Vision 2012/1 - Rolls-Royce

“It’s almost like being married. At first, you wonder why on earth you chose him or her,
but with time a good and lasting relationship evolves.”
Managing Director Inge Huse of I. P. Huse AS
likens the long and successful cooperation
between Rolls-Royce and I. P. Huse to wedded
bliss. Senior President for offshore deck
machinery in Rolls-Royce, Arne Tande, agrees.
“It has been like a marriage, with no marriage
certificate, but which has been going strong
for years. We each make our own
contributions to the system, know our
separate responsibilities and the roles we
have to play.”
The cooperation between the two
companies involves development,
production, sale and service of winches and
has lasted for 70 years. It has proved so
successful that both companies now enjoy a
market share of 80-90 percent of the
high-end market for major anchor-handling
winches. They now plan to reproduce this
success with cranes for offshore vessels.
A close partnership. The two companies
recently signed a cooperation agreement
involving the sale and development of
cranes, whereby Huse Engineering will take
over the Rolls-Royce engineering and crane
production business in Molde. As a result, an
extremely strong, highly professional
company has been formed, which will focus
on the development of advanced, precision
heavy-lifting tools for offshore vessels all over
the world.
“We have equally high ambitions for cranes as
we have for our winches. We only intend to
work in niche areas where we know we can
achieve leading positions,” explains Inge Huse.
For Arne Tande, one important criterion is
ensuring that everything the group develops,
manufactures and markets is at the top of the
class. “We supply complete deck systems for
offshore vessels, and we cannot allow any
new products to ruin the reputation of other
Rolls-Royce products on board. We apply the
same level of ambition to our work with
cranes as for other supplies,” he points out.
High expertise within cranes. The
offshore business units in both Rolls-Royce
and I. P. Huse originate from the same
industrial cluster on the north-west coast of
Norway. For numerous decades, this cluster
has developed and manufactured cranes,
among other products. After decades of
development work, a particularly strong
cluster working with cranes has emerged.
“For some time now, Huse Engineering has
been working on the development of a crane
concept involving tie rod jib cranes, while
Rolls-Royce has developed expertise on
knuckle-boom cranes with the acquisition of
ODIM some time ago. The two different crane
concepts each have operational benefits in
relation to area of application, so now we can
offer customers the type of crane which is
best suited to their needs,” explains Arne
Tande.
Although the new crane concept for
Rolls-Royce and I. P. Huse is a completely new
initiative, both companies have strong
foundations on which to build. A 150 tonne
AHC knuckle-boom crane has already been
delivered to Havila Subsea, with very good
feedback, and two other cranes of the same
type are soon ready for use. A pilot order for a
50 tonne AHC tie rod jib crane is scheduled
for delivery in 2012, at the same time as the
first PSV crane for Safer Deck Operations.
Rolls-Royce has now also delivered more than
a hundred cranes for Safer Deck Operations,
used on anchor-handling vessels.
Division of responsibilities. The new
cooperation agreement for cranes implies
that Rolls-Royce is responsible for all sales and
marketing, the contract with the customer,
service work and the technical integration
with control systems, propulsion systems and
winches. Huse Engineering, a subsidiary of
I. P. Huse, will be responsible for mechanical
engineering, production, assembly, testing
and commissioning.
Arne Tande explains: “We have high ambitions
for the development of crane products and
for our potential to capture important niche
areas on the global market.”
Inge Huse agrees: “Yes, we do have high
ambitions, and we’re going to do this
properly. A number of new crane concepts
are already being launched on the market, all
with one thing in common – they are based
on technology already developed by
Rolls-Royce. With well-known and tested
modules and control systems, the customer
knows what they are getting and can enjoy a
full guarantee of quality and functionality. In
short, we aim to deliver a first-class niche
product.”
8 VISION 1/12