Morris Material Handling has spent more than 60 years developing a reputation and brand loyalty within Africa, leveraging more than a century’s worth of expertise to become a living legend in an ever-diversifying range of domains.
AFRICA’S LIFTING LEGEND
Committed to providing engineered material handling solutions across a variety of industries in sub-Saharan Africa, from its South African base, the Company has expanded to comprise both the manufacture and supply of specialised lifting equipment via its two divisions; Morris Material Handling and Crane Aid.
The global Morris Cranes Group was established in 1884, paving the way for Morris Material Handling SA (Pty) Ltd to break into what was a rapidly evolving South African sector in 1952. Since then, Morris has become a name synonymous with consistency of quality cranes, excellent maintenance credentials and a portfolio of projects carried out for equally renowned businesses in the region.
Ultimately, what Morris has fostered is a concerted client and employee loyalty stemming from operational excellence both internally and externally, leading to the legend status that it enjoys to this day.
The Company says: “By choosing Africa’s lifting legend you tap into a wealth of knowledge, dedicated experience and industry knowhow, and you enjoy peace of mind knowing that your material handling solution brings value to your business.”
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENTS
Throughout Morris’s development on the continent, the Company has found a balance between diversification of its service range, while staying true to the offering that made the business so successful in the first place.
Traditionally, its reputation has stemmed from its crane provision, gaining notoriety for its professional expertise in design, fabrication, machining and assembly of light, medium and heavy engineering products.
Its 11,000 square metre manufacturing facility was custom built for achieving such variety and has laid the foundation for specialisation across manual chain hoists and lifting equipment; electric chain hoists; wire rope hoists; standard cranes with capacities of up to 150 tonnes; and engineered cranes for hot metal, container handling or heavy duty process requirements.
Also integrating a vast range of accessory provision and maintenance options to complement its core crane and hoist products, Morris can boast extensive experience across a range of sectors, to further its already established engraining into African industry.
“We seek to maintain our market position by the continuous improvement of our products and customer services and by providing the leadership, resources and training necessary to create an environment in which every member of the company can contribute towards to our continued success,” the Company emphasises.
Under the same umbrella, leveraging the same expertise, and enjoying the same positive feedback within the sector, Morris’s Crane Aid division has proven to be equally successful in recent years, acting as a nationwide network for the provision of long-term maintenance, servicing, modernisation and the supply of spare parts.
Introduced in 1976 as a way to refresh the Morris Material Handling offering, the business is now South Africa’s largest crane service division, equipped to maintain everything that is included in its sister company’s product range.
“No matter how much or little assistance is needed a Crane Aid customised maintenance programme allows you to focus on your core production and trust the care of your overhead cranes to us,” the Company states. “Crane Aid teams provide a standard of service that others strive to achieve.”
BLUE-CHIP CUSTOMERS
With a footprint across both South Africa and Mozambique, Crane Aid has given Morris Material Handling a turnkey service with which to market its products; an attractive proposition taken up by a number of different industries in the region.
Sectors bridging steel making, power generation, pump stations and water treatment, refuse disposal, paper manufacturing, container handling, railways, chemicals, mining and engineering have all benefitted from the Morris experience.
The Company says: “For more than sixty years, Morris Material Handling SA (Pty) Ltd has supplied more than 9,000 cranes and thousands of hoists across a variety of industries throughout South Africa and into sub-Saharan Africa. When you select a Morris crane you will have the opportunity to experience living the legend.
“Morris Material Handling has experienced exceptional growth in both staff and market share, and boasts an extensive list of blue-chip customers and impressive projects to date.”
Market-leading multinational operators such as Metso Minerals, DCD Dorbyl, Efficient Engineering and Dendustri have all leveraged Morris’ experience and efficiency in the completion of their own landmark projects in recent years, while the City of Cape Town also benefitted from Morris Material Handling products at the Athlone Refuse Transfer Station and the Visserhok Landfill site.
The Royal Swazi Sugar Corporation and Titanus Slew Rings similarly indulged in what Morris had to offer; the latter citing a “continuous commitment to quality and customer service”, as a familiar reason for awarding the contract to the crane specialist.
The Company’s successful contribution towards Volvo’s South African plant is just one of many examples of the business encouraging enhanced global recognition, but Morris has a lot to thank South Africa for in general, and its work on Eskom’s Kendal Power Station epitomises the domestic prominence that Morris enjoys, having been such an ever-present figure in the country’s industrial growth over the past 63 years.
