First, you need to know that here in Finland we call elephant not only “elephant”, but also “norsu”. According to etymologist Kaisa Häkkinen, word norsu was included in Mikael Agricolas (de facto founder of literary Finnish) texts on 1500-century. Originally it referred to ivory, not the animal itself. Though it may have meant real ivory, in Nordic Countries it is more likely to have meant walrus teeth. Walrus teeth was highly valued material here since beginning of time and more common than ivory. Word norsu as well as wordings nurse and nursu are variations from original Sami word mursu that means walrus.
So how did this norsu (or elephant) come to be Skanveir company logo? Its roots don’t link to Sami language. Instead, “quilty party” can be found much closer, namely Helge Laaksonen, founder of Skanveir company. Mr. Laaksonen has told, that as a child he loved to read Tarzan’s books written by the American author Edgar Rice Burroughs. Along with Tarzan there was elephant named Tantor, and Skanveir’s first Vacuum Lifter was named Tantor after that elephant.
Skanveir’s product idea at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s was a double-articulated boom lift with suction cup grippers, which started the company’s operations. And the elephant gets its grip on its suction cup-like sufferer, from which one can even take a model when thinking about the working principle of the device. In vacuum lifts, the names of the equipment series are the familiar names of the elephant family being Dumbo, Tantor and Mammoth.
At Skanveir, in addition to the logo, Norsu is the name of a range of lifts with round magnets. So how has elephant – Norsu been chosen as the name of the product family on the side of magnetic lifts? In addition to the ears, the elephant also uses its feet for hearing, and their feet can sense the vibration of the earth caused by lower frequencies. Here we can see the similarities with electromagnets, which electrically activate magnetic fields, which in turn allow safe lifting. Additionally, round magnets look very much the same as elephants’ legs that leave round footprints.
In addition to hearing, sole and name, both elephants and Skanveir Norsu-devices are connected by longevity. When well maintained, Skanveir lifts can reach a service life of more than 30 years. This is due to the durable construction, high-quality and protected components. They guarantee reliability and long-term trouble-free operation even in demanding conditions. Skanveir’s Combi products combine several elephant properties, namely, in addition to the gripping power, “magnetic” hearing and longevity, they have an incredible lifting force.
Skanveir devices, on the other hand, can’t jump, but neither can elephants.
We know much more about lifting than elephants, so if you want to know more about technical features of our products, please contact us! In addition to our chat, you can reach us by phone +358 3 780 3230 or by e-mail skanveir@skanveir.com.