Based at the Innovation District Strijp-T in Eindhoven, Mennens Cleanroom Cranes designs and delivers specialised lifting solutions for cleanrooms and controlled production environments, where precision, process control and contamination management are essential. A multidisciplinary engineering team develops customer-specific solutions for industries including semiconductors, high-tech manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and aerospace.
Operations Director Dave van Zandvliet has been involved from the very beginning. He looks back on more than 25 years of engineering experience in cleanroom lifting and ahead to new applications.
It started with a specific request from the semiconductor industry. At that time, Mennens Cleanroom Cranes did not yet exist as a separate entity. “We were already supplying balancers that allowed loads to be positioned very accurately,” says Dave van Zandvliet. “But the required capacity of 3,200 kg went beyond what was available for cleanroom applications at the time.”
Rather than making concessions, the team chose to approach the challenge from an engineering perspective. Together with suppliers, they examined which hoist would be suitable, how the control system should be configured and, above all, how a complete overhead crane could be integrated into a clean, controlled environment. Contamination control was a key consideration from day one.
This engineering approach led to the first cleanroom crane, later known as the NXT crane.
“We examined every detail, from controls and mechanics to material selection and surface finishing, with the goal of maximum control within a cleanroom environment.”
The market responded quickly to the first cleanroom solutions. Within a short period, multiple orders followed. In 2008, this growth led to the establishment of Mennens Cleanroom Cranes as a specialised part of Mennens.
That same year, the NXE crane was introduced, developed to achieve higher positioning accuracy in cleanroom environments.
“With the NXE, we took accuracy to the next level,” says Dave van Zandvliet. “Hoisting movements in the Z-direction are accurate to one millimetre, with positioning in the X-Y direction to two millimetres. That level of precision is essential for sensitive processes within the semiconductor supply chain.”
In the years that followed, the company continued to invest with focus in engineering and product development. The introduction of the EXE crane, with a lifting capacity of up to 40,000 kg, marked the next step. Capacity alone is not the deciding factor. Controlled lifting within complex production processes is key, where downtime, contamination or positioning errors have a direct impact on process stability and product quality.
In addition to overhead cranes, Mennens Cleanroom Cranes also delivers fixed lifting points, monorail systems, lighter crane solutions and customer-specific configurations. The starting point is not the product itself, but the application.
“Every solution starts with the application, not the product.”
Since 2024, Mennens Cleanroom Cranes has been operating as an independent company. The management team consists of Dave van Zandvliet (operations), Marcel Rabenort (general management) and Danny van Deuzen (commercial).
The company has a strong foundation in the cleanroom market, particularly within the semiconductor industry. At the same time, demand is growing for lifting solutions in controlled environments: production environments where cleanliness, precision and reliability are increasingly critical to process continuity and quality.
To further strengthen this engineering approach, Mennens Cleanroom Cranes is opening its own R&D centre this month. New lifting concepts and configurations are tested and validated here before being applied in customer projects.
With 25 years of experience, the focus remains unchanged: not to deliver as many cranes as possible, but to deliver the right lifting solution that supports the process. That is where our engineering strength lies.
A cleanroom crane must not only function technically but also demonstrably meet all requirements. This blog explains how the final inspection and digital handover are organized, with emphasis on transparency, control, and quality assurance.
Mennens Cleanroom Cranes will participate in SEMICON Southeast Asia 2026 in Kuala Lumpur. The company will be present in collaboration with Marketech International Corp (帆宣系統科技股份有限公司). The focus is on cleanroom lifting solutions for semiconductor and high-tech production environments.
With the opening of its Research & Development Center (R&D), Mennens Cleanroom Cranes (MCC) now has a dedicated environment where cleanroom lifting systems are developed, tested and validated under controlled conditions.
Bringing these activities together in one location provides deeper insight into system performance, behaviour and component interaction. This directly supports informed design decisions and effective project execution.
Material selection in cleanroom cranes is often underestimated. Choosing the wrong material can introduce contamination risks, increase system weight or result in unnecessary costs in highly controlled environments.
The choice between stainless steel and coated steel may seem straightforward at first, but is highly dependent on the application. Material selection directly impacts cleanliness, contamination risk, costs and process reliability in controlled environments.
Our experts are ready to assist you.
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