N
ow heading towards its seventh edition, the Bauma China
exhibition has wasted no time establishing itself as one of the
major international events for the global construction equipment
industry since the inaugural event in 2002. When it was last held in
2012 the exhibition filled all of the 300,000m
2
of indoor and outdoor
space at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) and
drew in some 177,000 visitors.
That puts it in the same league, or even slightly ahead of other major
shows like ConExpo-Con/Agg, which is held every three years in Las
Vegas, US and Intermat in Paris, France, which is also on a three-
year cycle. But it still has quite a way to go to overtake the ‘mother’
exhibition, Bauma inGermany, which filled 570,000m
2
of exhibition
space in 2013 and attracted 530,000 visitors.
But Bauma China has clearly arrived as THE major Asian show for
the industry. Of course the bulk of the visitors are formChina, but it
draws in plenty of people from neighbouring (and not so neighbouring
countries), and treats them to a world-class exhibition experience.
An interestingpoint aboutBaumaChina, is thatwhile the othermajor
league exhibitions are held in developed countries, the Shanghai show
is the biggest event in its kind in an emerging economy.Thismakes it a
very different experience to the likes of Bauma, ConExpo and Intermat
in terms of the visitor profile andwhat is being launched.
In terms of newmachines, Bauma China has very little, if any, focus
on the Tier 4 Final/Stage IV emission laws that are so important in
Europe, Japan and North America, and which are driving equipment
design for the developed world. Many emerging economies have no
diesel engine regulations for the off-highway sector, and those that
do tend not to go higher than the equivalent of Tier 3, because of the
scarcity of high-quality, low sulphur diesel in these countries.
But that is not to say there isn’t new equipment or thoughtfully-
designed machines on display at Bauma China. There is plenty to see
at the show, but the innovation is in different areas to emission control.
The key for companies looking to succeed in China and other
emergingmarkets is tomakemachines that are at the right technology
level, while being durable and reliable. They may not have as much
technology on board as the equivalent machine in Europe, Japan or
the US, but the challenges of designing machines to work long hours
in harsh environments without breaking down, while being simple to
service and repair is massive. And to do all that at a competitive price
starts tomake things properly difficult.
Packing something full of technology andmaking it very expensive is
relatively easy, but making something fit for purpose at a keen price -
‘value engineering’ - is a significant challenge
That is a different set of challenges to producing machines with low
exhaust emissions, but to do it well requires innovation. So Bauma
China should have some interestingmachine launches and surprises on
show, and without the constraints of the latest engine emissions laws,
manufacturers arguably have a freer rein to showwhat they can do.
Chris Sleight
Editor
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COMMENT
3
october 2014
international
construction
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