Companies that are among the leaders in their market segments for a long time manage to stay at the top with constant innovation, and by responding to the needs of the market with new products and technologies. Genie, the AWP arm of Terex, is no exception.
At a time when the access equipment market is undergoing an expansion in terms of demand for cleaner, low-emission and more economical models, Genie is at the forefront of this trend, providing customers with machines that meet their needs while also retaining the performance and reliability that the brand has built its reputation on.
This is as true of the Middle East as of markets elsewhere, and Sharbel Kordahi, Managing Director, Terex Equipment Middle East & Sales Director (AWP) East (Middle East, Southern Africa, CIS, India & Turkiye), feels that though the regional market can sometimes be a little behind the advanced markets globally, it is gathering speed rapidly.
“Our industry is evolving very quickly and the Middle East is catching up very fast on global trends such as electrification and digitalisation. With the developments in places such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE in terms of their plans and visions for 2030 and 2050, and net-zero targets for everyone, a lot of our customers are pushing for electrification and digtalisation, leading to a big demand for products that offer these features. The thrust going forward is towards lower emissions, reaching net zero, and to digitalise,” Kordahi says.
Concentrating on fully-electric models
Elaborating on Genie’s performance in the Middle East market over the last 18 months, he adds: “We have been concentrating a lot on our electrical and hybrid products, such as our fully electric scissor lifts and fuel electric or FE models, which are seeing increased demand.
“Having said that, the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) models are of course not gone, but there is greater interest on electrification and hybrid equipment compared to a couple of years ago. Today, the demand for these is much higher than 2-3 years ago.
“The ICE models are being used in the oil field and in construction, and there is also a big demand for them in the new developments that are happening in infrastructure work. These sectors require big booms, which mainly have ICE power.
“However, another segment has grown significantly in the last 2-3 years to emerge as a very big market: the entertainment industry. There is a lot of work within the events and shows space that requires the use of MEWPs. And there’s also the FM industry in which there is an increasing focus on electrification when it comes to the use of MEWPs.
“Especially when the work is indoors or within congested parts of cities where you do not want emissions or noisy machines, the electric machines become important.”
Detailing the usage trends that Genie is seeing in the regional market today, Kordahi adds: “If we take the Middle East market in general, requirements have not changed significantly. Big booms are still in high demand and that’s driven by the big projects, whether in Saudi or other countries, and by oil & gas projects and infrastructure construction.
“But in parallel we are seeing an increase in demand for electrical products, specifically the booms and scissors that are being used more and more in facilities management and maintenance. The growing demand for electric machines does not mean that there is any less demand for the big ICE booms but that there is now a parallel market for electrification that has opened up.”
Popularity of Genie’s DC and FE Booms
Genie is seeing big uptakes in its FE and DC booms, such as the Z45, Z60 and S60, all of them in both FE and DC versions, Kordahi reveals. Their popularity owes mainly to their heights and sizes, which are ideally suited for most maintenance and events-related jobs, he adds.
“Our FE models are the fuel-electric ones, a hybrid machine where you have both batteries and an engine to charge the batteries when they run down. The DC machines are purely electric, so once the battery is drained, you have to connect to a power source to charge it back up,” Kordahi explains.
Describing the new Genie S60 DC and FE, he adds that the fully-electric S60DC can technically work a full eight-hour shift on one charge, which happens overnight or over an eight-hour charging period.
“I feel there is somewhat of a misconception among many end-users about the hours of work that a full charge can provide. When we say a full shift, we mean that the machine has been kept on continuously all the time.
When it comes to access equipment or MEWPs, if you use them smartly, you can get well over eight hours without charging, because if you go from point A to point B and you are then smart enough to switch off the machine, you save a lot of power. This is because once you extend the machine up to the desired working height, it is going to stay up,” Kordahi elaborates.
“So you move it into position for the job under power and then switch it off while you’re working, and then you switch it back on when you need to move again.That way it runs a lot longer on a full charge. Typically, though, we say it’s a one-shift or eight-hour operation on a full charge just to have an objective standard.”
However, it’s Genie’s fuel-electric, or FE, machines that are more interesting from this point of view as they are “one-of-a-kind machines” in the industry, claims Kordahi.
“You can use our FE machines on one tank-full of fuel for up to eight days. The Genie system allows users to charge the batteries while the machine is still in use. You are still utilising the batteries to power the unit but the engine is charging the batteries at the same time and you still have enough power available to use the unit while the batteries are charging,” he explains.
“And on one tank of fuel you can recharge the machine’s batteries eight times, which gives you eight days of work, because one charge provides power equivalent to one day’s shift. That’s really economical for the customer and makes for high productivity and quick return on investment. This is one of the reasons for the FE gaining popularity in the market quickly.”
Safety vital for Genie
Moving on to safety, a vital part of the work at heights industry, Kordahi says Genie is more than compliant with all the safety regulations and requirements of the industry that pertain to products and manufacturers.
“Whether it’s the EN280 or the ANSI specs, Genie provides it all. The recent ANSI regulations stipulate mandatory load sensors on every ANSI-spec machine. We comply with this and all other safety requirements.
“But we also say at Genie that making the machine itself and in combination with our safety accessories reliable for the operator is only half the answer. Training operators and making sure they are well aware of their environment and of the operation and limitations of the machine is the other half and is equally important,” Kordahi cautions.
He adds that in view of this, Genie is very supportive of all efforts of bodies such as the IPAF, with which it works in the Middle East to improve safety levels and the state of safety compliance by operators to make the regional access sector a safe and advanced one.