The last 12 months have seen significant developments in the aerial work platform (AWP) segment, both globally and at a regional level.
For Terex, 2016 was dominated by its celebration of the 50th anniversary of its AWP brand Genie, but an equally significant development was the consolidation of the manufacturer’s maintenance protocols for much of its product range, which has seen the extension of mandatory service intervals across the Genie range.
As an example, the maintenance time and costs for Terex’s Genie range of scissor lifts have been reduced by an estimated 20%, increasing uptime for owners and operators, and particularly rental companies both directly and by keeping their equipment working on site for longer.
Genie had already consolidated the protocols for its S-boom and Z-boom AWPs in November 2016, when it unified some 24 separate manuals into a single simplified volume. The boom lift protocols require approximately 10 fewer hours of maintenance a year and a 25% reduction in service resource.
Terex also unveiled a new boom range, named Xtra Capacity, which simplifies the relationship between lift capacity and working envelope — providing an unrestricted range of motion with a platform capacity of 300kg or alternatively a capacity of 454kg within a limited work envelope.
Adam Hailey, product management director at Terex AWP, said: “Genie XC booms reduce the number of lift cycles. As well as the amount of equipment operators will need to get tools and materials to work areas at height — doing more with a single unit saves time and increases productivity.”
On a regional level, Terex AWP hit the headlines last July with the delivery of 58 GS scissor lifts and ZX and Z articulating boom lifts, with working heights ranging from 8m to 43m, to a customer in Morocco.
In the Gulf region Terex has also expanded its service network, naming Manlift Qatar as a distributor and full service provider for its AWPs, as well as its telehandlers and light towers in Qatar.
However, JLG was the manufacturer that entered the record books with its launch of the 1500AJP articulated boom — the world’s tallest articulating boom lift to date with a working height of 48.1m.
The 1500AJP has a working envelope of more than 74,000m3 of reachable space, which, as a calculation of the machine’s aggregated operational reach in all directions, is 60% more than the next closest articulated boom lift on the market.
Otherwise, the 1500AJP has a horizontal outreach of 23.5m, an up-and-over height of 18.3m and a platform capacity of 270kg throughout the working envelope, or 450kg within a restricted envelope.
Ewan MacAngus, market development director at JLG, noted: “Due to the nature of the work being performed in the construction and oil and gas sectors, we expect a high level of success with the 1500AJP.”
He continued: “If you leave the market to its own devices, people pick up articulated booms straight away, so having a 48.1m-high articulated boom is fantastic.”
JLG also introduced a major change in its maintenance scheduling, with the extension of the length of the mandatory replacement interval for the wire ropes and sheaves that power its telescope systems from eight to 12 years — assuming the total number of machine hours does not exceed 7,000 hours.
“Wire rope replacement is one of the largest costs a fleet owner incurs over the life of a boom lift,” said Paul Kreutzwiser, JLG’s director for AWP. “Typical wire rope replacement jobs can cost fleet owners thousands of dollars per job, so by increasing the length of the replacement interval, we are reducing maintenance costs and contributing to a lower total cost of ownership.”
Haulotte has also had a good year, with United Gulf Equipment Rentals (UGER) deploying up to 70 units of various Haulotte models on the Midfield Terminal Building airport expansion project in Abu Dhabi. UGER stated: “It’s all because of the service we have provided to the end users, and the support of Haulotte over the past 18 months.”
Roots Group Arabia (RGA), the dealer for Haulotte in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile supplied 150 Haulotte units, including articulated booms ranging in size from 20m to 41m, telescopic booms and telehandlers to support the construction of Saudi Arabia’s $22bn Riyadh Metro project.
A fleet of Haulotte electric lifts were also delivered to assist with the routine facilities management and cleaning of the Masjid Al-Haram, the holy mosque, in Makkah.
Together, Genie, JLG and Haulotte account for the vast majority of the fleets owned by the top AWP rental companies in the Gulf.
