Constructionshows
On April 15, the top international forum for showcasing groundbreaking developments in machinery and equipment for construction, building materials and mining has opened its doors in Munich, Germany. A record of over 3,400 exhibitors from 57 countries currently present their latest innovations at bauma 2013. With an overall exhibition space of 570,000 m2 the mega event already attracted thousands of visitors from all over the world on its first day.
At bauma 2013, one finds a comprehensive international product range in the area of construction machinery, construction equipment and vehicles as well as mining machines. bauma is the hub for international business and an important venue for gathering information and establishing contacts, where building and construction experts from all over the world can inform themselves about state-of-the-art technology.
The Construction Shows team took the opportunity to join the opening ceremony and arrived on site at 9am in the morning after a very busy tube ride with Munich public transport (MVV). Huge crowds of people queued at the entrance to be among the first to get in .
Thanks to online ticket booking, we could advance to the pass gate and get in quickly. After a short orientation, we headed to B6, one of the top blocks for construction machines and couldn’t wait to step outside on a wonderful, sunny day in Munich to eyeball the first brand new innovations from Caterpillar .
Back into the huge exhibition hall of Caterpillar where dozens of novelties were presented to the courious fans. Among the highlights, the massive 775G Off-Highway Truck, as pointed out by one of the Caterpillar exhibition safeguard members. You could see the fascination in his body language when he pointed that out .
A few more to mention were the nimble 444F, the monstrous D7E and the tank like D6T.
On to the next big player in the field of construction machinery. The Liebherr group presented all of its innovations outdoors around a remarkable fair building to meet inside for detailed discussions or admire the view from one of the top floors of it . By chance we bumped into one of the owners of Liebherr – Dr. h.c. Isolde Liebherr – while we were checking out the little innovation cubicle showcasing LiDAT – a comprehensive fleet and machine park management software – as well as further high tech innovations related to exertion reduction.
Furthermore, we were really impressed by the slick design of the 580 ,
the newest crane technology,
the newest LTM 1100-series,
and finally the 9400 bursting with strength to be put to action .
After a short noon break, we moved on to Volvo, the last stop in our self defined Big 3 tour. Volvo is known as a leading provider of a comprehensive range of wheel loaders, wheels and crawler hydraulic excavators, articulated haulers, motor graders, backhoe loaders, skid steers, and pipe layers. Arriving just in time for the eagerly awaited demo show, we were blown away by the artistic plays of the different construction machines. Fired by the show facilitator, diggers and other vehicles were first doing rounds, then digging and shoveling and finally, performing a Gangnam style dance among others.
After the show, we briefly scanned some of the other highlights in the outdoor exhibition area and the big hall: the L120G, the ECR1450DL, the A30F and finally the really impressive L250G .
Now that we have stopped by at some of the biggest players in the industry, we made a side-trip to Vemcon , a very young but highly innovative startup based in Munich. Vemcon was founded in February 2012 by three former TU Munich graduates with a background in mechanical engineering and is now a team of five highly motivated technology entrepreneurs .
The company’s core product, the uniGRIP system, sets out to revolutionize the excavator control system landscape in the same way Apple has changed the way people use their smart phone. In analogy to the iPhone, the uniGRIP system is not tailored to the seasoned excavator driver but rather to the novice or industry newcomer. Designed for intuitive handling and high ergonomics, the system was immediately usable by the layman as captured by our team on stage .Vemcon could already win several pilot partners in the past months and announced the official market entry simultaneously with the kick-off of the bauma 2013. Now is the time for leading building companies to learn about the potential of this new system innovation.
Inspired by the Big 3 player’s product novelties and the young startup innovation, we used the remaining late afternoon sun for an extensive walk to spot some of the upcoming, asian and niche player’s offerings. We glimpsed at Hyundai’s, Wacker Neuson’s, and DIECI’s new diggers, BOMAG’s and HAMM’s rollers, Putzmeister’s construction machines and finally ended up in KOMATSU’s exhibition hall to recognize the new HD785 amongst many others .
We went as far as our feet could carry us. The first day of the bauma 2013 was an absolutely exciting experience and a real blast. Do check out our facebook page or slideshow for further impressions and share your experience with us. We would love to hear from you.
Author: Christian Kählig, @IdeasEnabled
