KCI Konecranes has acquired the assets related to the parts and service business of Crane Manufacturing & Service Corporation (CMS) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. The deal completed on 16 October 2002.

Founded in 1961, CMS has supplied heavy duty process cranes, particularly in the aluminium and steel industries. CMS also supplies replacement parts, upgrades, and service for Cleveland and Northern Engineering branded cranes. CMS has an installed base of 15,000 cranes.

Crane production will be discontinued. Only the service and spare parts business will continue out of the offices and warehouse in the Milwaukee area. Annual sales of replacement parts and service are currently $5m, KCI said. Strong additional sales are expected from CMS’s customer base through modernisations and new cranes, which will be produced by Konecranes America.

The ongoing business will be organised as part of Crane Pro Parts, KCI’s North American spare parts business. With this acquisition, Crane Pro Parts now supplies factory authorised parts for 12 brands of cranes and hoists.

“This acquisition marks yet another step in the ongoing consolidation of our industry,” said Chuck Vanarsdall, KCI Konecranes’ group VP in charge of American operations. Other American acquisitions by KCI include Shephard Niles and Burlington Engineering earlier in 2002 and Overhead Crane Service Inc in 1998.