Since the takeover, Konecranes has shut down production of Morris’s wire rope hoist and begun making a CXT design it brands S4. He said that there was room enough for two chain hoists in the product portfolio because chain hoists are sold in much larger numbers than wire rope hoists.
Although Gustavson did not rule out KCI partner companies badging the S3, I think it is unlikely that SWF, Verlinde, or R&M might distribute the hoist.
Oliver Gans, SWF chain hoist product manager, said that he did not think that SWF would badge it. “The Morris product is good, but it is old fashioned and in the German market no one knows Morris,” he said. He did say that before SWF was bought by Konecranes in 1997, it sold GIS chain hoists.
At the moment, P&H licencee Morris Material Handling Inc. imports the Morris chain hoist into the USA. That might put it in direct competition R&M or with Konecranes Americas, should they take up the S3. R&M vice president Jim Vandegrift said that he thought it would be unlikely to take on another hoist brand.
A hoist model that looked a lot like the Morris hoist also showed up at Germany’s CeMAT show in October on the stands of two China-based equipment distributors.
Li Baoping, manager of L&H Hoists, confirmed that its supplier factory had largely copied the hoist, but said that she was unlikely to stock it. “We brought it to the show because the factory people wanted us to promote it,” she said. “I just got a sample – I do not think I will sell too many,” she said. “Other customers are talking about this.”
