STATE FOCUS | PENNSYLVANIA
titanium and stainless steel. “Heavy manufacturing and steel processing, and manufacturing in general has been growing rapidly throughout North America, including in Pennsylvania,” G.W. Becker’s Piso says, noting that the needs for overhead cranes are very diverse, including for such “industrial ponds” as steel, aerospace, oil and gas and other heavy industries and that the growth in these sectors, as well as greater onshoring of manufacturing, is creating a need for companies to expand their manufacturing processes and footprint. Piso pointed out that more of his company’s
customers, particularly metal producers and processors, are investing in overhauling their existing crane systems, upgrading them with new electrical controls, as well as investing in greater automation. He said that to meet that demand, companies
Spanco’s business is growing as it sells cranes that lift material on job sites.
Federal concerns While they could go forward, Bambrick says that certain recently passed federal programmes haven’t had a big impact yet on Pennsylvania crane demand. For example, while some other nearby states are planning to take advantage of funding from the CHIPS & Science Act to build semiconductor production plants, to date there aren’t any such announcements in Pennsylvania, where the focus is more on distribution warehouses, assembly plants, processing plants and various small shops. “The business environment isn’t necessarily easy, but while there are challenges, there are also opportunities.” CTK’s Kinsey says. “However, you need to be willing to go out and work hard to uncover those opportunities. You need to identify who will be good customers and take care of them.” Bambrick said that a lot of the new crane sales that we have seen coming from Pennsylvania have to do with the construction of such new buildings as distribution centres and industrial plants, adding that with the construction industry growing, Spanco’s business is growing as well as it sells cranes that lift material on job sites. Bambrick said that Spanco also sells some
larger-capacity systems to certain small machine shops that are looking to retool or expand their existing cranes. He noted that given that Spanco’s cranes are modular, they are a good fit for companies that are making changes to their facilities as they grow. “We are seeing a lot of systems modifications being made to cranes to
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let companies adapt to their growing capabilities and to enable them to increase their productivity,” Bambrick says.
On the other hand, Paul Sunday, owner of Reliance Crane & Hoist, said that he believes that a lot of the Pennsylvanian demand has been for smaller-capacity cranes given how much growth there has been at small manufacturing companies employing 30–50 people compared with larger, Fortune 500 companies.
In fact, Sunday says that a lot of the larger Fortune 500 companies have been subbing work to smaller companies, downsizing their in-house manufacturing and becoming more assembly facilities: “As a result, it is the smaller companies that are getting niche contracts and popping up their crane demand.”
On the other hand, Spanco’s Bambrick said that when companies are making upgrades to their facilities, they are usually interested in installing longer, higher-capacity cranes, giving them the ability to get into some heavier applications.
Sales forecasting Meanwhile, J.B.S’s Barney said that he has noticed a significant increase in sales of pre- engineered metal buildings (PEMBs) that include overhead cranes, including by one Pennsylvanian company that is the largest volume Nucor PEMB provider in the US. He adds that several Pennsylvania metals
providers are also growing significantly due to the increased demand for such speciality metals like
like G.W. Becker are designing and manufacturing fully and semi-automated cranes that don’t require humans to touch the crane or the products being moved within their portfolio of cranes, which includes the more economical packaged cranes and custom engineered cranes, Piso noted, explaining that instead users are working automation software, PLCs, etc. This, he said, is largely being driven by companies’ looking for greater results in production and logistics efficiencies and on a lesser but real degree struggles finding qualified workers. Also due to safety concerns, Bambrick says many companies are looking for more ergonomic cranes: “Given that many companies don’t want their workers to pick up things that weigh more than 45lb, they are looking for cranes to do light lifting for them.” That, he said, is being pushed by their insurance companies and a desire to reduce worker compensation claims. “I’m excited about the future, hoping that under
the Trump administration there will be more investments in businesses and that regulations will be peeled back and companies will be willing to spend more, including in new facilities and new cranes,” CTK’s Kinsey says. Sunday agrees, pointing out that this year
there has been overwhelming demand for cranes and the number of orders that crane manufacturers have got with many manufacturers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere not only seeing a need to modernise and to improve their production, but they are in a better financial position to invest in their business. There, however, continues to be a level of uncertainty of what the future will hold for the industry both in Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the country. Even with that uncertainty, Bambrick says that Spanco saw record year-over-year quoting activity. Although there is no guarantee that all those
quotes will turn into actual orders, Bambrick says he is optimistic that, especially with a greater focus on domestic manufacturing, that Pennsylvania crane demand will continue to be strong.
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