Huisman doubles Dutch production capacity

Dutch crane and specialist engineeering manufacturer Huisman has doubled its slew bearing production capacity in Schiedam, Netherlands, to meet the growing demand for large diameter slew bearings, a key component of its heavy lift cranes.

Slew bearings are an integral and key component of all Huisman cranes

Since 2010 Huisman been designing and manufacturing large diameter slew bearings in-house. Responding to the considerable order intake of large offshore cranes, the investment in a second milling machine provides Huisman with sufficient production capacity for the future.

Slew bearings are an integral and key component of all Huisman cranes. Unlike high-maintenance solutions such as bogies or slewing systems on large wheels that are exposed to the harsh offshore environment, the Huisman slew bearing facilitates a substantial reduction in the weight of the crane and substructure, enabling crane vessels to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Due to the design, inspection and maintenance can take place on-site without disassembly of the bearing, resulting in a significant reduction of the operational costs.

David Roodenburg, Huisman CEO, said, “The ambitions for offshore wind have resulted in a high demand for heavy lift cranes. To ensure the highest quality and on-time delivery to our clients, we have scaled up our production capacity.

A Huisman milling machine in operation

“We have opted to deploy a second Zayer milling machine in the Netherlands to guarantee the continuity of our projects here and to invest in the expertise of our people. Our slew bearings are an essential part of the lightweight design of our cranes.”

After a series of increasingly large slew bearings, Huisman designed and delivered the world’s largest slew bearings for the 10,000 tonne capacity tub mounted cranes for Heerema’s Sleipnir vessel in 2018. These slew bearings have a diameter of 30 metres. To date, Huisman has a track record of approximately 25 slew bearings.

Chinese expansion

Earlier this year, Huisman expanded its paint shop in China by 1,675 square metres to a total surface area of more than 6,000 square metres. This, to increase the spraying capacity, which eliminates a crucial bottleneck in the production process of heavy construction equipment.