Charles R. Crane, son of the founder of Crane and then heir to the industrial fortune, was an avid supporter of the Arab culture.
He supported development efforts across the Middle East and in 1931, Crane met the then-king of Saudi Arabia, ‘Abd al-’Aziz in Jeddah. Impressed by the king’s vision and beliefs for his nation and its people, Crane offered to bring his most experienced engineers including Karl S. Twitchell to work in the Arab country at Crane’s expense.
Crane’s philanthropy, trust and respect for the culture helped him connect with the King and his principles.
In April 1931, Crane’s engineers (led by Twitchell) set out to find water resources for the Hajj pilgrims and then spent the rest of the year improving the water supply.
Then Charles Crane was called upon by the King for advice on oil possibilities and water resources in the province of Hasa.
Crane’s engineering proficiency, coupled with the unwavering determination of the Saudi King, led to SOCAL’s triumphant discovery of oil in Bahrain during May 1932, at a depth of 670 m. The engineers and experts then successfully explored other larger regions of Saudi Arabia for commercial oil.
Crane’s mission
From locating commercial oil to this new state-of-the-art facility today, Crane has come a long way in the desert country. Crane Saudi LLC, is a fully-owned subsidiary of Crane Company, a business that has been around for over 165 years. Crane’s mission today aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030.
Saudi Vision 2030
Launched in 2016, Vision 2030 highlights the importance of partnerships between different sectors and international allies. One key aspect is diversifying the economy, promoting local production, and creating attractive opportunities for both local and foreign investments. Expect more
Crane’s new facility in Dammam forms part of this Saudi Vision 2030. It offers localised capabilities to meet global standards.
It is strategically located to serve regional markets, while training the local workforce to ensure steady growth. It will help lead to an expansion in the business climate so that the economy develops and prospers, creating better employment opportunities and ensuring long-term prosperity.
Factory inauguration 2023, remarks
Mark Youssef, president Crane Middle East and Africa, said: “Our history in the region dates to the early 1930s and as we are proud of the past, we are very much looking forward to the future.
“Crane’s new facility represents the mutual goals of Saudi’s Vision 2030 and Crane, which include supporting local or regional customers from a strategic location, localising skills to meet international standards and training the local workforce to ensure advancement. “The new Crane ChemPharma & Energy facility located in Dammam, now manufactures XOMOX® valves and RESISTOFLEX® pipe that will help overcome the toughest challenges customers face while upholding the highest industry standards, safety and performance.
“We trust, through this factory, we will be able to help the Kingdom to achieve the envisioned growth and further success.
“We are energised to serve you better. We wish to acknowledge our long-term partner Saudi Aramco, as our histories overlap.”
Local services and manufacturing
The new factory includes dedicated experts supported by a global network of specialists with technical and service skills to create tailored solutions to address its customers’ toughest challenges.
With plans to expand the operations in the future, this new facility serves as a hub for the local manufacturing, assembly, and testing of Crane ChemPharma and Energy products, primarily including its RESISTOFLEX® and XOMOX® brands, among others. The new plant features modern, state-of-the-art machinery, fabrication cells and software that ensures the product maintains the quality standards that the company is famous for.
This facility will address the needs associated with upcoming projects in the Arabian region.
Engineering solutions and capabilities
This new unit is home to cutting-edge solutions that has the capability to provide highly-engineered industrial solutions and enable the company to grow further.
The solutions include:
Plug Valves: Including sleeve and lined plug valves. The lifting ability in this manufacturing unit is up to 10 tons.
Plastic-lined pipe: A fully-integrated production area dedicated to the manufacturing of plastic-lined pipes.
Weld-free spools: The production of spools are done weld-free using a cuttingedge steel hot flaring of 1-16 inches.
Liner treatment: There is also a customised liner treatment oven for complete vacuum-rated pipework and proper liner locking. There are also welding capabilities using full 6G GTAW and SMAW.
Surface cleaning: The facility also features sandblasting and grid basket equipment, making a fully functional surface cleaning set-up.
Paint booth: A special painting area of 8 m by 6 m, which allows wide painting ability, in-house.
Modern inventory management: ERPdriven material replenishment system for better inventory management of improved parts, which further helps in the reduction of lead times.
Ease of doing business: This facility is focused on providing service excellence through a designated space for testing and inspection.
Local services and sales: Technical experts offer customised and standard solutions for meeting diverse processing needs.
Inventories on-site: The inventories for repair parts, valves and control accessories are maintained on-site to ensure faster response time.
Quality parts: All the parts used for modification, automation and repair are authorised by Crane and meet its production needs perfectly.
Project management
The vast portfolio of highly-engineered Crane products allows the company to quote, deliver and service integrated solutions worldwide on a local level.
Crane’s project management strategies and techniques lead to lower risks and expenses and streamline customer transactions.
About Crane
CP&E Crane ChemPharma & Energy specialises in designing and manufacturing a wide range of high-performance products that include: sleeved plug valves, butterfly valves, process ball valves, lined valves, bellows sealed globe valves, industrial and aseptic diaphragm valves and quarter/multi-turn valves.
The solutions also include sampling and instrumentation, controls and actuation, lined pipe, sight glasses hoses and fittings, peristaltic and airoperated diaphragm pumps. Crane offers a holistic, innovative and extensive product portfolio to its customers, which is made for the utmost erosive, corrosive and high-purity applications.
For more information: Visit: cranecpe.com
Crane charts its success in the Middle East
