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Why invest in Cargotec
In April 2023 Cargotec's Board of Directors decided to investigate and initiate a process to potentially separate its core businesses Kalmar and Hiab into two standalone companies. Cargotec’s intention would be to separate Kalmar as a new listed company by means of a partial demerger from Cargotec. In February 2024, Cargotec's Board approved a demerger plan concerning the separation of Kalmar into a new listed company. More information.
Research and product development expenditure in 2023 totalled EUR 98 (100) million, representing 2.1 (2.4) percent of sales. Research and development investments were focused on solutions supporting climate targets such as digitalisation, electrification, and robotisation as well as projects that aim to improve the competitiveness and cost efficiency of products. During 2023, research and development efforts focused for example on the following:
In 2023, Kalmar further developed its electric offering. With electrification, Kalmar’s customers can achieve significant lifetime cost and greenhouse gas emission reductions, and the development of electric equipment also offers Kalmar a significant business opportunity.
Kalmar’s eco portfolio offering continued to strengthen during the year with several new sustainable solutions being launched. Kalmar introduced the Electric Straddle Carrier Charge Family which comprises battery technologies, charging solutions, and software to support operators of both manual and automated terminals with their transition towards decarbonised operations.
In 2023, Kalmar delivered its first electric reachstacker and heavy electric forklift, introduced at the end of 2021, to customers in Europe, and started the manufacturing of electric reachstackers at the Shanghai Plant, expanding the market reach to Asia. Furthermore, Kalmar completed a RoboTractor pilot project with a customer in Norway. Kalmar RoboTractor is part of the Robotic Portfolio, a future range of intelligent and autonomous mobile equipment solutions.
Kalmar also continued to develop its existing solutions. For example, Kalmar customers now have the option of having their electric reachstacker constructed partly with SSAB Zero™ steel, which is made from recycled steel and produced using fossil-free electricity and biogas, or have a collision warning system in the manually operated straddle carrier that provides the driver with both visible and audible warnings when there is a risk of collision.
In pursuit of Hiab’s vision to be the number-one partner in smart and sustainable load handling solutions, several new innovations were launched in 2023.
HiPerform™ is Hiab’s suite of smart solutions and the result of investments and development in the digitalisation of Hiab’s service offering. In 2023, HiPerform was complemented with the HiSkill™ training simulator. Powered by virtual reality, it enables crane operators to improve their skills without using an actual crane.
Most of Hiab’s emissions in the production phase come from the use of steel — and a typical Hiab product consists of 70 percent steel. One way to address the issue is by reducing the amount of steel used. This also reduces the weight of new products, like the new EFFER loader cranes, which offer the performance of cranes one category larger. Hiab is also pioneering the use of recycled steel, made with an electric furnace which is powered by renewable electricity, in the MULTILIFT Ultima ZERO hooklifts.
Reducing emissions in the use phase is another priority for new product development, like Hiab’s Solar Charger solution. The solution, which was launched for ZEPRO and DEL tail lifts in 2023, consists of solar panels on the roof of the equipment, generating and storing power. As the only manufacturer in the world, Hiab also has a complete electric range of truck mounted forklifts in the MOFFETT eSeries. Compared to conventional forklifts, they provide the same performance but are low-emission and much quieter.
MacGregor has continued to offer a wide portfolio of electric driven products such as cranes, RoRo equipment, walk-to-work gangways, hatch covers, and deck machinery. During 2023, for instance, the first all-electric Horizon walk-to-work gangways were taken into operation.
For the EU-funded MOSES and AEGIS projects, MacGregor has developed an autonomous container loading and discharging solution that comprises an automated onboard crane operating system and a new container supply chain software platform – the Voyage and Container Optimisation Platform. With the MOSES and AEGIS projects drawing to a close, MacGregor’s solution was successfully tested at a facility in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, in 2023.
MacGregor was awarded the Greensand concept study by INEOS Energy. Together with CAN Systems, MacGregor will prepare a concept study that provides a basis for choosing a solution for direct injection of liquid CO2 in this Carbon Capture and Storage project.
MacGregor also introduced new products to its innovative and extensive portfolio. The new introductions included the fully automatic twistlock ACV-1 “Hippo” and the self-unloader vibration feeder, "GravityVibeTM".
