Alimak is proud to celebrate 75 years in business this year. As a global leader and pioneer in the design and manufacture of vertical access solutions for industrial and construction industries, we have been innovating since our inception in 1948, building a reputation for high-quality products and engineering.
We look at some key moments in our 75-year history to celebrate this incredible milestone.
Our beginning
Alvar Lindmark founded Alimak in 1948, as an engineer with a burning passion for technology. Lindmark was always fascinated by the biblical story of Jacob’s ladder and endeavoured to find a design for a construction hoist based on this vision.
However, Alimak’s first patented product was the Limak mortar mixer, which became one of the company’s top sellers through the early 1960s.
The 1950s
The ’50s was a significant decade for Alimak. One of the most fundamental moments in our 75-year history was the move of our manufacturing facilities to our present location in Skelleftea, Sweden, in 1952. This relocation allowed us to take advantage of the abundant natural resources and develop our manufacturing processes.
In addition to this milestone, Alimak introduced the first construction passenger hoist equipped with a safety device in 1953. These moments led to our workforce expansion and enabled a more rapid speed of high-rise construction. The first mast climbing work platform was also developed by Alimak in 1956 as well as the Raise Climber.
The 1960s and 1970s
In the ’60s and ’70s, Alimak achieved even more milestones. In 1962, Alimak revolutionized the approach to rack-and-pinion vertical access solutions by introducing the first rack-and-pinion-driven construction hoist. In 1966, we went on to install our first permanent industrial elevator, which was a significant achievement.
In 1968, we built the world’s largest free-standing crane. By 1973, Alimak made our first delivery to the offshore industry, marking the beginning of an international expansion that has continued today.
Between 1968 and 2001, Alimak expanded its geographic footprint and its business operations by enhancing its product and service offerings, growing its customer base across a number of end markets and engaging in a series of strategic acquisitions.
The 1980s and 1990s
In the ’80s and ’90s, the Alimak hoist was used in several important international projects, which saw the Alimak brand quickly become synonymous with excellence.
During this period, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower underwent renovations using Alimak products for vertical access. Pope John Paul II travelled in an Alimak hoist to give his speech in Venezuela in 1996 and in Rio de Janeiro in 1997, and Pope Francis in Panama city in 2019. In 1998, an Alimak elevator with 24 tonnes of payload capacity was installed at the Royal Opera House in London.
From the 2000s to now
Alimak’s range of construction hoists, mast climbing work platforms and industrial elevators continue to be used worldwide, with new products continually being added, such as our traction industrial elevators, introduced in 2014 via the acquisition of Heis-Tek, a Norway-based specialised traction elevator company that offered its products and services predominantly for oil and gas offshore applications in the North Sea.
Alimak is proud of our history and the developments achieved in the last 75 years, and we look forward to continuing to expand and innovate in the years to come as an industry pioneer.