In the world of concrete equipment, Putzmeister needs no introduction. The German company has been showing the way for concrete pumps, mixers and other kit for decades now and is a brand with a long and fruitful presence in the Middle East.
At Big 5 Heavy 2023 in Dubai in December, Putzmeister was back at the event after a gap of three years, having last participated in 2019.
Giving a short history of Putzmesiter in the region, Patrick Reichel, Regional Director, Putzmeister Middle East, said: “We’ve been based in the UAE for a long time now, handling the MENA countries. Putzmeister is a supplier of concrete machinery in terms of truck-mounted concrete pumps, stationary concrete pumps and placing booms, transit mixers, as well as batching plants and other
products, such as industrial pumps and underground machinery.
“The Big 5 has been quite successful for us. We had not been present at this event since 2019 and we thought it was time to come back and meet all our customers.”
Speaking about the latest developments at Putzmeister, Reichel adds: “We have introduced the iONTRON, a new sustainable product. It is a truck-mounted concrete pump, which is the first hybrid, emission-free pump of its kind in the region. It comes with 40 and 50 metre booms in this region. In Europe, we’ve also introduced its 20m version.”
Putzmeister has performed very well in the Middle East market recently, Reichel says. “We’ve had several successes in 2023 as well as in 2022, especially in Saudi Arabia where we have supplied various units to the famous NEOM project. These units include our 42 and 56 metre boom pumps, as well as our first hybrid, emission-free truck mounted concrete pump with 42 and 47 metre booms.”
Putzmeister’s precast concrete solutions
Another new solution that Putzmeister showed off at the Big 5 was one aimed at the precast concrete products customers. Representing this solution at the show was Ben Pfieffer, Sales Manager, Special Application Business, Putzmeister Germany, who said: “I’m here to support our precast customers to optimise their concrete transportation and distribution systems in their precast factories.
“We offer a system where we have a concrete pump solution that directly takes the concrete from the batching plant and puts it into the formwork element in the precast factory. This is a specially interesting for our Middle East customers, there are many upcoming big projects in the region that will require large quantities of concrete, and for this there’s no better solution than this pump solution from Putzmeister.”
Pfieffer added that while this new solution is not yet so well known in the Middle East, there are many such factories in Europe already.
“In this region, we now have the first of this new technology in Saudi Arabia and that’s why it’s great to be here at Big 5 to be able to promote this amazing solution,” he said.
Over at Putzmeister mortar technology, Binoj Balakrishnan Syamala, Regional Sales & Application Manager, explained that Putzmesiter launched the mortar technology products way back in 1968.
“There are different materials used for different applications and the customers’ requirements at the site also vary. That’s why we are providing different solutions for customers with various products form our portfolio. We provide diesel as well as electric machines for all applications and, of course, our machines are all made in Germany,” Binoj explained.
“In the Middle East we have a wide network of partners throughout the region and we are working very closely with customers in key projects in the region. We are in NEOM projects in Saudi; we are in different projects in the UAE; we are in the oil field projects for the fire-proofing applications.”
Binoj added that there are several interesting projects coming up in Middle East, particularly in countries such as Saudi Arabia, which his division at Putzmeister was working closely with.
“In the coming years, we will be expanding our network in the region. We are also expanding our support to customers with the new solutions and products, which are designed for the Middle East’s extreme climatic conditions.
“We also have machines with Stage V engines, which are more efficient and greener products,” he added.
“We are in Big 5 to be very close to all our customers in the region and the future for Putzmeister is bright. We want to work very closely with customers to make their projects and futures brighter.”
Putzmeister-German Gulf partnership
Making customers’ futures brighter with Putzmeister is a process where dealers are vitally important and in the UAE that partner is German Gulf. Sreeraj Venu Nair, Sales Manager at German Gulf, who was present with Putzmeister at their stand, said: “We are the dealers for Putzmeister for five decades now. We have a long partnership with them and have worked on some very prestigious projects together in the UAE, like the Burj Al Arab and the Burj Khalifa, and the CL Tower, which is the tallest hotel in the world.
“We are currently working together on some very important and prestigious projects in the UAE. Our partnership is really fantastic and we’re more like partners in the true sense of the word, rather than having just a supplier-principal relationship.”
Speaking about recent market performance, Nair added: “The year 2023 has been a fantastic year for us, full of great results, and 2024 looks promising with a number of new projects coming up in Dubai. We wish success for both German Gulf and Putzmeister in the years to come.”
The years to come will also bring some interesting new innovations from Putzmeister to the region, Reichel added.
“In the coming years, we will be bringing in some new products, such as the first fully electric truck mixer from Putzmeister. We have already started to introduce that product in Europe. And in the coming years we will be introducing these new technologies in the Middle East and North Arica markets as well.
“We also have a brand-new invention that comes only from Putzmeister – a 3-D printing machine. This allows printing of concrete walls and will be our new technology that we will introduce in 2024 in the GCC.”