Seeing the phenomenal array of construction products at last month's Conexpo show in Las Vegas, it was hard not to feel excited about this industry. Although some might argue that all we are seeing are new bells and whistles and nice paint jobs designed to make equipment seem impressive, I saw a lot of innovation. Many of the contractors in attendance said the same.
It would have been impossible to see everything at North America's largest construction equipment show. So, manufacturers, don't feel slighted if I don't mention your company or your new products. Even walking several miles a day as many attendees did, attending multiple press conferences, and responding to literally dozens of invitations to visit booths — and I apologize to those I didn't get to — it was not close to possible to see it all.
How about Kobelco's new products and its recreation of Route 66? Case introduced a couple dozen new products in its two-story extravaganza of a booth. Caterpillar packed them in to its booths and there was standing room only at its demonstration areas, as it was for JCB. Volvo's booth was the size of some small cities and judging by the crowds there, you would have thought they were giving away free Volvo autos. The managers of its new rental franchise program could barely get a minute to breath as rental owners and distributors came to find out more about that program, about which RER readers can learn more in this issue on page 34.
One new franchisee, who sold his rental business during the recent wave of consolidation, is too young to consider retirement — not to mention the fact that he has kids in college. He was looking to get back into the rental business without risking everything he'd earned when he sold, and he found the franchise opportunity to be a good balance between total independence and shared risks.
While visitors at JLG's booth were straining their necks to look at the aerial maker's new 135-foot boom, to me the more impressive machine was the Transformer, a combination aerial work platform and telehandler, which conforms to ANSI standards for both. And remember when JLG unveiled its Skyweld last year, which installed a welding machine in the basket of a boomlift, so a user could have a built-in welder instead of having to look for a place to plug in a welder and have wires hanging precariously in mid-air? Well, this year it added the SkySaw, which includes an integrated concrete sawing and drilling package; the SkyPower, with a built-in 7,500-watt generator; the SkyCutter, which has a built-in plasma cutter; the SkyCleaner, with an on-board pressure-washing system and the SkyBright, with a lighting system.
Atlas Copco, Multiquip, Compaction America, Ingersoll-Rand, Bobcat, Allmand Bros., Amman, Wacker, and so many others offered interesting new products, which we'll tell you more about in next month's RER. The economy still has a way to go before we're out of the danger zone, but let's hear it for manufacturers that continue to pave the way and create new possibilities.
