Fassitec leads Swiss knuckleboom market

"Fassitec is one of Fassi Gru's historic representatives, and has been on the Swiss market since the early Seventies – notes Luigi Porta, Fassi's Foreign Sales Manager. "The Swiss market is extremely important for us: it has a volume of around 600 cranes per year, with a market share of around 20%".

"Over the years, the relationship between Fassi and Notter has become closer and closer, going from business to personal with the entire Fassi family," says founder Armin Notter. "Today Fassitec is the best known company in Switzerland, the number one in articulated cranes. This achievement has encouraged us to explore other markets, for example that of Central America, and in particular Mexico, where we have been selling Fassi cranes for twelve years now."

"The Swiss market is a highly evolved one," says Luigi Porta. "It is a market that which requires mainly high tonnage cranes, those of the medium-heavyweight range, with great attention to versatility of use. Users are looking for a multi-purpose machine that which is able to deal with all types of request by customers". This is because "it is a small market, and everybody has to be able to do a bit of everything". Fassi has taken note of these needs and worked with them, to offer a product that which is both state-of-the-art and extremely competitive. "Switzerland has driven us very much towards higher working speeds, machines that are very well equipped, with extremely detailed, complex and special fittings. It is still one of the very few markets at European level in which the end user recognises the added value of a highly evolved product, and is prepared to pay a little more in order to perform special technical operations. One of the main features required by the market are folding hydraulic booms that are capable of high working speeds".

Armin Notter adds: "In recent years we have seen considerable expansion: in a market that ranges from 500 to 600 cranes per year, we have control of approximately halff, and have an extremely consistent order portfolio. In particular, the most popular Fassi cranes are those of 60-80-100 tons per meter, and without doubt we are the number one suppliers in this sector".

Swiss market follows worldwide trends

The Swiss market has been following the same trend seen in the sector at world level, Porta says. "After four years of maximum expansion, the market is now settling down, and this allows us to consolidate our position". Growth during recent years has involved the whole range of products, in particular the models ranging from 0 to 20 tons/meter, but the highest growth levels have been seen in the category of over 24 tons/meter. This is not only due to the creation of new demand, but because Fassi Gru has concentrated very much on offering machines that are fitted with remote control as standard, on increasing working speed and on improving multifunction conditions.

In the last four years, large international manufacturers have tended to offer solutions to make them stand out from the competition: "Larger manufacturers are trying to customise their products so as to turn customers towards new needs, and to make them stand out from other competitors".

This extreme drive to offer products that attract customers to a particular brand have has consequences in particular on smaller manufacturers, who "are finding it increasingly difficult to follow their larger competitors in terms of product innovation, because it is not just a question of one model, but of extending the innovation to the entire range," Porta says.

The rear cabin and truck-mounted segment in general of the Italian market is extremely important for Fassi: "it is the most interesting in terms of volume – specifies Luigi Porta – with between 8000 and 10000 cranes per year, featuring minor manufacturers who at present are mainly concentrated in the internal market and are much less present at international level".

In the near future Fassi is planning to further extend the product range in order to reach an increasingly varied and demanding clientele, Porta says. "Many years ago we launched the first large, 40-70 tons/meter continuous rotation cranes onto the market, and for a long time the frontier was 48-50 tons/meter. One and a half years ago we decided to drop down, and added models in the 38-41 range, and we are also developing models that are below this range, again with continuous rotation, between 29 and 33 tons/meter. What we want to do is continue to offer products that will allow us to stand out from the competition".