The Brains at BAUMA

The Biggest Thinkers in the Equipment Business March to Munich

BAUMA is a meeting of the minds as much as it is a meeting of the machines. For seven days in an unseasonably hot Munich, 500,000 visitors from all over the world converged on the new Trade Fair Centre for eight-hour days of discussing the world of construction equipment.

Following the smells of engine oil, beer and pretzeled bread, CE marketing manager Pete McNeil and I roamed the giant German fair, armed with a recording device and a camera. We weren’t just searching for the latest in innovative small equipment; we were also looking for the brains behind these unique new machines. Besides attracting the latest and greatest construction industry innovations, BAUMA also draws the top brass, engineers and marketing minds behind the equipment. Turn a corner and there’s Caterpillar chairman and CEO Jim Owens speaking to the press corps. in person, a perfect opportunity to glean insight into the world’s construction markets.

“Despite slowing economic growth in the U.S., the rest of the world is doing quite well,” noted Owens at the packed BAUMA press conference. “Many of the industries we serve, like mining, global oil and gas and infrastructure development are strong and continue to grow. Our sales and revenues and profit per share continued to increase despite significant weakness in two important U.S. industries — housing and on-highway truck engines.”

But you don’t need a CEO to tell you that. Just walk into a booth like Komatsu and you’ll find product managers like Wolfgang Immel, Deutschland sales and product marketing utility manager. Visitors walk up to him and just pick his brain. Wolfy, what’s the small equipment market like in Europe?

“Well, you have a lot of different markets. Germany has a big mini excavator market. Italy has a big skid steer market. All of Europe, except for the German market, is really good for backhoe loaders,” Immel mused. “But in Germany there are only 80 units of backhoes sold into that market. In Germany, skid steers and track loaders are very much in decline as well — only 300 or 350 units are sold a year.”

Interesting… Why is that?

“That’s because Germany is a compact wheel loader market,” explained Christopher Lee, Caterpillar marketing communications manager, talking at his booth shortly after. “We find that 50 to 60 percent of the compact wheel loader market is in Germany.”

Answers to almost any question could be found at BAUMA. Flip to page 18 of this publication and read our journey through the world’s largest trade fair in the cover story “Beyond BAUMA.” For extended insights and photography, visit CE Unbound at www.compactequip.com. What we can’t fit in the magazine these days, we stick online (BAUMA headlines like Volvo’s claims to the wheel leader crown and John Deere Power Systems’ new Interim Tier 4 engines).

We’ve brought the best parts of BAUMA back to our readers. Rest assured that whenever minds and machines meet, CE will be there to bring you back their biggest news.

Keith Gribbins
Managing Editor
kgribbins@benjaminmedia.com

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