Japanese manufacturer Tadano is the leader in rough terrain cranes and truck cranes in Australia and over the past two years has quietly been building capacity that it believes will herald a new period of growth. Welcome to ‘One Tadano’.
Leading the charge is former AML Equipment chief Anthony Grosser, now Tadano Oceania’s general manager. AML Equipment was established in Perth in 2000 as a mechanical services business specialising in cranes and since 2010, had been the exclusive Tadano sales, service and parts agent in WA. In November 2016, Tadano acquired AML to combine their respective strengths and to provide the foundation for what the company now calls ‘One Tadano’.
Grosser believes Tadano now has the sales and service network in place to support significant growth, a view clearly shared by Japan given its display of confidence in releasing five new models this year.
With Tadano’s experience in Australia now exceeding 30 years, the company understands that the market is multi-faceted and that to meet the expectations of its customers, it must understand the needs of differing market segments.
As Grosser says: “Given the vast distances and specific requirements for Oceania, a strong and efficient network is required so that we can be where our customers need us to be and respond as required.”
To do this, Tadano has committed to strong investment including the purchase of AML Equipment and establishment of the long-awaited Melbourne branch. Grosser believes it is this commitment that will help Tadano achieve its long-term goal of becoming number one in the lifting equipment industry.
“For our customers, this offers security in the knowledge that the manufacturer is sufficiently confident in the market and its product to invest in growth, increase service and parts capability, and for the first time in Tadano Oceania’s history, provision of a full nationwide network owned and managed by the manufacturer,” says Grosser.
“Complementing the strength of the Tadano network, we have ensured that the customer, no matter where they are, has access to factory trained personnel and a nationwide parts network to support their investment.
“In many cases the initial purchase price of a crane is only a small part of the machine’s life-time cost. Parts, service, operating costs and downtime are all part of the ownership costs our customers manage. At Tadano we are constantly assessing what we can do to ensure an investment in Tadano offers enduring value. This sits side-by-side with our core values of safety, quality and efficiency, values embedded in every Tadano machine.
“It’s an exciting time for Tadano in this market. We now have the network infrastructure in place that our customers need and a commitment to constantly develop and improve that network. That includes the training that’s so critical to ensure optimal performance through the full machine lifecycle.
“I can tell you that our sales team is working with customers ranging from single operators to multinationals with great success. Our approach is straight forward – to partner with our customers to support mutual and beneficial growth over the long-term. I take great pride in saying that while at AML, my first customer had one crane and is today one of the larger operators in Australia. This ethos is shared with Tadano, we want a true partnership with our customers right through the cycle of highs and lows.”
Next year marks a significant milestone for Tadano. In August of 1919, the Tadano business was established by Masuo Tadano and the company will celebrate 100 years in 2019 – an impressive achievement by any measure.
In developing and improving its business model in Australia, releasing new products to suit local customer requirements, and improving its customer engagement, service, parts, and training delivery Tadano believe they have the tools in place to reach number one.
Technology: driving safety and efficiency
Human Interface Systems: With safety a core Tadano value, the introduction of human interface systems – a system long used in the automotive industry – shows great promise in the mobile crane market.
Tadano’s new GR-200EX machine has human alert systems installed as a standard option for driving and operating – the first to be fitted to a mobile crane. Along with Tadano’s wide sight view camera system, this offers a substantial improvement in safety both for customers and the public.
Smart Chart: Tadano’s new Smart Chart improves lifting capacity around key areas of the outriggers which can increase lifting radius dramatically with simple technology improvements offering customers a genuine improvement in performance and efficiency.
Positive Fuel Control: Tadano’s Positive Fuel Control system and Eco Mode delivers a reduction of up to 35% in CO2 emissions.
Driver comfort: Constant system improvements in ergonomics, access and egress, and driver visibly continue to improve the driver experience and reduce the stresses on operators and drivers.
5 new machines in 2018
Tadano’s global investment in new product has been strong and consistent over its nearly 100-year history. In 2018, the company released five machines with three of these specific to the Australian market.
“Our research and development team is constantly discussing market requirements with our customers and what they are needing to develop and grow their business”, explains Grosser.
“Tadano has placed some of its senior design team right here in the most remote and harshest locations in Australia to understand what is required to develop and deliver strong reliable machines for this market and I believe that is going to justify investment in our product”.
| ATF60 | |
| Crane | |
| Max. Lifting Capacity | Boom: 60t |
| Max. Lifting Height | Boom: 52m |
| Boom+Jib: 58m | |
| Max. Load Radius | Boom: 44m – 0.5t |
| Boom+Jib: 44m – 0.5t | |
| Boom Length | 48m |
| Gross Vehicle Weight | 36t (can get to 30t if needed) |
| Carrier | |
| Engine Model | Mercedes Benz OM 936LA |
| Max. Output | Carrier: N/A |
| Super-structure: 354HP (260kW) | |
| Max Traveling Speed | 85km/h |
| Drive/Steering | 3 axle drive/steer |
| Overall Length | 11.18m (1 winch) 11.67m (2 winches) |
| Overall Width | 2.66 (16.00) 2.82 (20.5) |
| Overall Height | 3.68m |
| GR-1100EX | |
| Crane | |
| Crane Capacity | Boom: 110t x 2.5m |
| Max. Lifting Height | Boom: 56.1m |
| Boom+Jib: 73.6m | |
| Max. Load Radius | Boom: 44.0m |
| Boom+Jib: 48.3m | |
| Boom Length | 12.0m – 56.0m |
| Jib Length | 10.1m / 17.7m |
| Extention width of outriggers |
Max. 7.3m |
| Mid. 6.7m, 5.5m | |
| Min. 2.7m | |
| Carrier | |
| Engine Model | Mitsubishi 6M60 |
| Max. Output | 200kW(267PS)/2,600min-1 |
| Overall Length | 14,450mm |
| Overall Width | 3,315mm |
| Overall Height | 3,795mm |
| GT-600EL | |
| Crane | |
| Crane Capacity | Boom: 60t x 2.7m |
| Max. Lifting Height | Boom: 43.4m |
| Boom+Jib: 57.3m | |
| Max. Load Radius | Boom: 34.0m |
| Boom+Jib: 44.0m | |
| Boom Length | 11.0m – 43.0m |
| Jib Length | 9.0m/14.3m |
| Gross Vehicle Weight | 39.88t |
| Extention width of outriggers |
Max. 7.0m |
| Mid. 6.5m, 4.7m | |
| Min. 2.51m | |
| Carrier | |
| Engine Model | Daimler OM457LA |
| Max. Output | 260kW{353PS} |
| Max. Traveling Speed | 85km/h |
| Drive | 8×4 |
| Overall Length | 13,140mm |
| Overall Width | 3,040mm |
| GT-300EL | |
| Crane | |
| Crane Capacity | Boom: 30t x 2.5m |
| Max. Lifting Height | Boom: 34.0m |
| Boom+Jib: 48.0m | |
| Max. Load Radius | Boom: 32.0m |
| Boom+Jib: 40.0m | |
| Boom Length | 10.3m – 34.0m |
| Jib Length | 8.5m/14.0m |
| Gross Vehicle Weight | 29.27t |
| Extention width of outriggers |
Max. 6.2m |
| Mid. 5.8m, 4.1m | |
| Min. 2.18m | |
| Carrier | |
| Engine Model | Daimler OM926LA |
| Max. Output | 240kW{326 PS} |
| Max. Traveling Speed | 85km/h |
| Drive | 6×4 |
| Overall Length | 12,620mm |
| Overall Width | 2,550mm |
| GR-200EX | |
| Crane | |
| Max. Lifting Capacity | Boom: 20t |
| Max. Lifting Height | Boom: 28.2m |
| Boom+Jib: 35m | |
| Max. Load Radius | Boom: 0.45t – 24m |
| Boom+Jib: 0.17t – 27.8m | |
| Boom Length | 27.5m |
| Gross Vehicle Weight | 19.87t |
| Carrier | |
| Engine Model | Cummins QSB6.7-4C |
| Max. Output | Carrier: 238HP (175kW) |
| Superstructure: N/A | |
| Max Traveling Speed | 54km/hr |
| Drive/Steering | 4 wheel drive/ Power steering |
| Overall Length | 8310mm |
| Overall Width | 2450mm |
| Overall Height | 3200mm |