Treading water in Europe
1 June 2015This month, we focus on Western Europe, reporting in more detail from Intermat. The show itself demonstrates some of the problems facing the region. No longer one of the big three international crane shows, it has now been relegated to the second division, with very many international manufacturers declining to take part.
There were some interesting innovations on show: Liebherr's LiUP operator elevator system, designed to be integrated into mast sections, stood out, as did Nicolas' re-entry into the market for smaller trailers, targeting construction equipment owners and hirers.
Overall though, with customers facing a tough market and persistently tight rental rates, manufacturers are rightly focussing on business efficiency, rather than showstopping new cranes. Our features editor Daniel Searle wrote our opening report on the crane sector in Europe in this issue. He tells me that in Western Europe, the key trend being discussed by crane manufacturers is improvements in efficiency and costeffectiveness. Manufacturers at Intermat told him that more and more customers are becoming aware of the importance of the total cost of a crane over its whole life, and with Europe up to speed on the latest technical capabilities of cranes, focus is turning towards making operations more efficient and less costly.
Some of the most exciting innovations have come from crane users, as they look for new ways to bid competitively for jobs. We open our news section with one such innovation, Barnhart's single blade repair system. Typically, when a blade fails on a wind turbine, the entire rotor needs to be taken down, requiring a heavy and expensive crawler crane. Barnhart's system uses instead a winch truck and some clever rigging to pluck the single damaged blade from the rotor and replace it.
Two of the most excting new cranes in recent years were launched at, or shortly before, ConExpo: the Terex Superlift 3800, and Manitowoc's variable positioning counterweight crawlers. I spoke to Terex Cranes president Tim Ford at the show, and Manitowoc president Larry Weyers shortly after. Both report strong sales of these cranes over the last year, demonstrating the crane owners around the world are prepared to invest.
But they are investing with caution. Terex's Ford summed it up: "It's episodic more than systemic." Around the world, that's what we've been hearing from maufacturers: some countries standing out, some manufacturers bucking the trend and achieving success in specific countries, but no consistent or resilient growth.
