Gosan
Lifting expectations
Located in the renowned metalworking centre of Bilbao, Spain, Gosan is a leader in the manufacture of custom-made lifting components. Gosan takes its name from the Gomez and Santín families who founded the company during 1971, while a sense of family operation has continued within the business to the present day. Gosan delivers constructive solutions within its engineering department that are adapted to meet the demands of all industry sectors that make use any kind of lifting machinery. This includes clients within the oil & gas, maritime, ports, heavy industrial, mobile crane and construction industries, as well as the provision of specialist hoisting and lifting equipment for mining industry equipment.
Gosan first began to export products throughout Europe during 1975, before including deliveries to the rest of the world in 1990. Presently exports account for around 95 per cent of the company’s business with its products in demand globally within the most demanding sectors, including the offshore and oil and gas markets. Gosan’s original flagship product is its range of welded and machined type sheaves that are manufactured from steel and finished in quantities numbering over 35,000 units each year. Furthermore it also manufactures smaller numbers of plastic, solid and forged sheaves as required by market demand. Its range of welded machined sheaves includes different constructional designs that adapt perfectly to the demands of the different sectors of the market for hoisting, transport and maintenance machinery in which Gosan is present.
Additionally, with the experience it has gained through over four decades of industry experience, Gosan has developed a comprehensive portfolio of products that meet the needs of clients operating with a range of mechanical lifting applications. “Although the original and flagship products of Gosan are its range of sheaves, over the years and thanks to the acquired experience, we have developed the necessary know-how as well as capacity to manufacture products that naturally complement the sheaves. Gosan’s product portfolio presently includes sheaves, hook blocks, couplings, wheels for cranes and a category of special offshore products,” reveals Eider Areta, Business Development Manager. “These consist of products for specific projects which can be produced on demand, including swivels, special blocks and fairleads etc.”
While the company’s main production facility is in Spain, Gosan is continually focused on expending it global footprint so that it is better able to address the requirements of it clients. During 2012 for example, it installed an office in Singapore to allow the business to explore opportunities within the Asia Pacific region more intensively as well as to be closer to its clients in the field and is presently looking to further is presence with a production facility in Malaysia. “Following its ‘factory to the market’ philosophy we are working on the opening of a new production unit with the aim of optimising logistics and the service. Throughout its history, Gosan has been very focused on the European and American markets, however recently we have taken the opportunity to expand and opened offices in different parts of Asia. Our products had a very positive reception in the market, so in order to be close to our customers and provide them with a better service by reducing delivery times; we began to study the possibility and finally launched the project for a new production plant in the border between Singapore and Malaysia,” Eider says. “Asia already accounts for over 35 per cent of the group’s turnover and that is why we expect that the new factory will be a significant step in terms of agility in delivery, volume of business with existing customers and ability to start working with potential clients with whom we could not work because delivery times before.”
A vital component in the success of Gosan in developing new products, forging strong relationships with clients and reaching them wherever they are active globally, is its dedication for understanding the needs of its clients and developing solutions accordingly. “In Gosan we are aware of how critical our products are for the good operation and use of lifting systems that comprise them. For this reason we have taken of vital importance the development of our own technology designing our own working machinery, constantly improving our calculating methods and continuously enhancing our processes,” Eider elaborates. “Our research and development team works closely with the company’s suppliers and customers, as well as universities and research centres, for studying new materials with which we can obtain higher strengths under same conditions and lighter weights to increase the capacity of the lifting system without affecting its hardness and resistance. All of this is undertaken in order to increase the value we bring to our customers by developing a more competitive product with the highest quality, safety and reliability.”
With a strong and growing global presence, as well as an in depth understanding of the mechanical lifting sector, Gosan is well placed to expand its industry presence over the coming years. Core to the success of its planned growth is its ability to remain flexible in a demanding market. “The competitive advantage offered by Gosan lies in the flexibility of its structure, thanks to this it can easily adapt to the needs of our customers,” Eider concludes. “Our versatility allows the customer in most cases to customise the required product according to their specific needs and also gives us the ability to offer customised products for special projects that require work and unique design study.”
Gosan
Services: Bespoke lifting components