SAWO celebrates its 60th anniversary and hosts Danish WCC qualifiers

SAWO celebrates its 60th anniversary and hosts Danish WCC qualifiers

In May, Hiab’s Danish importer SAWO celebrated its 60th anniversary in Støvring, home of its headquarters. 

To mark the occasion, SAWO organised a three-day event that included a free circus, a big outdoor exhibition of Hiab products, a tour of their facilities and the Danish qualification for the World Crane Championship (WCC).

WCC Danish qualifiers
Two out of the three former global WCC winners both competed in the tense qualifications where they had to navigate the crane through a race course with five obstacles. The operator with the fastest time would be the winner, but there is a time penalty for touching or knocking something over so precision is also important. 

The 2016 champion and 2018 finalist, Tim Hansen, had only one time penalty but was not fast enough to beat the 2015 champion, Johnny Jensen, despite having several time penalties. Johnny Jensen will travel to IAA in Hannover and compete in this year’s WCC finals on 24 and  25 September. 

Top 3

1) Johnny Jensen from Benny Rasmussen & Søn A/S, Time 2:29:67
2) Tim S. Hansen from Tim S. Hansen Aps, Time 2:42:89
3)  Jesper Markussen from Entreprenørfirmaet Markussen ApS, Time 2:44:6

A short history
In 1962, founder Flemming Christensen established a workshop in Støvring that serviced HIAB cranes. He was already very familiar with the cranes, having worked with hydraulic cranes since 1957, attending the hydraulic school in Hudiksvall and working as the manager for Hiab’s workshop in Herlev. 

The company grew for 20 years and in 1982, SAWO took over all of Hiab’s sales and service activities in Denmark. In the first 25 years, they delivered over 15,000 loader cranes with installations. They are now the Nordic’s leading supplier of quality products and premium services for load handling equipment for the transport and construction industries. 

They have nationwide operations with 16 branches across all of Denmark with 330 employees, and 20 sales and service workshops with a fleet of 40 cars. They also have six corporation partners, including one on the Faroe Islands and one on Greenland, and a Polish crane business joint venture.  

The exhibition and a special delivery
In Støvring, SAWO displayed 50 Hiab products during their anniversary, including many of the biggest HIAB and EFFER cranes. A highlight was one of the first HIAB iQ 1188 loader cranes delivered and the all-electric MOFFETT E4 25.3 NX. There were also several of the most advanced versions of the MULTILIFT Optima hooklifts and HIAB loader cranes with technological features the operators of 1962 could only dream of.  

Specially delivered to mark the occasion was a giant stone elephant, 3.3 m tall and 5.5 m long from trunk to tail, and another smaller elephant, a gift from Hiab. The elephant is a big part of both SAWO’s identity, as well as Hiab, and most of the company’s workshops have their own statue of the majestic animal.  

“We want to thank you our valued partner SAWO for making Hiab the leading load handling brand in Denmark. Every day they help everyday life moving by selling and servicing our products all across the country.  We look forward to more years of cooperation and launching new products together,” says Henrik Wittgren, Regional Business Manager, Importers, Hiab.