It may not have pleased those that complain there’s already too many shows but Abu Dhabi hosted a new event last month, Intermat Middle East.
However, those that love machines must have been in their element, especially if they managed to make the journey to CONEXPO in Las Vegas a week earlier.
Abu Dhabi’s been pitching itself as greener city lately and the emphasis at the show was on the environment.
According to an interview conducted by BuildGreen with sustainability expert Richard Smith, Carbon Critical buildings technical director for Atkins in the Middle East and India, failing to comply with current and incoming regulations could cost up to 30% or more of GDP per year, leading to economic failure.”
With increasing fines and financial penalties being placed onto construction companies and municipalities such as Abu Dhabi initiating a series of green initiatives over the last few years, the event has understandably attracted support from a lot of companies looking to push recycling and waste management products and services.
Hyundai’s local dealer Al Wasit demonstrated the Korean manufacturer’s range of hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, skid steer loaders and forklifts, machines rated for Tier III.
“Hyundai’s efforts to offer environmentally friendly and durable products at economical prices, is most relevant when the construction industry is facing a tough time,” said SB Yun, Middle East Regional Manager, Hyundai Heavy Industries.
“We believe that this show will provide a good opportunity to reach this message to our customers”. Intermat was a real mixture of the old and the new. It also attracted a lot of new companies for the region.
Intermat has traditionally been a Paris-based event, and it brought over a contingent of French companies looking break into the UAE Among them, CEO Patrick Mansuy of Arcure, explained that the specialist in video pedestrian detection technology and the developer of the recently unveiled Blaxtair safety system see opportunities for new technology in the GCC.
“GCC countries and, generally speaking, the Middle East region are carrying out huge building works, involving thousands of heavy machines and hundreds of thousands of workers working around,” he said. “These projects are often amazing and are much admired worldwide.
“We are convinced that Blaxtair, by helping to save lives, could bring benefits to workers, to the building companies and finally to the global ecosystem.’’
Potain is no longer a French-only brand, but it featured heavily in the family of Manitowoc machines on display in the outside area (note to other event organisers, it may have been sparsely attended but the display area was a great asset of the show.)
Manitowoc hailed the reception of both its Potain MDT 268 tower crane and its Grove GMK6300L all terrain crane at the event.
Both featured prominantly and recently appointed VP of sales in the Middle East and Africa and former PMV interviewee, David Semple, explained that the two cranes demonstrate the company’s ability to adapt to the demands of the region.
“As projects in the Middle East continue to push boundaries, contractors are looking to companies like Manitowoc for innovative solutions that help them solve problems on time and on budget, “ he said.
“Both have features that set them apart and help customers in the Middle East with the challenges they are facing. Although they are relatively new, we have already made deliveries of both in this region and they have helped major companies on some high profile projects.”
The first customer of the GMK 6300L and one of Saudi Arabia’s best-known crane rental companies, Al-Mesallam, visited the show after purchasing two GMK6300L cranes through Manitowoc dealer Yusuf Bin Ahmed Kanoo.
Manitowoc explained that the two have been deployed in a range tower crane erection and precast concrete jobs.
The 300 tonne crane, which packs an Allison transmission for on- and off-road travelling and a 80 m boom, has subsequently been picked up by another crane rental company Al Tamini in Saudi Arabia and Sinan Heavy Lifting from Oman. With an Allison transmission, the GMK6300L has a powerful, reliable and cost-effective drive-train that offers unmatched performance.
The Potain MDT 268 towered over the display area, the crane is a favourite of Abu Dhabi-based Potain dealer NFT and the company explained that the crane, along with Potain’s larger model, the MDT 368, were lifting leaders during the construction of the Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, the world’s largest women-only university.
Over the other side of the world the triennial CONEXPO event opened its doors in Las Vegas last month and visitors were treated to a flurry of new launches powered by new technology and new regulations.
January saw new regulations come into effect with both the US’ Tier 4 Interim and Europe’s Stage IIIB engine emission laws being introduced to the industry.
All eyes were on the engine-makers and both Perkins and Cummins revealed their latest generation of engines.
Perkins chose the event to showcase its Industrial Open Power Units (IOPU), “a turnkey power package comprising engine, after treatment, radiator, air cleaner and optional compressor”.
Meanwhile Cummins debuted its QSL9 engine – a 9-litre engine it claims is capable of meeting near-zero emissions levels Among the new technology available was the Stonego robot, a construction robot the company said is designed to enhance “urban construction, demolition and tunneling projects”.
Previous generations of robots have been limited by small areas of coverage and agility while being relatively weak compared to manual alternatives. Stonego claims its robot is capable of 360-degree rotation, and “drills, breaks, bolts, scales and more”.
Bauer launched its new engine emission BG 24 H and BG 28 rotary drilling rigs. Inertia Machine is exhibiting three new mobile crushing and screening plants at the show.
Elliott Equipment Company showed its new 34127R boom truck with rear-mounted 127 ft (39 m) boom and 34 ton (31 tonne) rated capacity.
Zoomlion unveiled its 55 tonne capacity RT 55 and the 75 tonne RT 75, while JCB will launched its new line of skid steer loaders and compact track loaders.
Snorkel which is present with its double deck rough terrain scissor range also revealed the first big articulating boom to be used with its new Polaris chassis.
CONEXPO always features big announcements from the major players. Many of whom were eager to speak positively about the year ahead.
Most surprisingly, Chinese manufacturer LiuGong told the event that it is buying Polish company HSW’s (Huta Stalowa Wola) construction division, thus giving the company a manufacturing footprint in Europe.
Fellow Chinese manufacturer Shantui announced its arrival on the US with its launch of its SD10YE bulldozer, the company’s first product to enter the U.S. market.
Certainly on paper the machine appears ready for North American buyers.
The SD10YE is certified by TÜV SÜD America as Tier III emissions compliant, runs on hydrostatics, comes standard with a Cummins engine, and has horsepower rated at 100, or 74kW.
Like other Shantui offerings, the dozer also packs in value for the price, including Intelligent GPS service, automatic alarm system and auto-diagnostic functions keep uptime at a maximum.
The SD10YE also doesn’t skimp on operator comfort, its fully enclosed hexahedron–style cabin provides for low noise and vibration, and a high-capacity climate control system circulates air and defrosts.
“This is our first product that meets the stringent emission standards of Europe and the USA.
“It is on the vanguard of a whole line of new products that we will be introducing in the coming years,” said Richard Li, VP for International at Shantui. “Our aggressive investment in R&D these past few years is starting to show handsome results with the launch of the SD10YE,” he added.
Chinese manufacturers taking on the US market, French companies looking to push in the Middle East, the world really is becoming a much smaller place.
UITP unveils hybrid’s generation-x
The idea of travelling between Dubai and Abu Dhabi on the 250kph Superbus may caught the eye of the media, but the latest generation of hybrid engines could be the most important pieces of technology to come out of April’s UITP event in Dubai.
The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) is the biggest show of its kind dedicated to urban transport.
Urban transport planning has become a pre-occupation for the region’s governments and has already spawned projects like Dubai’s Metro and Makkah light railway. However there is much more to be done if a UITP report is correct in its estimation that by 2025 the number of trips made in urban areas will increase by 50%.
“In a business-as-usual scenario, that is to say, following current trends, this means that, between 2005 and 2025, the share of private motorised transport will grow and the volume of traffic on urban roads will increase by 60% with correlated lost hours in traffic congestion and urban transport energy consumption will reach 890 million tons of oil equivalent per year; and GHG emissions from urban transport will increase by 30%,” said the report. “The solution is to double market share by 2025.”
A growth boom is also forecast for the Gulf region. According to Siemen’s the market in Africa and the Middle East is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 4.5 per cent by 2016.
