Hiab celebrates 70 years of load handling leadership

May 10, 2014 Warehousing Ireland Materials Handling, Materials Handling, News Comments Off on Hiab celebrates 70 years of load handling leadership

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Hiab, part of Cargotec, celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. The anniversary marks one of the great innovations in modern industry. Seven decades ago, Swedish ski manufacturer Eric Sundin was struggling to get the heavy timber he needed from the woods into his ski factory. The Hiab Method he developed not only solved his challenge, but also sparked a revolution in load handling that continues to this day.

Eric Sundin, who co-founded Hiab in 1944, found a way to transfer the hydraulic momentum from a truck engine into a lifting motion – soon to be known as the Hiab Method. As Hiab celebrates its 70th anniversary, the method has been applied in over a half-million loader cranes and is used daily by crane operators in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Just as Hiab has grown, so has Sundin’s basic idea: that a vehicle equipped with hydraulics can do so much more than travel the road. Today the Hiab Method can be seen in the eight premium brands that comprise Hiab and share the elephant symbol: HIAB loader cranes, JONSERED recycling and forestry cranes, LOGLIFT forestry cranes, MOFFETT truck mounted forklifts and MULTILIFT demountables, as well as DEL, WALTCO AND ZEPRO tail lifts.

What remains unchanged is the drive to meet real needs, whether they be high demands on speed and precision or the need for superior flexibility and the means to withstand the toughest working environments. Sundin was his own first customer, and Hiab still works with customer-driven product development. The combination of accumulated knowledge, leading technology and the world’s most comprehensive network of sales, services and support makes Hiab a complete answer for nearly any load handling application.

Roland Sundén, Hiab’s President, says: “The philosophy has turned Hiab from an industrial pioneer into the leading global provider, with our personnel of 2,700 professionals serving Hiab’s key customer segments. Over the years we have increased productivity in construction, forestry, recycling and other fundamental industries, and we have improved speed, safety and accuracy within distribution and logistics. Above all, we have created flexibility, reliability and security for the individual operator right up to the largest global businesses.”

Hiab celebrates with a special Jubilee Crane collection
To mark the 70 years of innovation Hiab created a unique anniversary crane collection that represents the latest technology available in the market. The recently launched HIAB X-HiPro 192 and HIAB X-HiDuo 188 come with a unique collection of features combined to give the customer extra everything. Each crane is numbered and comes with a unique crane passport.

“We are proud of our cranes and our legacy. And we are grateful for all our customers who appreciate the fine qualities of our products and the value added they bring to their business. This is worth celebrating,” concludes Roland Sundén.

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