Kobelco opens European service and parts centre

Kobelco Cranes officially opened its new administration, parts and service centre in Almere, the Netherlands on Friday, 19 June.

The company's president and CEO Isao Aida was there to mark the occasion, along with Takemichi Hirakawa, Kobelco Cranes Europe managing director, and other senior company directors.

In the past, all European-based parts were held at Kobelco's UK facility. The plan with this new facility is to help increase the company's spare parts segment to 5% of total business. Hirakawa said it will be an important revenue stream in the current economic climate. "Now the economy has gone down, you cannot expect so many [crane] sales. So the plan is to expand the parts and services business."

See a full interview about the Almere facility and other Kobelco developments with Aida, Hirakawa and the other directors pictured in the July issue of IC.