Gorica Industries has purchased a suite of plant equipment from Krone in a bid to increase its refrigerated semi-trailer production capacity.
The UAE-based manufacturer of commercial vehicle, trailer, and truck bodies will transport the equipment from its current Danish location to Gorica’s new factory in Dubai Industrial City (DIC).
“We have not acquired Krone itself,” explained Gorica’s general manager for sales and marketing Domen Bockor. “Instead, we have purchased a range of the company’s equipment that we intend to use to manufacture refrigerated bodies and semi-trailers. The plant equipment has previously been used in a factory in Denmark. Basically, we have acquired the technology and the machinery – everything except for the land itself.”
Construction of Gorica’s fourth factory will begin in April 2014, and is scheduled to be completed by the third quarter of 2015. The DIC facility will enable Gorica to meet increasing demand for refrigerated transportation units across the Middle East, according to Bockor.
“We are already manufacturing this type of equipment, but in limited quantities,” he told CW. “The plant machinery that we have purchased will enable us to roll out production on a much larger scale. Market demand for refrigerated bodies and semi-trailers is growing across the region. Conversely, due to the slow market in Europe, Krone decided to sell its equipment and shut down its Danish factory.”
The drive for increased production capacity is being conducted as part of Gorica’s broader strategy to expand its operations in the Middle East. In June 2013, GOTRADE – a member of Gorica Group – became the authorised distributor for PALFINGER cranes, hooklifts, and skip loaders in the UAE. Gorica has also experienced increased demand from regional oilfields, according to Bockor.
Fortunately, in terms of its plans to increase production of refrigeration units, Gorica already has a measure of local market demand.
“We know that demand for refrigerated bodies and semi-trailers exists because we are already producing these units, albeit on a small scale,” Bockor concluded. “Once the new Gorica factory is opened and the Krone plant is installed, we will be in a position to supply a wide range of sectors – such as the food and pharmaceutical distribution industries – that rely on controlled-temperature transportation containers.”
