2018: HAKI’s top 8 highlights

2018 is almost over, and what a year it has been. As the new year approaches, we look back at some of our key successes and highlights of the past 12 months. Here’s our top 8:

#1 A new CEO

Back in May, Thomas Schüller was promoted to HAKI Group CEO from VP of the CEE region. Since joining HAKI in 2015, Thomas has positively impacted the business with his wealth of knowledge of industrial manufacturing, having previously worked for the likes of Knauf and Norgips Norge AS.

Thomas has big plans for our business and is full of optimism about HAKI’s future. He shared his thoughts in an exclusive interview with ScaffMag, describing his first few months as “exciting” and highlighted HAKI’s plans to help contractors achieve superior safety and enhanced productivity by continuing to develop the HAKI system and complimentary services.

#2 Exciting projects worldwide

HAKI has been privileged enough to be involved in some fantastic construction projects this year. From supplying over 250 tonnes of HAKI Universal to Kleven Verft AS for the build of a new Hurtigruten cruise ship in Norway, to equipping Engima Industrial Services with a further 280 tonnes for the high-profile ‘The Ropeworks’ construction project in Edinburgh, HAKI has continued to impress customers and users around the world in a number of industrial and commercial applications.

Here’s just a few of our other memorable projects from 2018:

• Working with QFS Scaffolding to keep more than 100,000 people per day safe with our Public Access Stair (PAS) at Liverpool Street Station, London
• Supplying 450 tonnes of HAKI Universal Aluminium to Kværner Stord for the development of North Sea oil giant, Johan Sverdrup
• Helping C.Palle overcome the challenge of circular scaffold for Højsager Mill restoration works in Denmark
• Collaborating with SEMCO MARITIME A/S on the MÆRSK INSPIRER maintenance work – supplying approximately 390 tonnes of HAKI scaffolding to create a structure that is almost 60 meters high!
• Designing and delivering a public access solution to Farrans Construction within 24 hours to help meet their client’s strict deadline
• Providing 70 tonnes of HAKI Universal Aluminium for the build of the Hålogalandsbrua – Norway’s longest hanging bridge – which opened to traffic on the 7 December 2018

#3 Increased stair tower loadings

HAKI was delighted to increase stair loadings this year, following a re-test of the entire HAKI Stair range during the summer. This included our ever-popular Mk1 and Mk2 Stair Towers, which were upgraded to a 4kN/m² loading, putting them back where they belong as market-leading in both strength and safety.

To advise our customers of the revised ratings, we created the new HAKI Stair Chart. The one-page PDF allows our customers to easily identify suitable applications, load classes and permissible people per lift of all stair products. This was launched in September, featuring in the likes of ScaffMag, Construction Enquirer and Construction National, and can be downloaded directly from the HAKI website.

#4 Participating in Temporary Works Forums

Following the launch of the HAKI Stair Chart, our UK team was invited to participate in Temporary Works Forums around the country. Our engineering manager, Charles Stratford and sales manager, Steve Coshall, presented in a series of educational seminars, to around 200 delegates from Skanska and Constain Group, on shared learning across supply chains and the selection of suitable temporary works equipment.

We hope to participate in similar events in the new year and continue to help our customers meet key client objectives and enhance onsite safety through education.

#5 Launch of the new Park Derochie showroom

In April, we announced Park Derochie as our primary contracting partner and distributor in North America for the HAKI Universal product range, and the partnership has since gone from strength to strength.

One of the main highlights so far, is our involvement in the launch of the new Park Derochie HAKI showroom in Saskatoon. HAKI’s global technician, Lester Brown and technician, Barry Taylor, spent October in Canada supporting Park Derochie with the set-up of the showroom; erecting the scaffold and delivering demonstrations and training of HAKI products to Park Derochie and their customers.

#6 Introducing additional training courses

HAKI has always been proud to offer a comprehensive range of training courses to customers and we continually look to add more variety.

This year, we were proud to achieve accreditation for delivery of CISRS Advanced Inspection Training Course with three of our HAKI instructors. HAKI plans to start offering this to customers early in 2019 at our purpose-built training center in Milton Keynes, alongside our existing courses like the CISRS Certified SSPTS course, HAKI Basic Scaffold Inspection course and HAKI Stair Tower course.

#7 Innovative design and BIM tools

Our Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) team have been very busy this year; launching new HAKI design and BIM tools.

The innovative tools have been designed and developed to enhance customer service and are the first of many planned as part of HAKI’s digitalization strategy. Next year will also see the launch of a HAKI App, 3D drone scanning, VR models, and more, so keep your eyes peeled for more information soon.

#8 Unveiling our new, improved website

Complimentary to HAKI’s digitalization strategy, we unveiled our new and improved HAKI website back in April. Featuring advanced functionality and an optimised experience, the website showcases our latest products, applications, projects, and news.

Users can also download useful product information and technical data direct from the site and more recently, can visit our integrated video hub to view a range of product and training videos.

Take a browse of the website now to find out more about HAKI and stay tuned for our updates in 2019 by following us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn!