Dubai-based construction company ALEC Engineering and Contracting L.L.C’s (ALEC) has completed the trialling of Roborigger, remote crane load control and orientation technology developed by a Western Australian (WA)-based company that specialises in crane lifting and logistics automation.
Improving crane safety with innovation
Originally discovered through initial industry research conducted by ALEC’s logistics division, ALEC had initially approached Roborigger in 2019. At the time, the company was primarily focused on Australia’s domestic market and was in the process of producing an initial run of ten commercial 10t AR10 units. By the time ALEC had identified One Za’abeel as a well-suited project to trial the system, Roborigger was already in the process of manufacturing the second batch of 15t AR15 units, with one earmarked for Dubai.
Commenting on the decision, Roborigger founder Derick Markwell said, “The continued interaction and interests from ALEC cemented our belief that there is a market for Roborigger overseas and allowed us to fast-track our export development plan.”
Making it happen
While the COVID pandemic had become a logistical challenge for many construction stakeholders, the inability for the Roborigger team to travel with their system meant the company was forced to accelerate its remote online training set-up, meaning new clients are now able to be trained, onboarded, and certified as Roborigger operators without the requirement for team members to be physically on-site.
Long term view of risk and reward
Speaking on behalf of ALEC, Imad Itani, innovation manager, said: “At ALEC, we believe that to drive innovation, it is essential to integrate it as part of our culture. Therefore, we continuously pursue open innovation with external partners and actively look for opportunities to deploy practical technologies on our projects. One key milestone was to get the Roborigger on ALEC’s projects, and we didn’t want further delays due to the pandemic. The whole training and onboarding were done remotely. They were extremely well-organized, thanks to the very efficient online training provided by the Roborigger team in addition to the commitment by ALEC stakeholders.”
For Roborigger, this maiden operation in Dubai is only the beginning of what the company envisions for its partnership with ALEC.
“This is about revolutionising safety in crane lifting worldwide and digitizing crane operations; our trial with ALEC is only just the beginning of our collaboration together”, Markwell says.
More information
Deborah Bomstein, Marketing Manager, ALEC, DBomstein@alec.ae
Ati Aziz, Marketing & Business Development, Roborigger, aaziz@roborigger.com.au
