WCTS preview: All go for summit

The eagerly anticipated programme for the third World Crane and Transport Summit, which takes place in the Netherlands at the end of October, is almost complete. Latest news in early October was that ALE had confirmed that it will talk about the company’s experience of specialist heavy lift projects in the Middle East.

The popular summit will be held on 29 and 30 October at the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam. A gala dinner will be held on the evening of the 29th.

It is a networking, business information and social event for the leaders of the world crane and specialized transport sectors, their suppliers and manufacturers. Around 300 delegates are expected to attend this year. It will build on the success of the first two events in 2009 and 2011.

The 2011 summit attracted 277 people from more than 80 companies and 23 countries.

ALE joins a programme that includes many of the industry’s top names from the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia. The agenda is built around a series of central themes – safety, harmonising standards, training and recruitment, plus the prospects for the global construction economies. It will open with a presentation from Dominic Swords, a leading international business economist based in the UK.

Swords is an author and a regular speaker at corporate conferences on the business impact of economic change. He is a regular commentator on television and radio and is also the author of Strategy from the Inside Out, a strategic handbook for business leaders.

Swords will speak on the prospects for the global construction sector as it emerges from a period of unprecedented upheaval and turmoil in the international financial markets. Following on from Swords will be a series of keynote presentations looking at the primary issues facing the industry from their own unique perspectives.

A view from the USA will be expounded by SC&RA’s executive vice-president, Joel Dandrea, and Ron Montgomery, SC&RA president and president of International Rigging and Heavy Haul.

David Collett, the newly-appointed president of ESTA (European Association of Abnormal Road Transport and Mobile Cranes) and managing director at Collett & Sons, will consider the difficulties facing those who are working towards the global harmonisation of standards.

Tim Ford, Terex Cranes president since January 2013, will talk about the key issues facing the industry from the perspective of a leading international manufacturer.

This year’s summit will also include two new developments in direct response to feedback from delegates at previous events. As a result, there will be a series of detailed presentations on specific, award-winning projects.

In addition, each day will finish with a round-table discussion on a critical issue facing today’s crane and heavy transport sectors. The day one round table will look at training, certification and recruitment, while the conference will conclude at the end of the second day with a debate about how to accelerate the creation of effective global standards.

Safety agenda
As in previous years, safety will be a core issue. Leading heavylift and transport expert Marco van Daal will look at the causes of common transportation accidents, and how to prevent them.*

Shell International’s principal technical expert for lifting, Leon Schöpping, will talk about the standards, systems and levels of performance that major clients such as his company expect from their suppliers.

Another session that has attracted a lot of attention already is on the root causes of mobile crane accidents, which will be presented by Søren Jansen, ESTA director and Klaus Meissner, director of product integrity at Terex Cranes and convenor of CEN TC147 Working Group 11.

As in previous years, delegates will hear from three of China’s leading manufacturers on the continuing development of the crane industry in the world’s fastest growing market, and the implications for markets elsewhere.

Emma O’Dwyer, vice president at industrial moving, installation and rigging company Matcom Group in Canada, will ask why the industry does not recruit more women and, as the industry becomes more technologically complex, whether it can afford to continue virtually ignoring the skills and potential of half the population.

A selection of subjects and speakers programmed for WCTS 2013 is listed below, grouped by theme. It is not a complete list and may change.

For the latest information and full programme see: www.khl.com/wcts

* On 31 October in Amsterdam, the day after the World Crane and Transport Summit, Marco van Daal is holding a special, interactive heavy transport and lift expert seminar, aimed at anyone looking to improve their skills and knowledge – and interested in making the industry as safe as possible. Places are limited, so anyone interested should e-mail Marco van Daal, on marco@the-works-int.com or visit his company website, The Works international, at: www.the-works-int.com for full information plus booking details.