Dear ladies and gentlemen!
Welcome to this international trade press conference!
Many of you have already taken part for many years. Visiting bauma is a must for you. Together with you we got used to being able to report on record results again and again. bauma: even bigger, even more important, even more international!
Please let me stress at this point that this is by no means to be taken for granted. bauma is no self-selling item. Its success is based on hard work, on a strategy, clear positions, staying-power as well as resolution, courage and the will to change, team-spirit and well working partnerships. bauma – from its very beginning to today – has been a success-story – jointly driven by Messe München GmbH and the industry, companies, respectively, which present their products here.
bauma – and at this point I am putting my hat as manager of a company and exhibitor at this fair on – is the most important trade fair world-wide for our industry. Also compared to the other big fairs related to our industry - such as Conexpo or Intermat - bauma is the number one. This is where the world meets up and deals are settled. The efforts made by every single exhibitor each year are already incredible – but they still manage to do something even more impressive for the next bauma. For many manufacturers, the three-year-cycle that bauma is being held, has become an important milestone in internal production development.
Bauma itself has become a world trademark for our industry. It is such a good brand, in fact, that it runs very well and is also important to other markets. The developments and figures of bauma China last held in Beijing in November 2006 speak for themselves! Why this brand is so successful we have had the chance to stress time and again at the various press conferences around the world over the past couple of years:
- the stable and sustainable concept of the fair
- the clearly structured range of products with no unclear categories to be found
- the venue Munich which could not be any better. Worldwide there are only very few cities and fair-grounds which could call themselves equipped to host a bauma.
- the high number and level of innovation driven by and because of bauma
And this does not only apply to the technologies presented here but also to the trade fair itself. Bauma is continuously developping further. And this is due to the fact that we, the industry as well as Messe München GmbH, keep working on this.
We therefore often introduced something new to bauma in order to make it even more attractive. Some of these were of immediate success – such as the integration of mining technology in 2004. Other things– and I am thinking here of the idea of introducing so-called ‘partner regions’ – still require some more promotion.
In 2007, we have given the mining technology even more room. Also, we have given the idea of the partner regions another try. Do you remember the last two partner regions of bauma? You don’t? To be honest – this does not really come as a surprise. Unfortunately, we have not yet managed to make the public fully aware of this concept. These were – just to not leave this question unanswered – South America in 2001 and the states belong to CIS in 2004!
We will stick to this concept of partner regions as we firmly believe that it helps to address potential clients, puts even more trust in growing or booming regions which are or are becoming important to our industry, will increase the impact bauma has and will stress the importance of the top technologies presented here. With the Arabian peninsula as partner region 2007 – that is countries like U.A.E., Saudi-Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Yemen, - we have taken on a lot and did not spare any trouble. And – as it currently seems – successfully so, as we seem to have attracted some high level decision makers of that region to come to Munich. This means even more business opportunities for all of us!
bauma – this brand in particular stands for innovation. Such a wide range of the best and latest in machinery and its related areas is nowhere else to be seen – only here at bauma in Munich. For many an exhibitor bauma is the essential platform to present their innovation to the market for the first time ever.
It is therefore only a logic step to take to also give the bauma Innovation Award offered by the German construction industry more room and importance. This award has been presented for the eighth time already. As in previous years, the award is offered by the German associations of manufacturers and operators of construction equipment and building material machinery. With presenting the award we want to achieve two things in particular. On the one had, we aim at rewarding the companies for their efforts to push on with innovation and, on the other hand, at increasing public awareness of the latest developments.
The award will be offered for the first time in five different categories.
It is with enormous pleasure that I am able to officially announce for the first time those 15 nominated innovations which have made it to the final round. They have been chosen among 72 applications.
In the first category, new developments in machinery, these are:
- The KS press for variable element sizes by Lasco Umformtechnik GmbH, which allows that the relevant stone is already pressed at works into the forms required for the construction. With this method, sawing of stone at the construction-site is no longer necessary. But the biggest advantage of this new method: there is no waste and raw materials as well as energy are exploited a lot better.
- The cold milling machines W100 F by Wirtgen GmbH. This innovation stands for a totally new generation of machinery used for milling surfaces made of asphalt and concrete in road works. Up to now, only much bigger and much more expensive machinery was able to perform similar tasks.
- A new crane conveying system by Bilfinger Berger AG Machinentechnik used in particular for the construction of tunnels. This system can also be used as excavation material hoist or as crane.This system is able to handle extreme depths and is adjustable to any given construction-site due to its highly modulare design.
Nominees in category 2, new developments in machinery components, are among others:
- The SH steady endhose by Putzmeister AG, which drastically decreases the risks of an accident when working with concrete.
- Hydac’s new HYDAC-Lab which is a compact multi sensor which allows online controlling of hydraulic materials and lubricants. It ensures the availability of machinery and construction equipment.
- The integrated winch system from main hoist ropes and hydraulic hoses for diaphragm wall cutters by Bauer Maschinen GmbH. With this device, synchronisation of the jacks in no longer necessary.
In the third category, outstanding performances when it comes to construction methods or buildings, the following innovations made it for the final round:
- High-rise concrete conveying at Burj Dubai. This project is a world-record in itself. It has redefined what is possible in the domain of fresh concrete high-rise pumping using concrete pumps, particularly for high-strength special concretes.
- The latest highly efficient processes in manufacturing and installation of precast bridges, which Bilfinger Berger AG developed while working at the Taiwan High Speed Railway project. With the installation-processes, any surfaces can be bridged – water as well as densely populated areas without disturbing the traffic running through it.
- The new method of installing two layers of asphalt one immediately after the other by Hermann Kirchner Bauunternehmung GmbH. By using this compact asphalt, optimal density is ensured each time. This massivly increases the durability of asphalt surfaces used in road work construction.
In the fourth category, innovative and forward-looking research results, the jury nominated the following innovations:
- The dynamic load plate test by Mechanische Werkstätten Gerhard Zorn. The new in field test for investigation of dynamic deformation modulus of soils and layers at earth works. It is suitable for compaction controland for check up of load capacities of construction layers.
- The image-based rating procedures for fair faced concrete developed by the Technical University of Dresden is a digitally operating evaluation method which allows a fast evaluation of concrete surfaces. It is a more objective basis on which all involved in the construction can take their decisions on the quality of the relevant concrete surfaces.
- The mixer with intelligent control by Gustav Eirich Maschinenfabrik makes, for the first time, quantitative measuring and controlling of mixing processes possible. With this method, the mixing process is documented and repeatable at any given time allowing the exact same result.
In the fifth categories, design, nominees are:
- The new design of the wheeled loader generation 6 of Liebherr Werk Bischofhofen. It combines safety aspects and user-friendliness. The new design makes these technical advantages visible.
- The fixed concrete pump BSA by Putzmeister AG. It shows a new trend in design for concrete pumps as it is made of new materials – less steel and more plastic-based materials, and also shows different, less common forms. It is also easier to use and to maintain which customers will find of particular interest.
- The new paver generation Joseph Vögele AG offers. Their new paver comes with ErgoPlus, a totally new concept for operating these machines. This new design centres around the user’s well-being and reduces the signs of fatigue while operating these machines.
Let me now say congratulations to all nominees and a very big thank you to all companies which submitted their applications for this award.
All information about the nominations, the final round and the award ceremony which is to be held in Munich on April 22nd have been documented in texts and photographs – in German and English. The documents are available on CD-ROM and to be found at my association’s information desk.
Here you can also find detailed materials on economics, our industry in particular and the relevant countries of the partner region. Among other things, we have prepared a market report for you.
Let me say one last thing here now: We are currently experiencing an extremely convenient situation: the construction machinery industry is booming worldwide and we all profit from it.
2006 was another record year for us, the German construction equipment and building material machinery industry – and this, with 2005 already having been an extremely good year. We were able to raise our sales by 16.5 per cent – which is a lot more than seemed realistic at the beginning of the year. For the year 2007, we forecast an increase for our entire industry of yet another six per cent. This would then be the fourth year of growth in a row. These extremely good developments are driven especially by the widely booming exports. But also domestic sales, which have been rather weak over the past 10 years, have started to pick up again in 2006.
It is the emerging countries, in particular, which are currently becoming industrialised very drastically as well as the countries rich in raw material which drive the market and make for the high increase in exports. This is particularly true for India, China, Russia and, of course, the countries belonging to the Arabian peninsula. In fact, this is one of the reasons why we chose the latter as partner region. In 2006, the German exports to the Middle East, for instance, increased by 45 per cent compared to the previous year. The total construction volume in this region is incredibly high. If all projects that currently are envisaged for Saudi Arabia alone will be carried out, the volume they represent will outshine by far all other projects realized up to now in the region.
There obviously are many reasons for us to look at bauma optimistically.
Please play your part in spreading this mood in your respective countries!
We are looking forward to a successful bauma 2007!
Thank you very much for your attention.
