Heralded as the world’s biggest trade fair for construction machinery, this year’s Bauma was the ideal platform for global construction firm Wirtgen Group to announce some big news.
Approximately 580,000 visitors from 200 different countries attended the 31st instalment of the show, held between April 11 and 17 in Munich, Germany.
Even with a massive 3400 exhibitors, Wirtgen Group stood out from the crowd at the trade fair. The company utilised approximately 11,712 square metres of exhibition space, which it dubbed Wirtgen Group City, making it the second largest exhibitor at the show.
Wirtgen Group used the international trade event to launch a new corporate identity. Purely a visual change, with nothing changing for its customers, it represents the strength of the Wirtgen Group of companies and symbolises its shared orientation towards its customers’ requirements.
Bauma 2016 was also the first instalment of the show to include the latest brand in the Wirtgen Group stable – Benninghoven. To celebrate, the exhibit also included a 48-metre-high Benninghoven BA 4000 asphalt mixing plant.
With the integration of the Benninghoven brand into the Wirtgen Group of companies, the global equipment and manufacturing firm now includes five strong product brands – Wirtgen, Vögele, HAMM, Kleemann and Benninghoven.
The rebrand sees the five product brands come under one harmonised logo and marks an evolution in the organisation’s corporate identity.
For Wirtgen Group Australia General Manager – Road Technologies Stuart Torpy, Wirtgen Group’s five product brands now form the complete process in road construction: from crushing and screening, through mixing, paving and compaction to milling and recycling.
“With Benninghoven now in the Group, we can cover all core elements of asphalt road construction, from crushing the aggregates to manufacturing the asphalt, placing and compacting the mix through to recycling and renewal of the pavement – we have it all covered.”
The Benninghoven brand of asphalt plants gels well with the existing Wirtgen Group products.
Mr. Torpy says the German-built, high-end asphalt plants align with Wirtgen Group’s own European roots – German-made equipment with leading technological features built to last.
The company’s new harmonised logo helps to establish all five brands under the Wirtgen Group umbrella, and further cements the corporations as a comprehensive solutions provider in global road construction.
Each Wirtgen Group product brand is a specialist in its own domain but all have an important role to play in the stages of pavement construction, and that’s a major message Mr. Torpy says the company’s rebrand is sending to the Australian market.
Wirtgen Group has had a presence in Australian since 1986, and its brands have since been tried and tested in the country’s versatile road construction environment.
Mr. Torpy explains that the company’s new corporate identity doesn’t change how the Wirtgen Group’s product brands operate in Australia, but it helps further establish the group as a leading road construction equipment specialist by providing its customers with the tools to complete the entire road construction process.
“All Wirtgen brands are very environmentally conscious in design and use. The Benninghoven plants add to that with their efficiency and environmental measures, including high reclaimed asphalt pavement mix capabilities.”
He says every Wirtgen Group brand has been treated as a separate entity in the past, but the rebranding allows the company to leverage those brands and create a more unified approach to how it works with its customers.
“Because of our Wirtgen, Vögele and HAMM machines we already have a relationship with 99 per cent of asphalt plant owners in Australia. Now, with Benninghoven, we can simply add to the dialogue and provide our customers with a well-built, technically cutting-edge and well-supported asphalt plant alternative.”
Keeping the ball rolling
Mr. Torpy explains that with added support from each of its product brands in Australia, Wirtgen Group is now working on introducing some new, leading equipment to the market.
The HAMM DV+ roller series is one such innovation that will be introduced to the country.
The HAMM DV+ roller series is unique in that it provides an ‘Easy Drive’ concept whereby automatic seat rotation means the operator can always face forward.
“Typically, the operator’s seat on rollers can rotate up to 90 degrees to the left and right. The DV+ is different in that it can rotate completely around,” he says.
Mr. Torpy explains that this key feature separates the HAMM DV+ series from other roller products on the market. It improves ergonomics, operator comfort and operator line of vision on site.
“In Australia there are too many fatalities where people have been run over in reversing, and this is one way of reducing that,” he says.
The HAMM DV+ series includes split vibration drums, even weight distribution and versatile pivot steering, allowing the rollers to achieve high-quality compaction even in sharp corners.
Thanks to its large track offset, the front and rear drums can operate in crab steering mode, making it possible to almost double the working width from 1500 millimetres to 2770 millimetres in relation to the roller drum width.
The DV+ series rollers are also available with oscillation technology, which allows for a higher rolling temperature range, and gives better compaction results through a fast and continuous rise of compaction. It also results in reduced vibrations in the area surrounding the machine, allowing dynamic compaction in sensitive areas, such as underground, around buildings, on bridge decks or above services.
The series also comes with the option of HAMM Compaction Quality (HCQ) – a comprehensive range of products used for planning, measuring, controlling, documenting and analysing the compaction process.
The DV+ series is widespread in Europe, but relatively new in Australia.
A versatile addition
Like the HAMM DV+ roller series, the Vögele MT 3000-2i Offset is a new and innovative product Wirtgen Group is introducing to the Australian market.
The MT-3000 is a powerful material feeder which stands out thanks to its uninterrupted, non-paver-contacting material transfer, which guarantees the maximum paving quality.
“It’s a lot safer and a lot cheaper to run than anything else on the market,” says Mr. Torpy. It includes the ErgoPlus operating concept employed on Vögele pavers.
The MT-3000 has very low running costs, much lower routine and periodic maintenance costs and related downtime compared to other equipment on the market.
With a large receiving hopper, extensive total storage capacity and a peak conveying performance of 1200 tonnes per hour, the Vögele PowerFeeder can empty a full truck in just 60 seconds.
The MT 3000-2i conveyor can be pivoted to the left and right by up to 55 degrees.
It can also link with Vögele pavers to automate distance control and prevent collisions between machinery.
Mr. Torpy asserts that the introduction of the HAMM DV+ roller series and the Vögele MT-3000-21 Offset to the Australian market will help strengthen Wirtgen Group’s reputation as a high-end road construction equipment provider, and bolster the company’s new rebrand and key message.
“We haven’t even touched on the new offerings from our other brands – watch this space.
“We now have five strong brands, and with good support between them, we are cementing our space in the market.”