Tadano has shipped its 100th unit of the GR-1000XL/800EX – a large rough-terrain crane that popular in the Middle East since production began for is its rounded boom made of lightweight high-strength, high-tensile steel – making for one of the longest booms in class at 53.9m.
The GR-1000XL/800EX was introduced to the market under chaotic circumstances, after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake cut off a large part of the supply chain for Tadano in its first sales year, resulting in a shut-down of the assemble line and significant delays to the timeline of deliveries to customers.
However, the model has built a solid a reputation in energy development jobsites in the Middle East, North America and Russia, and mining jobsites in South America, Australia, and South Africa, where harsh environmental circumstances often make it difficult to replace cranes experiencing down time.
Despite huge fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Japanese yen – which its negative impact on exports from Japan – sales of the GR-800EX have remained high, and the customer response positive.
Subsequently, with a weaker yen and a stabilised exchange rate, GR-1000XL/800EX production accelerated, and the milestone of 1000 units was quickly reached within the period of four years.
At an event to mark the shipment, Koichi Tadano, president and CEO of Tadano, commented: “The Great East Japan Earthquake cut off Tadano’s supply chain, which caused a one-time shut down of our assembly line at Shido Plant.
“However, our customer’s waiting for the delivery of our products, as well as our employees who used all of their effort to reply to those customers, have both overcome that crisis to arrive at this day of commemoration.”
