with a grabber or a drag bucket, they are useful at demolition work, as well as dynamic soil compaction, and work with a diaphragm wall grabber and contribute to the all-important pipe laying projects that currently dominate the Saudi market.
“These are the only 2 HS 895 HD cranes in the kingdom for the rental purpose,” he adds.
The purchases have been rounded off by three more Liebherr machines, including the LR 1200 SX.
“The LR 1200 is the newest Liebherr crawler crane with outstanding lift capacities (220 t / 250 US t) and very compact dimensions (3 m transport width),” he says. “Due to their high level of mobility and excellent performance characteristics, possible applications range from common lifting and assembly tasks to more simple clamshell and dragline applications.”
Throw in a 250t CKE 2500 ll Kobelco Crawler Crane and a 100t LTM 1100 5.2 Liebherr mobile telescopic crane, he is looking at a more rounded rental fleet prepared for whatever the Saudi market and its thriving contractors can throw at his company.
Saudi Cranes’ main office is in Jeddah placing in one of the most critically important regions for Saudi’s development. While its cranes are servicing construction across the Kingdom, he is particularly enthused about the work close to headquarters.
“If you move down the road on the Red Sea coast you will reach ten year harbour projects, there’s King Abdullah Economic City, which was affected by the economic crisis but is now back on track, there’s marine construction in that area too with the King Abdullah Sea Port,” he says. “Then moving down you’ve got Kingdom Tower which will be like Burj Khalifa and the whole city around it is going to be a community by itself.”
“Aside from this you have the Jeddah Airport which will have the Umrah pilgrimage throughout the year and also the Hajj season. The traffic is horrendous at that time!’’ He jokes. “But to facilitate this operation you need infrastructure and you need roads. On all levels you need development and to restructure the infrastructure all across Jeddah and all the way to Mekkah for the 3 million people that will be using the new airport.”
Almost without drawing a breath he describes the attitude of contractors: “so you have equipment? Bring me the equipment!”
On a rental basis, the company can supply cranes from 50t to 500t (three units). It’s a good spread for a fleet but it is in the area of operators that Assafiri suggests that it has made its most important investment. It may even be what separates the company from most of its competition. In a region that is traditionally reluctant to trust its operators, Saudi Cranes has instead decided to empower them. When on site it is they who must make the call on what is possible and safe to do.
If the operator refuses the request of a contractor on these grounds then Saudi Cranes will back them up, sometimes under extreme pressure.
“All our people have previous experience and have worked for other companies. Whether it’s by a government authority such as the TUB or other authorities, they have already been inspected,” he says. “Most of them would have been following Aramco’s high level of qualifications. The standards they follow are very strict. Not everyone can handle their qualifications.”
The region has a cosmopolitan representation when it comes down to its operator workforce, but Assafiri says that his company prefers to recruit from the Philippines.
“They have proved they are the best, committed and affordable,” he says.
Because of the enormous distances of the Kingdom, the company has to follow a remote operational basis. It is absolutely vital that the machines it owns are well maintained and cared for. He says that as a rental service the challenge is to ensure that he is not causing too many “headaches” or delays to projects for his clients.
“Once the crane is outside we are fully responsible for the crane, the servicing and the maintenance,” he explains. “In addition to our lifting engineers, we have operational supervisors that are making site visits to meet the clients and assist with lift capacities. Not all clients understand what the capacities should be.”
“Often you might have a client who wants a 90t crane but you go there and you realise that with a 60t and a shorter or longer boom it might be better. I am trying to facilitate the client’s job and my job.”
This is one of the key differences between owning a rental fleet and trying to sell machinery. It is crucial that his fleet is managed properly. “We are not trying to sell cranes – we are short of cranes. Once the client trusts you, he feels confident and he knows he’s dealing with experts.”
“Even Saudi Aramco is renting more these days. Clients do not want headaches or delays through maintenance and repair,” he says. “Projects like the airport or the Mekkah railway are 24/7 and on double shifts. I might get a call at 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning but you have to answer it and rectify a breakdown.”
Like with its operators Saudi Cranes is prepared not to make any compromises with its maintenance and repairs, choosing to wait for authorised spare parts even when alternatives might come faster.
“We are offered Chinese alternatives but I will wait even if it takes one month. You have to get what you are paying for. The market (unfortunately) is open for the fakes and the alternatives but we are having no Chinese.”
The Saudi government is funding much of the development in the Kingdom and, according to Assafiri, it has learnt the hard way that it needs to enforce stricter to controls on the quality of contractors and sub-contractors.
He adds: “You know in the past they had a lot of accidents. Standards are moving and they are getting higher. Whether its third party certification or a site inspector, consultant, machines have to go through three inspections.”
“If you have a breakdown and you go all the way down the chain, you are affecting the government,” he says. “Which you don’t want to do.”
While his crane service company’s fleet of 75 mobile cranes are busy serving the booming Saudi market, he stresses that the government remains interested in helping its young people to build their own futures via its Saudisation programme.
“If you are teaching a Saudi guy to become a crane operator the government will assist you and 50% of his salary,” he explained. “This is attractive plan for some big companies. It’s less cost in terms of visas, salaries and flights. You are investing in people and they are committed to you.
“Saudi guys want to know more. We have three, four in our offices, working in the mornings and studying in the evenings. They are really working hard. They know now is the time for them to grow, get the experience and find a job.”