Towering Above

NFT Specialized In Tower Cranes is known for being the distributor of Potain and having the largest rental tower crane fleet in the Middle East. Business Development Manager Nawar Al Zahlawi explains the benefits of NFT’s expertise and size for its customers.

Stretching back decades, NFT Specialized in Tower Cranes has been a feature of the crane industry in the GCC from its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, though its operations span the globe, with rental fleets in Europe, the wider Middle East and the Far East. It also offers other lifting equipment including crawler cranes, concrete pumps and placing booms, and is the exclusive distributor for Orbit and PEGA hosts in the Gulf.

Most notably NFT is the exclusive distributor for Potain in in the GCC; late last year its distribution deal for the tower crane brand was extended for another five years. And then at Conexpo in Las Vegas in March, Manitowoc presented NFT with its Best Dealer in the World award, a tribute to its importance to the manufacturer, given its regular and sizeable orders.

Nawar Al Zahlawi, Business Development Manager at NFT.

“We are a major player, we are one of the top five tower crane fleets in the world,” says Nawar Al Zahlawi, Business Development Manager at NFT. “Here in the Middle East, NFT is almost synonymous with tower cranes, and NFT and Potain have almost the same meaning, since we have been with Potain since the 1990s.”

These days, most GCC contractors prefer to use a specialist tower crane rental company rather than purchase equipment outright in addition to investing in the manpower and know-how required to operate and maintain a tower crane fleet, says Al Zahlawi.

“Cash flows are under pressure, and it’s very rare to find companies willing to invest or build up a fleet of tower cranes. Contractors just want to have a cost for the tower crane that is attributed to a certain project, and at the end of that project they don’t have that cost any more. This is the trend we see,” says Al Zahlawi, who estimates that only around 20% of contractors will buy, versus the 80% who will rent.

There are logical reasons to rely on a rental company, including economy of scale. NFT’s rental fleet numbers around 2,000 tower cranes in total worldwide, with around 600 cranes active on sites in the GCC. 

A rental contract normally includes crane operators, installation, removal and full service, including regular inspections and any necessary maintenance (with cranes on some sites operating 24/7, it’s no surprise that break-downs can occur).

“We have day-shift and night-shift teams ready to repair tower cranes; they’re on stand-by in key parts of the cities we work in so they can attend any breakdown almost immediately,” notes Zahlawi. The company also has more than a dozen erection teams in the UAE alone. “We’re able to install any amount of tower cranes at the same time in order to meet the client’s schedule.”

More broadly, NFT’s size means it can offer a wide variety of lease or purchase options for customers, while its massive yard, spread over 300,000sqm in Al Dhafra, means it has cranes ready for mobilisation at short notice. 

“As a large company, we can give customers appealing and competitive commercial options. We’re not like a showroom where we only sell brand-new and you have to pay 100% in advance. We can rent; you have the option to lease and then to own the equipment after a certain period of time. We can sell you a crane and then buy it back, and can also buy back older equipment for companies that want to upgrade their fleet,” says Al Zahlawi.

Technical plans 

Innovative technical solutions are another way for a rental company to find an edge in the market. A technical study – encompassing how many cranes will be used, where they will be placed on-site, how installation and removal will take place, and other details – is normally the basis for a quotation. The technical study also allows a client to find the optimal combination of tower crane covering the most space while minimizing cost, says Al Zahlawi.

If the firm can suggest a special solution that uses fewer cranes overall but still offers the necessary coverage and capacity, that may help it win the bid while saving money for the contractor, says Al Zahlawi. “For example, if they have a project with a site that is 300m wide, and with tower cranes having 100m diameter, logically you will need three tower cranes. An alternative is to have one tower crane travelling on rails, especially if it is low-rise such as an industrial plant or car park. There you save money by removing two cranes, so it can be an economical solution.”

Another cost-saving solution for a tower project is to use an internal climbing tower crane rather than an external crane. That’s because the internal climbing crane climbs up as the tower rises, whereas when the contractor uses an external crane with its base on the ground, additional mast sections need to be bought or rented as the height of the crane increases with the building, adding to the cost, says Al Zahlawi. Nevertheless, using an internal climbing tower crane does require extra expertise – for the selection of the location, the climbing process which is required every month or so, and then finally for removing the tower crane, which is typically done through the use of a separate derrick crane.

Safety focus

As in any construction equipment segment, competition on price is predominant. When it comes to tower cranes, buyers need to be aware that GCC markets don’t have rigorous technical import standards for tower cranes, unlike many other markets around the world. “We face challenges with the import of lower quality Chinese machinery, and subpar local rental or manpower companies that are providing services.”

Systems in place to control the people working in the tower crane industry are also immature, says Al Zahlawi. “In other countries they specifically ask for the tower crane manufacturer to certify the person installing the crane from each product range, whereas here only a third-party certification is needed.”

One recent development in the UAE is the requirement from municipalities who give approval for installation of tower cranes that anti-collision technology be used on sites with more than two cranes and with overlapping work areas. “Anti-collision adds a layer of safety because it’s automatic and won’t allow two cranes to clash,” notes Al Zahlawi. NFT works with European brands for anti-collision systems. Rental of an anti-collision device normally represents around 10% of the cost of renting a tower crane, though specifics vary.

Tower crane trends

In line with other industry experts, Al Zahlawi sees increasing popularity of flat-top cranes and luffing cranes rather than the traditional hammerhead cranes. When it comes to weight requirements, the bulk of projects use on-site casting rather than pre-cast, meaning overall lifts are lighter, such as rebar. “However, we also get demands for big tower cranes when pre-cast [concrete segments] are being used. This requires a tower crane capacity that we consider quite large,” says Al Zahlawi. Many schools are built using this method, and individual segments such as columns or beams can weigh up to 20 or 30 tonnes. The Potain MD 1100 is frequently used on sites where large lifting capacity is required, he says.

When it comes to Potain’s advantage over its competitors, Al Zahlawi says the manufacturer embarked on a major overhaul of key products over 2016-2017, including newly designed cabins and improved operator controls, while its new control system and increased load charts allow cranes to perform heavier lifts. This enhanced lifting capacity can replace the use of an additional mobile crane on-site, since a tower crane can do the job just as efficiently.

“We constantly invest in new models to ensure we keep up with the demands of the market. Our goal is to answer any technical requirement while providing superior service,” says Al Zahlawi.