PLATFORMERS’ DAYS
44
access
INTERNATIONAL
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014
see the arrangement as away of forging growth
inGermanywith a complementary set of
products.
Oil&Steel had its Snake 20.10H+on its
booth,which is its biggest sellingmodel on a
3.5 tonne chassis inGermany and incorporate
the company’s latestH-stabilisation system.
WithGermany beingone the biggestmarket
in the 3.5 tonne truckmount sector, the
company is hoping to extent its sales of around
50 to80machines of this type per year.
Michael Schapperth, salesmanager forOil
&SteelGermany, said,“It’s a goodmarket, so
all our competitors from Italy come here to try
their luck.”
Although the general feeling about the
market is that it is somewhere just above flat,
Mr Schapperth said it hadbeen affected long-
termby the actions of those sellingmainstream
equipment like scissors andbooms.“A lot of
companies lowered their prices during the
recession,but now the economy is better, it’s
difficult to raise the price again.We didnot
lower our prices - sometimes itmeantwe lost
anorder to a competitor but it is better now.”
Looking at theGermanmarket objectively,
he adds,“Peoplemay class things as bad,but
if you lookover a 10 year periodGermany is
always pretty stable.”
Of course themanufacturer alsoproduces
trackmountedplatforms, and says these
amount to20%of its sales inGermany,
compared to80% for truckmounts.
German spidermanufacturerTeupenwas
also there, and confirmed, as inmany other
countries, trackedplatforms are a niche product
but their popularity is growing.For example,
sales director forEuropeMichaelVennemann
says rental companyGardemannhas around
4600platforms but only 30 spiders; a situation
T
he rainprior toPlatformers’Days,
which tookplace 12-13September,
meant the exhibitionfieldwas
waterlogged, causing a headache for those
trying to get theirmachines on site. In some
cases liftswere set upon the sidelines to
avoid themuddyfield.However, the drizzly
conditions,particularity on the first day,did
not dampen the overall view that theGerman
AWPmarket is on the rise.
While themajority of exhibitors had
launched their newmodels for this year
atAPEX, the showboasted a number of
newproducts and initiatives.For example,
Ruthmann launched itsCity-SteigerTU285
truckmount on a 7.5 tonne chassis. It has a
28.5mworkingheight and a 20.5moutreach
with the boomplacedon the backof the truck
chassis.
PBLifttechnik introduced a newEcoline
mast liftwith a 11mworkingheight,while
Airo alsohad a new verticalmast ondisplay,
the 10mworkingheightV10.
Airo and fellow Italianmanufacturer Isoli
also announced a newdistributor partnership
withOmmeLift,whereby theDanish
producerwill provide service andparts for both
companies inGermany.The three companies
Theweathermay have been
a bit unkind to exhibitors
at Platformers’ Days in
Hohenroda, Germany, but
a vast majority of themain
Europeanmanufacturers
had signed up for the
show andwere in good
spirits.
AI
was there.
Teupen’s Leo 21 GT is popular
in the Germanmarket.
Palfinger Platforms had the first production
model in Germany of its P 160 TX Smart
at Patformers’ Days. The fully hydraulic
model has aworking height of 16m and no
outriggers and designed to be compact.
that is not going to changewildly,he adds.
“The endusers understand the benefits of
thesemachinesmore,while rental companies
look at price and tobulkbuy.So, enduserswill
always be a better customer.”
Looking to another product typemarket, low
level access ismakingheadway inGermany.
BrianKing,owner ofUK-basedPowerTowers
feelsBGBAU (German Institution for
StatutoryAccident Insurance andPrevention
in theBuildingTrade) ismoving in the right
direction.At themoment theGerman industry
mainly uses steps andplatform towers,which
was commonplace in theUK in the 1990s.
PowerTowers gave the institute 24of its low
level accessmachines, including threePicolifts,
on long-term loan so that it couldmonitor
trials of their use.
MrKing claims thatBGBAUprefers using
PowerTower’s low level equipment over the
commonly-used types.“Low level access is in
its infancy;Germany does not have the same
health and safety teeth thatwe have in the
UK,”saysMrKing.
At Faraone, an Italianmanufacturer of
ladders and low level access equipment, areas
Looking up