Sarens Group, around a century old Belgium based group is the worldwide leader in heavy lifting and transportation industry. Having a global presence across 60 countries it caters to a wide array of industries. Presently it is a fourth generation run business which works with a motto: ?Nothing too heavy, nothing too high!? In sync with the global benchmarks, the Indian subsidiary- Sarens India, in less than five years of operations in India, has successfully executed several landmark projects and has carved niche as one of the top five crane rental companies in India.

The beginning...
Granddad Sarens was a farmer and still used a horse and cart for forestry works and the transport of trees. That?s how it began in the thirties, one man and his twelve children, who started working with him as soon as they left school. The horse and cart became a truck, and then a cart again due to lack of fuel during the war. Wooden wheels made way for rubber tyres, and eventually the horses were replaced with engines. The means were always adapted to the needs of the customer.

In a few decades a Flemish family business conquered its place on the world market. Nowadays, Sarens is a group of 100 entities in 60 countries, with a yearly turnover reaching ?638 million in 2014 and more than 4,000 employees in their service. It is still a family business, with the fourth Sarens generation currently in management.

Success doctrine
Sarens? success lies in its entrepreneurial spirit: ?Nothing is impossible, if your heart is willing and your attitude is positive!? With more than 100 entities in 60 countries we proved our strategy in opening all borders. With a lot of self-confidence we can say ?the globe is our market field? says Ludo Sarens President of the board. ISO/OHSAS processes and quality, environment, health and safety are vital to Sarens. Safety at Sarens translates into?better be safe than sorry?. This mind set is applicable to every individual (Client, Sarens Employees and Third Party personnel) equipment and processes.

Formidable fleet
Over a period of time Sarens has built up a formidable fleet of over 1,600 equipment comprising of hydraulic cranes, crawler lattice boom cranes, giant cranes, self propelled modular transport (SPMTs), Jacking systems and other engineered solutions. All equipments are procured from world leading brands. Spread over a wide range of lifting capacities staring from less than 30 tonne to 3,200 tonne!

Safety is paramount
Sarens aim to provide a safe and healthy working environment for their employees, contractors and visitors. In fact, their goal is to have zero work accidents and incidents. Therefore, they are doing everything possible to prevent them from happening in the first place.

Sarens has formal safety management systems externally certified to OHSAS18001 and SCC standards to ensure appropriate focus and integration of health and safety issues in their business. Manoj Chaudhari, Managing Director, Sarens India, says ?Safety of our people and our cranes is the top priority for us and the same overrides every other objective. While we have a strong QEHS policy - well penetrated and implemented throughout the organisation, there are inherent risks associated with lifting and construction industries. This is what keeps everyone at toe every moment. Overall, construction industry always offers a challenge and every day is a new exciting day with an opportunity to do something new.?

Training
Sarens attaches great importance to training and expertise. As no training facility existed in Flanders, Sarens has established a group-training centre in close collaboration with VZW Montage (federation of crane services suppliers), VDAB (Re-employment office), the Flemish Government and Antwerp Safety Institute since July 2001. This was followed by Komokra in Steenhuffel, Belgium and later they set up a facility in UK in 2008. According to Manoj training and certification institutes for crane operators, technicians and riggers could be of great help. He also emphasis, ?A proper mechanism in place for near to accurate weather forecasting around all project sites giving information, prediction and warnings on extreme winds/ rains/ cyclone/ lightening etc. could be of great assistance to avoid related accidents.?

India presence
Head quartered in Wolvertem near Brussels in Belgium, the company debuted in India in mid of 2009 as Sarens Heavy Lift India based at New Delhi. During a short span of five years they have developed a fleet of 44 cranes in India and for any additional requirement they move the cranes from their huge stock of 1,600 cranes located globally in other countries. Currently their biggest crane SGC 120 of 3,200 tonne lifting capacity is in India for 6 months at Jamnagar for a heavy lift work to be carried out for Reliance Group at their refinery expansion project.

How do you differentiate yourself from the rest of the players in this market? A proud Maonj sums up, ?With diversified fleet, in house engineering capability, versatile business segments, well maintained equipment, highly experienced team, world class practices and above all professional management differentiates us from rest of the players in market. We provide our clients with the complete solutions as per International quality and standards at local prices within stipulated timeframes.?