When the voice of the actor Bruce Willis booms out of the loudspeakers in the Munich exhibition halls, it is time for the largest exhibition in the world: the leading trade fair Bauma, which presents construction machinery of all kinds. Every three years, Caterpillar, Liebherr, Zeppelin and this year more than 3100 other exhibitors show their new models and products on an area of 614,000 square meters. During his tour, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) was impressed by the digital machines and 3D printing processes used in house construction.
Above all, there is a lot of hardware to admire. “As an industry, we were late starters when it came to digitization,” admits Sebastian Popp, consultant for the construction machinery sector at the VDMA industry association, in an interview with the FAZ. It would be urgently necessary for something to change on local construction sites in view of the sharp rise in construction costs – after all, materials and above all craftsmen are often in short supply.
Of course, the construction machinery industry cannot do anything to change the high prices – but it can work on technologies that accelerate and simplify construction, that use materials more carefully and require fewer craftsmen on site. In short, machine manufacturers could help make construction more efficient. However, this requires standards. And up until now, they have not necessarily wanted to be introduced in the industry. “A standard comes at the expense of differentiation,” explains Popp. In other words, similar to the mobile phone industry, for example, each manufacturer prefers to produce its own connector in order to exclude the competition.
“The pressure clearly came from the customer side”
However, that is set to change: an industry-wide project – Machines in Construction 4.0 (MiC 4.0) – was launched three years ago with the aim of creating interfaces for the flow of data across manufacturers and machines, thereby promoting digitization and networking. At this year’s Bauma, the project, which more than 100 members have joined, is presenting a first common interface that enables shovels or grippers, i.e. so-called attachments, to communicate with the associated construction machine – regardless of brand and manufacturer.
Such open interfaces are now to be built up successively across all machines, explains association representative Popp. “The pressure for this clearly came from the customer side,” he says. After all, large construction companies have several construction sites at the same time and work with different machines from various manufacturers. “If a contractor then has to use five different systems, it’s inefficient,” he explains. The goal is “the networked construction site that works across machines and manufacturers,” says Popp. However, it will be a while before the excavator can talk to the concrete mixer and the vibrating plate.
The project is also known to Franz-Josef Paus, chairman of the construction machinery and building material systems division in the VDMA. Together with his brother Wolfgang, he runs the family business of the same name with around 300 employees in Emsbüren, which manufactures machines for mining and construction sites. You have known the industry for decades. They also say that one could have started earlier. But: “Today we have completely different options, also in terms of the components.” A lot has already happened with regard to improved engines that consume less fuel and are therefore more sustainable. Electrification is also high on the agenda. Machines are checked remotely, which increases productivity and safety. It’s the small advances rather than the technological revolution.
Productivity increase of 500 percent
This is the case, for example, with Putzmeister, a manufacturer of a wide variety of concrete pump products. The topic of sustainability has become very important in construction because compliance with CO2-Standards in construction is often a criterion for getting the funding, says sales manager Carsten von der Geest. For example, the company, which belongs to the Chinese group Sany, is developing methods so that the producers of precast concrete parts can automate the pouring process. Traditionally, bowls are filled with individual batches of concrete. The new process works with a pump that ensures a steady flow. Customers have seen productivity increases of 500 percent as a result, says von der Geest and advocates open systems.
Cranes are often on a construction site from start to finish.
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Image: AFP
Liebherr, one of the big players in the industry, knows just how valuable machine and process data is. “If we don’t get the networking right, then others who can do it will come along,” says Stephen Albrecht from management. According to Liebherr, it is already doing quite a lot in the area of digitization and networking. In one project, for example, a camera attached to a crane records the procedures and processes on the construction site in order to use the data to improve them. Liebherr would also like to work with “defined interfaces” from MiC 4.0, since the data is very sensitive. The industry initiative will still have a lot to do in the coming years.
