Ralf Wiberg, Managing Director Lifting ­Solutions

What were the highlights in 2021?
“Our expansion outside Europe through the acquisition of the ­Australian company Chain Applications,” says Ralf. “Another milestone was the new global organisation Renewables. Our customers, particularly in the wind power segment, grow globally and we see a need to meet them where they are. Besides new operations in the US, we now have our own units in Taiwan.”

An increasing ­number of our customers request that we declare what environmental impact our solutions have.

Ralf Wiberg

Where do you see the potential for further growth?
“Our private label product range is expanding rapidly. Thanks to our distribution centre in Maastricht, Netherlands, we improve our customer offering and availability. Another way to satisfy customer needs and to improve safety is condition monitoring of steel wire ropes using magneto-inductive technology. We are also looking into rental offerings, as we see a growing demand for this.”

Any visual market trends?
“Sustainability is clearly an added value. An increasing number of our customers request that we declare what environmental impact our solutions have. Digital interaction is another must. A new generation of purchasers want to interact digitally, and we need to work on our customer-facing tools such as ­webshops and automated order handling.”

What challenges do you see?
“In the short term it is mainly in logistics and supply chain, the current situation with delays and shortage of components will affect prices. In the long term, I am confident that Lifting Solutions will continue its growth and that we will expand our local ­presence globally.”