Crane and rail solutions provider Gantrex is continuing on the expansion path, announcing a partnership with wireless structural monitoring technology specialist Villari that extends its service portfolio.
Netherlands-based Villari is a spin-off from Delft University of Technology that offers continuous visibility into fatigue and crack growth through a globally certified wireless crack-detection system for steel structures. By monitoring passive magnetic flux leakage and plastic deformation through sensors, Villari’s system can detect early-stage crack growth and measures crack propagation in steel structures.
The new partnership sees Gantrex add Villari’s technology to its crane service offering. In comments to WorldCargo News, Steve Nikolayev, crane solutions marketing manager at Gantrex, said the company has been supplying crane parts and servicing cranes in Europe since 2015. Gantrex currently has long-term maintenance contracts and crane repair and diagnostic contracts around Europe, North America and Middle East.
While the name Gantrex is most commonly associated with crane rails, the company has structural and crane engineers on staff in its technical department that specialise in vibration analysis, 3D scanning of structures and FEA analysis that support all crane and structural related projects. “Our engineers have a wealth of experience with welded structural members and we have already successfully completed full crane assessment projects where rope access NDT inspections were carried out,” Nikolayev said.
Gantrex sees Villari as a strong addition to its continuous monitoring portfolio. “This is extremely important especially on aging assets and elements that are not easily accessible,” Nikolayev said.
Rope access for structural inspections is both expensive and time consuming. By incorporating Villari technology Gantrex can reduce the need for climbing for crane inspections. “With this type of partnership Gantrex can now assist terminals with identifying critical elements and then continuously monitoring these elements to give our customers piece of mind and ensure proper interventions are made when they are required,” Nikolayev said. “We can identify the critical elements with a full crane analysis that would include visual inspections, 3D scanning of the full structure of the crane structure and fatigue analysis through FEA models. Once the critical and hard to access structural elements are identified we can install our sensors to continuously monitor the identified element minimising the need for future access and stoppage of the crane.”
For terminal operators identifying and continuously monitoring hard to access critical elements remotely can reduce both crane downtime and inspection costs. Nikolayev added that sensors can also play an important role in monitoring problematic areas where cracks have been identified and fixed. Repairs typically require ongoing monitoring. “Once a sensor is installed we can continuously monitor such areas giving the customer peace of mind, reducing the need for inspections and machine downtime, and reducing the probability of catastrophic failure,” he said.
“At Gantrex, our objective is not only to provide our customers with data, but to help them understand what that data means for the reliability, safety and performance of their assets,” added Frederik Leflot, CTO, Gantrex. “By partnering with Villari, we are strengthening our crane diagnostics portfolio with innovative monitoring technology while continuing to deliver the engineering expertise that our customers rely on.”
“Villari was founded on the belief that continuous monitoring can fundamentally improve how industrial assets are managed,” added Olivier Baas, CEO and founder of Villari. “By partnering with Gantrex, we combine innovative monitoring technology with deep industry expertise, creating a powerful offering that helps customers better understand and manage the condition of their critical assets.”
*This story first appeared in the October 2026 print issue of WorldCargo News.
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