DEC.

/09

LIFTit
The Magazine of VETTER Krantechnik GmbH

www.vetter-cranes.com

Page 6

New crane standards

On the safe side
with VETTER

KRANTECHNIK
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CONTENT

Editorial

Success story
Major project at Kaup

Crane standards
On the safe side with VETTER

References
Maintenance cranes

10

Service
What preoccupies the industry

11

Trade fair
VETTER at Motek
Honoured
VETTER as top supplier

12

Quality claim
The new crane plant

14

New products
Aluminium crane,
wall-mounted travelling crane,
semi-gantry crane

16

Short and sweet

New senior management and
sales management

17

Anniversary
70th birthday of Klaus Th. Vetter

18

Jubilee
Family day in Haiger

12

Issue 1, December 2009

IMPRINT
Publisher: VETTER Krantechnik GmbH | Siegtalstr. 22 | 57080 Siegen
Responsible: Jens Utsch | Phone +49 271 3502-320 | Fax +49 271 3502-9320 | Mobile: +49 176 13502320

KRANTECHNIK
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Email: jens.utsch@vetter.eu | www.vetter-cranes.com

Concept/Design: conception Werbung & Marketing | Siegen

EDITORIIAL

Dear customers,
here is the first issue of LIFT-it, the new customer magazine of VETTER Krantechnik.
The name LIFT-it is to be the symbol of the constant movement of the market and our
company. With LIFT-it, to be published twice a year, we want to report about news
from our company and our joint market environment and further intensify the exchange
and dialogue with you.
Besides innovation, our company also lives on tradition and ancestry. It will be 120 years
this year that the Vetter family now in the third and fourth generation has lead and
accompanied the company through all its ups and downs. At the beginning of September,
we commemorated this anniversary in the course of a family celebration at our new
location in Haiger.
The focal points in this issue are, among others, the presentation of new products,
reports on special orders, events and trade fairs.

Enjoy reading!

Klaus Galinski

Norbert Hammes

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Four cranes on a
single column
For more than 45 years now, Aschaffenburg-based Kaup GmbH & Co. KG
has been counting on VETTER cranes in the manufacturing of forklift attachments. VETTER has now supported the construction of an
ultra-modern new production hall with 62 slewing jib cranes.

ince Kaups existing production facilities

were no longer sufficient, the senior management decided to build a new production hall. With a floor space of 16,500 m,
the new hall 10 is also the biggest and most
challenging construction project in the history
of Kaup. In addition to the enlargement of the
surface area, the optimization of the productivity was also at the forefront of the project.
Effective workflow
Since some of the individual components of the
forklift attachments are very heavy, a solution
was sought during the preliminary stages of
the project how the raising and lowering during
the assembly could be achieved as quickly and
simply as possible. Since the work takes place
simultaneously at 74 assembly stations, an
overhead crane design was out of the question.
This would have resulted in excessive standby
times and thus to a subpar productivity level.
Fitting every single assembly station with its
own slewing jib crane was a solution which was
taken into consideration immediately.
But how would it be possible to implement
a solution here that didnt require too much
space and simultaneously reconciled high productivity and low space requirements?
The special solution
At this point, it was decided to bank on the engineering experience and the technical know-how

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of VETTER. Especially for Kaup, the VETTER engineers developed sophisticated special solutions
in order to mount the four slewing jib cranes to
a single column only. This allowed the arrangement of four generous assembly work stations,
each with its own slewing jib crane, around a
central column. To some extent, the existing
concrete pillars in the hall were used instead of
the VETTER crane columns. Here too, up to four
wall-mounted slewing jib cranes were mounted
on one column with special embracing brackets.
VETTER project manager Stefan Mller points
out: Cranes with one or two jibs are an everyday occurrence at our company. The version
with four jibs, such as here at Kaup, is something
special for us. We dont deliver this every day.
Essential for the implementation of this technically not exactly simple solution was the use of
the proven VETTER CompactAnchor.
This form of foundation attachment does not
only provide secure support, but also contributed to a rapid and uncomplicated installation.
74 independent assembly stations
VETTER supplied a total of 62 slewing jib cranes
and incorporated 12 existing VETTER cranes from
other Kaup halls into the overall concept within
the framework of the total project (including
planning, supply, installation and final acceptance). The load carrying capacities range from
500 to 1,000 kg with outreaches from 5,000 to
5,500 mm. A special technical feature is the me-

dia supply of the individual assembly cells. Channels for media supply were put on the columns
to provide every work station with power, compressed air and hydraulic oil this too ultimately
contributes to an improved workflow.
The best possible working conditions
For the assembly operators, the new assembly
stations deliver obvious advantages with respect to health and safety at work this pays
off through highly productive work in the new
hall 10. Emil Hein, responsible for the hall project
at Kaup: The new hall is very popular among
our workers not least because of the work
being made much easier by the new slewing jib
cranes.

joerg.schachtschneider@vetter-cranes.com

SUCCESS STORY

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CRANE STANDARDS

With VETTER on the

safe side
Up to now, cranes have been calculated in the EU countries according to the respective national standards.
However, on 29 December 2009, the new EEC Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC will go into effect. Then the
EN 13001 for the calculation of cranes will become valid all over Europe and replace the DIN 15018.

s a longstanding member of VDMA

(Association of German Machinery
and Plant Manufacturers), VETTER
has participated in the development of the
new standard from the beginning. As a result of this expertise, VETTER customers obtain a critical competitive advantage in connection with the changeover.
VETTER has been a member of VDMA since
1977 and participates here in the department NAM (Normen-Ausschuss Maschinenbau) in the development of new standards for cranes. This also applies to the EN
13001. Our engineers know the new standard in detail and have already prepared
statics pursuant to EN 13001 for the most

important crane types. This only needs to be

adjusted slightly when part 3-1 is finally issued in the course of the coming year before we implement the final changeover from
DIN 15018 to DIN 13001.
What is going to change?
In the future, cranes will be calculated more
accurately by means of a more differentiated
factor determination. The calculation will include data regarding lifting gear, frequency of use,
load spectrum, average travelling distance or
slewing distance, number of accelerations and
stress curve parameters. In this way, the construction of the crane will be more orientated towards the actual usage. If the usage cannot be
foreseen in advance, then the user has to make
a classification himself in accordance with the
parameters of the EN 13001. Here, the standard
specifies corresponding values: hoisting classes
of the hoisting device (HC1 to HC4), maximum
permitted hoisting speeds and U classes (U0
to U9) which indicate the number of working
cycles. As a result of the long-term participation
in the standardization process, VETTER is able
to implement these requirements particularly
well in the development and planning of
cranes.

VETTER makes the standard

The department NAM of the VDMA is
integrated into the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) which
deals with European crane construction standards in the committee
CEN/TC 147. Through an active cooperation in CEN/TC 147 crane safety,
VETTER has directly participated in
the creation of the new European
calculation standards for cranes
EN 13001 part 1 to part 3.

werner.truss@vetter-krane.de

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Maintenance on the rise

VETTER slewing jib cranes are being used more and more frequently
for the maintenance of buildings in the most diverse areas. But one
thing always remains the same: The maintenance cranes have to
meet not only individual demands, but also the most exacting safety
requirements. Two examples from the Berlin main railway station
and a power plant document this impressively.
Three VETTER service cranes on the roof of the
vent stack of the Berlin main railway station

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REFERENCES

short while ago, the highest structure

of the Berlin main railway station was
fitted with VETTER maintenance cranes the widely visible 60 m high vent stack.
It is used for the ventilation of the road tunnel
of the B 96 and of the multi-storey car park.
Three slewing jib cranes with a load carrying
capacity of two tons and an outreach of three
metres were installed on the roof. Equipped
with cable winch and travelling enclosure, the
necessary service and cleaning work can be
performed on the facades of the vent stack
and on the logo of Deutsche Bahn. Due to
the transportation of people and material,
special safety and quality requirements had
to be ensured.
Minimizing downtimes
Time is money and downtimes are a waste of
money. In a power plant, downtimes must be
avoided as far as possible since the loss of production is hardly affordable. This also applies to
necessary maintenance and repair works. For
this reason, slewing jibs cranes for maintenance
are being used more and more frequently in power plants. Essentially, they are deployed in the
event of overhauls.

Flexibly relocatable
Most recently, VETTER has realized two slewing
jib cranes of the BOSS type which have an outreach of ten metres and a load carrying capacity of five tons. Integrated into the turbine building of the power plant, they are used for the
overhaul of the turbines. In addition, a special
substructure was built in order to relocate the
crane at will and in a flexible manner. Due to
the minimized downtimes, the investment has
already paid off for the power plant operator
within a few months.
Customized and competent
These examples show: Every maintenance crane has different performance requirements. But
apart from the functionality, the highest level
of safety must always be ensured. As a specialist in cranes and hoists, VETTER secures important competitive advantages for its customers.
Through competent advice and reliable quality
work Made in Germany.

joerg.schachtschneider@vetter-cranes.com

Two slewing jib maintenance cranes for

turbine overhaul in a
power plant

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SERVICE

Crane service meeting

Gtegemeinschaft Kranservice e.V. held a meeting at the new crane factory

n 9 and 10 September, the annual

meeting of the crane experts and
members responsible for service of the
Gtegemeinschaft Kranservice e.V. (Crane
Service Quality Association) took place at our
new crane factory in Haiger. Among others,
the topics included the new machinery directive (speaker Alois Hning, MM-Berufsgenossenschaft Dsseldorf), the hazard
analysis of working appliances (speaker Olaf
R, TV Nord), as well as the supply of
energy for crane systems (speaker Dr. Peter
Koch, Conductix-Wampfler). In addition to
the lectures, the meeting was used for an
animated exchange of experiences by the

Presentation of certificates for

ten-year membership

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60 participants of the member companies.

Furthermore, the programme included factory visits at our modern crane factory and
at Ingersoll. As a founding member, VETTER
has been involved from the very beginning
and has always actively supported the activities of the Gtegemeinschaft.

The experts of
the Gtegemeinschaft
Kranservice (GKS)

TRADE FAIR

Novelty-show at Motek
From 21 to 24 September, VETTER presented new cranes at the 28th International Trade
Fair for Assembly and Handling Technology (Motek) in Stuttgart.
Smooth-running aluminium slewing jib crane
Thanks to the aluminium profile jib, the new slewing jib crane facilitates
smooth-running slewing movements at outreaches of up to 6 m. The internal push trolley runs particularly smoothly and quietly. Thus, the new
VETTER handling crane offers ideal support at work stations where loads
of up to 1,000 kgs need to be moved easily, quickly and safely.
Handling crane with folding cantilever arm
The visitors were equally interested in the handling crane BOY, equipped with a folding cantilever arm. This crane is used everywhere where
work pieces or tools of up to 250 kgs need to be handled accurately in
constricted areas or have to be inserted into machines. Furthermore, the
flexible handling device can also be deployed productively as an equipment carrier, for the feeding of energy or exhaust air installations, and as
a welding set carrier.

The sales team conducted promising conversations

Positive result
The trade fair balance was positive in every respect: We have established
many new contacts to professional visitors and brought back several
promising enquiries, rejoiced sales manager Stefan Mller. VETTER will
also participate at the next Motek again.

at Motek in Stuttgart.

Honoured
The power engineering company AREVA has recognized VETTER Krantechnik as top supplier 2009.
AREVA is one of the largest companies worldwide in the field of
power engineering and carries out
numerous power plant projects.
For the construction of these
plants, AREVA avails itself of approximately 8,800 suppliers in
Germany alone. 140 of them were
honoured as TOP AREVA supplier
in July 2009. At a ceremony in
Berlin, VETTER was awarded the
sought-after hallmark of excellence. The central criteria for the awarding
of this accolade were quality as well as competitiveness and innovation
skills. VETTER had demonstrated these capabilities in the development
and delivery of 66 slewing jib cranes for a technologically sophisticated
AREVA power plant project in Finland.

From left to right: Klaus Galinski (Managing Director of VETTER Krantechnik GmbH),
Anne Lauvergeon (Chief Executive Officer of AREVA),
Stefan Mller (Domestic Sales Manager of VETTER Krantechnik GmbH)

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Investing in the future

The best quality, the highest productivity, the most modern protection of the
environment: In order to face the challenges of the future, VETTER has made an investment in the construction of a crane factory with a total manufacturing area
of 6,500 m at the new Haiger / Kalteiche production site. Technological highlights are
the ultra-modern robotic welding system and a painting line in a class of its own.

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QUALITY CLAIM

ETTER produces about 5,000 cranes

of different sizes for a variety of requirements every year. During the
last few years, it became evident that the
production at the original company headquarters in Siegen-Eiserfeld was hitting a
wall in terms of the up-to-date demands
concerning efficiency, quality and environmental protection. Since an expansion and
optimization of the production in Siegen
was impossible due to a lack of space, the
company purchased a commercial property in July 2007, located directly on the A 45
motorway in the nearby town of Haiger.
Modern finishing
While individual crane components continue to
be manufactured in Siegen, the painting of the
individual parts as well as the final assembly to
the finished crane systems take place in Haiger.
The biggest advantage at the new location, in
addition to the generous space and the pleasant appearance, is the use of state-of-theart technology. It contributes to optimal work
conditions, a uniformly high-grade product
quality and an effective and efficient workflow.
Robotic welding system for slewing jib cranes
The welding of the individual components to
full-blown slewing jib cranes now takes place
in Haiger by means of an ultra-modern robotic

welding system. The welding processes are

accelerated and a consistently high quality level
is ensured. A flue gas exhaust ventilation provides clean air at all welding work stations.
New paint-spray line with drying facility
In order to align quality, productivity and environmental protection, VETTER has installed a
high-tech painting plant at the new location in
cooperation with Heimer. The parts to be painted, with a maximum length of 10 m, a maximum width of 2.5 m and a maximum weight
of 3 t, are carted into the painting booth via a
power-and-free conveyor. The paint is applied
manually with airless spray guns there. Following the paint application, the parts are automatically transported to the dryer. In order to
ensure a sustained protection of the environment, in addition to optimized painting performance, the new facility is equipped with hightech filter systems, an automatically controlled
air regulation, and a heat recovery system.
The demands on crane technology are continuously on the rise: With VETTER, customers
are optimally prepared for future tasks.

Invitation
Would you like to take a look behind
the scenes of our new crane factory?
You are welcome to visit our production
facilities. Feel free to make an appointment by calling at +49 271 3502-250.

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NEW PRODUCTS

Intelligent series and

special solutions
Aligned with market developments and customer needs, VETTER is constantly expanding its product range. The latest product innovations are cranes with aluminium
profile jibs, wall-mounted travelling cranes and semi-gantry cranes.

he customers benefit is the focal point of

VETTERs continuous development work.
Because of its close contact with markets
and customers, the company is aware of the
needs and can selectively develop solutions
according to this. In the past, VETTER managed over and over again to lead the way with
innovative series and special designs and to
support its customers with intelligent details
in the further optimization of their production
processes.
Aluminium crane ALW and ALS
The column- and wall-mounted slewing jib crane with aluminium profile jib is a new VETTER
series product which primarily offers handling
advantages. The aluminium jib reduces the dead
load considerably compared to a conventional
steel solution. This significantly simplifies the
manual slewing and accelerates it in practice
as well. A steel column with variably adjustable
height, depending on the application and the
spatial conditions, ensures the necessary stability of the overall structure in the case of the
column version. The wall-mounted slewing jib
crane (ALW) and the column-mounted slewing
jib crane (ALS) meet the requirements of the
hoisting class DIN 15018 H2 as well as those
of the loading group DIN 15018 B2. The load
carrying capacity ranges from 50 kgs to a maximum of 1,000 kgs, the outreach from 2,000 mm
to 6,000 mm, and the slewing range covers a
nominal 180 (ALW) or 270 (ALS). The columnColumn-mounted slewing jib crane
with aluminium profile jib

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and wall-mounted slewing jib crane is weatherproof and can also be used outdoors.
Wall-mounted travelling crane WLK
The new VETTER wall-mounted travelling crane
WLK is mounted to the wall on one side. In order
to absorb the horizontal and vertical forces, the
guide rails of the crane are fixed to the pillars of

the hall. This saves space as well as costs since

the existing supports are integrated into the
particular crane concept. The one-sided mounting has the big advantage that the WLK can be
moved around freely and requires little space
due to the absence of the second support. In
addition, this makes for better forklift access to
the assembly and production areas.

The new wall-mounted travelling crane in use

With the series product WLK, VETTER contributes to more flexibility in the production flow.
The wall-mounted travelling crane can supplement an overhead crane as a second level, for
example. When the overhead crane is in use,
the wall-mounted travelling crane alternatively
takes on transportation and lifting duties. This
reduces standby times, provides for an unimpeded flow of materials in every direction, and
allows simultaneous operations at several work
stations. Since the wall-mounted travelling
crane is considerably more lightweight than an
overhead crane, it moves faster and requires significantly less power. This makes the WLK an
economical alternative to the overhead crane
in the case of load carrying capacities of up to
6.3 t. With outreaches of up to 12 m adapted
to the capacity the WLK covers a large surface
area. Since the VETTER system is a series product, an individually calibrated wall-mounted

travelling crane can be realized quickly and in

a cost-optimized manner after the respective statics has been tested. The wall-mounted
travelling crane WLK meets the requirements
of the hoisting class DIN 15018 H2 as well as
those of the loading group DIN 15018 B3. The
load carrying capacity ranges from 500 kg to a
maximum of 6,300 kgs with outreaches from
2,000 mm to 12,000 mm. The system is designed for indoor use.

Semi-gantry crane
As indicated by the name, a semi-gantry crane
requires only half a gantry in comparison with
a gantry crane. One crane runway thus does
not stand on supports, but is implemented in
the form of a ground rail in which the bracket
of the crane bridge moves. In addition to its
cost effectiveness on account of the lower cost

of materials, the advantage of this design is

also the saving of space. Since one half of the
gantry is replaced by the ground rail, the semigantry crane is a good alternative especially in
cramped spaces. As a special design, the VETTER
system is tailor-made in accordance with the
particular spatial conditions and the corresponding requirements of the application. The
semi-gantry crane has a beam width of up to
10,000 mm and a load carrying capacity of up
to 10 t.

joerg.schachtschneider@vetter-cranes.com
werner.truss@vetter-krane.de

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SHORT AND SWEET

New senior management

Changing of the guard
On March 1st, Klaus Galinski became a member of the senior management
team of the company. Thus, the succession process in the management of
the company has been completed, following the withdrawal of the managing partner Klaus Th. Vetter who has confined himself to his duties in the
holding company of the VETTER group. In addition to Klaus Galinski, the
senior management of the company consists of Norbert Hammes who has
been with the company for 27 years.

Klaus Galinski (left) and

Norbert Hammes constitute the new
team of managing directors

Change in sales management

The course for the future sales management at Vetter has already been
set last year. Joining the long-time head of the overall sales operations,
Rainer Bdenbender, the position of domestic sales manager was filled
with Stefan Mller and Jrg Schachtschneider was appointed foreign sales
manager.

(From left to right) Rainer Bdenbender,

Stefan Mller and
Jrg Schachtschneider

+++ NEW +++ NEW +++ NEW +++ NEW +++ NEW +++ NEW +++
Order the product catalogue now!
76 pages full of information about VETTER slewing jib cranes and crane systems are offered by the new product catalogue. With all new products revealed for the first time
at trade fairs, as well as technical key data. Clearly laid out, informative and compact.
You can order the product catalogue here:
Jens Utsch, phone +49 271 3502-320, fax +49 271 3502-9320
or by email, jens.utsch@vetter.eu

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ANNIVERSARY

70 years young
How the time flies: Klaus Th. Vetter, managing partner of VETTER Holding GmbH,
and as president of the Chamber of Commerce Siegen the top representative of the local
business community, celebrated his 70th birthday in July. Reason enough to celebrate
with his family, with long-time companions, business partners and friends at the new
plant of VETTER Krantechnik in Haiger.

rnold Vetter, joint partner and managing director, as well as Norbert Hammes as long-time managing director
recognized the career of Klaus Vetter in a humorous manner: Now that he has been married to the company for 47 years... like his wife
Heidi, since she married into the company
at the same time she married her husband!
Norbert Hammes recognized the entrepreneurial achievements of Klaus Vetter, who transformed a small craftsmans establishment with
23 employees into an internationally operating
corporate group with approximately 400 employees.

Congratulations from leading figures

Additional greetings were delivered by Dr.
Reinhard Festge of the Verband Deutscher
Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA), Rupprecht
Kemper of the Industrie- und Handelskammer
(IHK) and Thomas Rei of the Gtegemeinschaft
Kranservice, of which Klaus Vetter was one of
the co-founders. A humorous film by Prof. Dr.
Martin Vetter, youngest son of Klaus and Heidi
Vetter, triggered much cheerfulness. The subsequent lecture by Prof. Dr. Ursula Blanchebarbe
on the subject of Old industrial cultures in the
Siegerland also met with great approval.

A big family
Klaus Galinski, managing director of VETTER
Krantechnik, delivered the greetings and gifts
of the employees of the organisation. Finally,
Klaus Vetter thanked all attendees, especially his
wife Heidi, his family and the many long-time
employees without whose performance the
positive development of the company would
not have been possible. Instead of presents the
celebrated jubilee had asked for donations for
charitable institutions he was happy at the
amount of 13,000 Euro which has been forwarded accordingly.

Klaus Th. Vetter, 70 years young

A big shindig at the new plant of VETTER Krantechnik in Haiger

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JUBILEE

YEARS

Festive family day

Numerous guests and visitors attended the family day at the crane factory in Haiger

oughly 450 guests were received in the

best weather on 12 September 2009 on
the occasion of the family day at the
plant in Haiger. The 120th anniversary of
VETTER was celebrated on a small scale in
this way. The proceeds of the event benefited
the childrens hospice Kinderhospiz Balthasar.
Representing our company, Jens Utsch and Kai
Mller handed over the cheque.
Optimal provisions were made not only for the
physical well-being, but above all for the entertainment of young and old. While children
enjoyed the bouncy castle and the roller conveyor

slide or had their faces painted imaginatively, the

adults could demonstrate their skill in handling a
crane on the crane course. All age groups had a
lot of fun with bull riding, goal scoring and can
throwing.
Those who wanted to know more about 120
years of VETTER could watch a film and a chronicle about the history of the firm. This family
day truly had many winners: This outcome was
ensured, last not least, by the big tombola with
more than 70 prizes and a biplane flight for the
two grand prize winners.

Proceeds for the Balthasar childrens hospice,

(from left to right)
Jens Utsch, VETTER Krantechnik GmbH,
Britta Gerhard, Kinderhospiz Balthasar,
Kai Mller, VETTER Krantechnik GmbH

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You can twist it and turn it any way you like!

With VETTER ROTOMAX load turning devices, bulky goods can be rotated and turned over safely and smoothly, without damages or accidents. The object being turned can be stopped in any position. With a load carrying capacity of up to 150,000
kg, models with manual or electric side variation and single devices for tandem operation, VETTER offers a comprehensive
selection of load turning devices.

VETTER Expertise in cranes and hoists

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VETTER Krantechnik GmbH

Siegtalstr. 22 | 57080 Siegen | Germany
www.vetter-cranes.com