Later this month, the Middle East’s equipment community will gather for PMV Live, which will take place in conjunction with The Big 5 at the UAE’s Dubai World Trade Centre.
The 2013 iteration of the show saw a 32% year-on-year increase in visitor numbers, and with the recovery of the region’s construction market now in full swing, expectations are running high for the 2014 event.
However, with approximately 350 exhibitors already confirmed for PMV Live, it can all become a little overwhelming for attendees. But fear not; we’ve got your back.
Spontaneously making fresh contacts might be part of the appeal of trade shows, but it’s always good to be a few steps ahead. Here are five exhibitors that you should watch out for during the event.
Al Wasit Machinery
Although most agree that the Middle East’s construction market is in the midst of recovery, it’s not all plain sailing. Project announcements are obviously good news, but until contracts are actually awarded, anticipated sales offer no substitute for signed order forms.
As Al Wasit’s Abdullah Hakan Izmirligil explained, 2014 hasn’t been easy, but there are plenty of reasons for optimism.
“The beginning of 2014 was fine, but after April, things started to go drop off a little,” he told PMV.
“However, from this month, we are optimistic. This is because of the projects announced at Cityscape and in preparation for Expo 2020. From April 2015 onwards, we expect decision makers to start plotting tenders. Enquiry numbers have increased substantially, so we are positive about the future,” he explained.
As Hyundai’s authorised UAE distributor, Al Wasit plans to showcase a diverse selection of construction machinery at PMV Live.
Izmirligil said: “Visitors to our stand will be able to see the latest models of Hyundai’s construction equipment and forklifts. Of course, our new lines of backhoe loaders and skid-steer loaders will also be on display. My sales team will be there, ready and waiting to help prospective customers,” he concluded. [Stand: OS 10]
United motors
As the local dealer for MAN Truck & Bus, United Motors has certainly had a busy year. MAN Middle East enjoyed a barnstorming start to the 2014, with a 40% increase in sales for its truck segment.
However, the German commercial vehicles manufacturer was not prepared to rest on its laurels. In conjunction with channel partners, MAN pushed on with an array of initiatives during the course of 2014, including its increasingly popular ProfiDrive operator training programme.
After showcasing its virtual driving simulator at The Big 5 2013, the company launched the off-road component of the course in Dubai in January. This concerted effort certainly seems to have paid off; in June, MAN reported a 54% year-on-year uptake increase for ProfiDrive, having trained 700 GCC drivers within a two-year period.
Safety has certainly represented a major focus for the company in the Middle East over the last 12 months; MAN also announced that its electronic stability programme (ESP) was to become standard in the Middle East, and revealed that it was testing its lane guard system (LGS) on GCC roads.
However, the environment has also been an area of interest for MAN. At IAA 2014, the firm offered a tantalising snapshot of how its Middle East truck and bus line-up will look in years to come. Suffice it to say, eco-friendly engines represented a major theme.
We’ve no reason to suspect that MAN will take its foot off the accelerator pedal at PMV Live, so the United Motors exhibition area is one to watch. [STANDS: OS 25 and OS 70]
Genie
It would be no exaggeration to say that the boom times are back for Genie. At last year’s PMV Live, the aerial work platform (AWP) manufacturer went above and beyond mere showcasing, selling a number of units, including two ZX-135 articulating booms, in as many days.
It’s been yet another busy year for Genie in the Middle East. 2014 saw the regional launch of the manufacturer’s largest self-propelled telescopic boom: the SX-180. With a maximum working height of 57m, it didn’t take long for this unit to garner attention locally; hardly surprising in a region where building upwards is almost always preferable to building outwards.
UAE-headquartered access specialist, Al Laith, became the first SX-180 owner in the region in July, after placing an order for two of the gigantic booms. Indeed, it is an Al Laith-owned SX-180 unit that will take pride of place on Genie’s PMV Live stand later this month.
Sadly, it’s not yet known whether health and safety regulations will permit attendees to be taken up in the boom, but we live in hope. [Stand: OS 90 ]
MB Crusher
Whilst MB Crusher openly concedes that its product is a relative youngster in the Middle Eastern marketplace, the Italian manufacturer is also supremely confident that its onsite crushing tools have what it takes to make it big in the region.
MB contends that the ability to crush materials at the job site makes its line of crusher buckets ideally suited to operations on Middle East work sites.
“[Crusher buckets] are advantageous because they allow end users to crush materials on site,” Zakaria Jbairi, MB’s area manager for the Middle East region, told PMV.
“MB units are very versatile; they can be used for earthmoving, construction, pipe-laying, and recycling applications. Right now, the demolition sector isn’t particularly mature in the Middle East, but we see this as another important market for the future,” he added.
No doubt, the manufacturer will be looking to demonstrate the versatility and portability of its novel crusher bucket line-up at this year’s show. [STAND: MEC D67].
Trimble
Machine control and telematics technology is by no means ubiquitous in the Middle East’s PMV sector, but its star is most definitely rising. One of the biggest global players within this sector is Trimble.
A primary driver behind the increasing popularity of machine control technology has been growth within the Middle East’s telecommunication sector, according to Andrew Caldwell, regional manager for heavy civil construction at Trimble.
“Telecommunications advancements have significantly facilitated the development of machine control and telematics systems,” he told PMV.
“The ability to communicate data on a real-time basis gives much more power to fleet owners and project managers. It allows them to take precautionary measures and make decisions that improve operational safety,” Caldwell explained.
2014 has been an important year for Trimble, bringing with it an array of product releases and renewed strategic agreements with Caterpillar. Moreover, this technology is still in its infancy, so we’re eager to see what the tech firm has in store for PMV Live. [STAND: MEC J92]
