In a year when the manufacturing sector is struggling to survive, one Wisconsin manufacturer has managed to strengthen its market. Superior Crane of Waukesha will be shipping the second of two bridge cranes which they designed and built for a steel mill located in Arkansas.
In an industry that struggles to keep its work (and its workers) in the US, Superior Crane has been innovative in utilizing everything available to keep their people working. Early in 2012, Superior Crane partnered with Waukesha County Technical College to get their facility and manufacturing processes ISO certified. Thanks to a Small Business Workforce Advancement Training (WAT) Grant, SCC’s custom machine shop became ISO certified in record time. As a direct result of the certification, SCC has been able to secure business from companies that require ISO certification.
SCC is very proud of the two cranes which will be shipped on February 4th and 5th of this year. These cranes are their largest cranes built to date, weighing in at more than 320,000 pounds with a girder length of 120 feet and a capability of handling 42-ton steel loads. These cranes will be operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year. The traveling crane cab houses an operator with seating for one observer and is equipped with air conditioning, refrigeration and a microwave for the 24 hour shifts that the operators will be working.
The effects of SCC’s increased business can be measured by the amount of work that they outsource to local businesses, including steel manufacturing, heat treating, grinding, special processes (like painting, blasting and plating) and weld testing, to name a few.
Definitely a “bricks and mortar” operation, SCC is part of a tradition in this country where the skilled trades are needed and respected, evidenced by the fact that much of their workforce has been with them for over 20 years. It is their hope that more young people will enter the trades to continue that tradition in this country.
