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IDEA Heavy Equipment History
We offer
• Concept, design or redesign
• FEM and motion analysis
• Engineering
• Production, training and commissioning
Sectors where we are active
• Offshore oil and gas
• Dredging
• Offshore wind turbines
• Heavy lifting equipment
Our clients
• Van Oord, Smit, Fugro, Heerema, Sindorf
Innovative lifting and handling solutions for heavy components at sea.
The first response of engineers and company founders Gilbert Rezette and Arjan Boezeman when they look at a piece of machinery is always to ask: is there a cleverer way to do that? They are well aware that a cleverer design can deliver a machine that is cheaper, or lighter, or faster, or easier to use. Speaking from their offices in Almere, dressed in jeans and surrounded by models of cranes and machines, the two engineers talk about what drives them "We are always asking ourselves if things can be simplified" says Rezette.
First job
"This is where Idea started" says Boezeman, placing a yellow and white model on the desk. The model is 25 centimetres high, with cylinders, lifting booms and a cutting blade. A model operator is glued in place to indicate the true scale: in reality the machine is more than ten metres tall.
The two engineers first met through dredging company Van Oord, who needed a pipe cutter to deal with the removal of a 1.5 meter oil pipeline from the sea bed off Singapore. Their brief was to redesign a so-called parrot beak cutter. As they left Van Oord's Rotterdam offices in Rotterdam that Friday afternoon, Boezeman and Rezette's heads were filled with the idea that there had to be a better way. Over the weekend they came up with a completely different solution. On the Monday morning they were back at Van Oord's office with the initial design for a ten metre tall guillotine cutter, with open access from below. The design went into production and six months later it was ready for action. Working on the sea floor, it cut fifteen kilometres of pipe into twelve metre sections. This first successful collaboration encouraged the two entrepreneurs to set up IDEA, standing for Innovation, Design, Engineering & Analysis.
From concept to commissioning
Idea deliver innovative concepts, engineering, construction, operator training and commissioning of heavy duty machinery. 15 of Idea's 20 employees are skilled engineers: if they can think of a solution they can also make it a physical reality. "We know where to source components, who to ask to make what we need," says Rezette. "Our background gives us the confidence to do things nobody has tried before. Where other firms would shake their heads and walk away, we say ‘leave it all to us’”.
Our way of working: collaborating with the client
If you ask Idea to redesign an existing machine, you shouldn't be surprised if they come back with a new machine entirely. But the client will always be closely involved. "We really prefer to start with a brainstorming session with the client," says Boezeman, "but we need to be able to speak our minds if the project is going to be a success."
"We do listen carefully to the client's ideas, and we often use them too. We can come up with fantastic ideas, but in the end they are the ones who have to use the machines." Rezette continues: "We deliver the solution the client is looking for, but this isn't always what they thought they wanted at the start."
Innovation = never seen before
The meaning of "innovation" is being diluted. These days even a triangular teabag is called an "innovation". For Idea, innovation means: something never seen before. A second practical example is a grab Idea designed to lift a car container vessel from the sea bed. Nobody had ever made a pipe cutter and grab in this way or on this scale before.
The drive to deliver
When they first use a new technology, most engineering companies are primarily concerned with covering themselves. Idea by contrast will race to put a new concept into practice. "We are happy to take that responsibility," says Boezeman, "novelty is an extra motivation for us, not a threat." Rezette goes on: "Our long experience in bringing our own ideas to fruition allows us to avoid unexpectedly going over budget."
Examples of our designs and products
A saddle and hook assembly used in installing the foundations for offshore wind turbines.
A pile lifting tool, used in positioning concrete bridge piers.
A pipe cutter used to cut oil pipelines on the sea floor.
A one-lift windturbine handler allowing a wind turbine with its mast to be installed in a single operation.
Motion analysis used to eliminate oscillations in containers lifted by a container crane.
A new concept for drilling rigs, allowing the drill tower to be built lighter (and possibly faster).