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Verlinde Celebrates its 150th Birthday
Founded in Lille in 1858, Verlinde has become Europe's leading electric chain hoist maker for industrial applications and the entertainment industry. 150th birthday celebrations are planned for the 5th and 6th June.
Acquired in 1993 by the Finnish KoneCranes group, Verlinde's ongoing expansion has resulted in a comprehensive range of lifting equipment; industrial needs are met with standard and customized hoists for capacities of up to several hundred tons while those of the entertainment industry with simple single speed standard hoists through to computer controlled variable speed solutions. Running counter to relocation trends, Verlinde vigorously reshaped its Vernouillet (Eure et Loir) facility which is now one of the group's major industrial plants. Its production capacity is set to double by 2010.
Léon Verlinde set up a hardware unit in Lille town centre in 1858 christening it La Truelle d'Or (golden trowel). The workshop turned out pulleys, couplings and shafts for the region's numerous textile trades to transmit the power produced by steam engines. In 1872, Auguste Verlinde thought up, fashioned and patented a worm drive hoist so laying the foundation stone of Verlinde's commitment to material handling engineering. The hoist was an immediate overwhelming success. The production of goods lifts then followed suit and numerous spinning mills of the region, located in towns for labour reasons and built high to compensate for lack of space, were soon equipped.
For almost a century the company continued organic growth in France before starting expansion abroad in the sixties. Maintaining the same impetus, Verlinde set up operations in several new countries every year. The Europont industrial franchise network, the first national network of travelling crane manufacturers, was set up in France in 1993 and very quickly spread its reach to the Benelux countries.
Verlinde's history is copiously marked by patents and innovations. Verlinde currently provides a living for almost 200 excluding the local subcontractor network.
Verlinde's comprehensive range of lifting equipment and solutions includes: electric and manual hoists, winches, trolleys and accessories, hollow rail bracket and travelling cranes, heavy travelling crane components, electronic products, flame retarding equipment, customized machines for the entertainment, rail, nuclear, aerospace and car industries, and for application in specific conditions, e.g.: explosive environments.
Verlinde has filed more than 50 patents across its history and marketed many lifting-related innovations. Examples include the disk brake, the hydraulic bridge and articulated bridge, now international standards. As early as 1975, Verlinde introduced the first reverse hoists to the entertainments industry market. Research and development remains a high priority aiming at very best equipment for improved performance and safety. The double brake for the entertainment industry, providing ten times the rated load, is a good example. Another example, this time for industry, is the use of short drums of large diameter in the Eurobloc VT range whose mounting and rotation system has been patented.
19th May 2008
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