Highlights and insights from the Bauma trade fair

What were the hottest topics at the 2022 Bauma trade fair in Munich, Germany? What was a miniature wheel loader doing in the tech section? And did it all end with a big bang – or was it more of a beep? Get ready for a glimpse behind the scenes of this massive industry happening.

The Bauma trade fair for construction and mining is a recurring event that attracts exhibitors and visitors from all over the world. The 2022 Munich edition took place from the 24th to the 30th of October.

Visitors who found their way to the tech section of the fair had the opportunity to try CheckProof’s mobile-first platform for maintenance and HSEQ. Were you one of them? If so, chances are you met Joe Cage, Customer Success Manager in CheckProof’s UK team. Below, he shares his impressions of his week at Bauma.

This was your first time as an exhibitor at Bauma. What did you make of it all?

“It was so big! I’d never seen anything like it. I really enjoyed talking to people and getting new insights into lots of different industries. My job is about understanding people’s day-to-day problems and coming up with ideas to solve them, so Bauma was a very valuable experience for me.”

What created the biggest buzz at this year’s event?

“There were rumors going around that representatives from the spectacular building project The Line in Saudi Arabia were there, which everyone was excited about. I didn’t get to meet any of them, though.”

How were things at the CheckProof stall?

“It was very busy throughout the week. Our bright yellow colors, and the big cardboard rocket sticking up from our stall, really caught people’s attention. We had visitors from Japan, Canada, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Mauritius, Thailand… And from Sweden and the UK, which was less surprising, since we have our offices and a large client base there.”

What did people want to talk about the most?

“There was definitely a big interest in multi-brand asset management. Of course, the big OEMs prefer their customers to only use their brand but, in reality, most sites use machines and vehicles from several different manufacturers. OEMs want their customers to maintain their equipment and will promote their own apps to help do things right. But when it comes to inspection rounds or raising defects, it’s unrealistic to expect on-site staff to use a different app for every machine. Frontline workers are notorious for not using things they don’t see the benefit of, or that they find inconvenient.“

How can CheckProof help tackle this challenge?

“With our app and integrations, you have all the information and maintenance routines you need in one place, even with a very diverse fleet. That message really hit home at Bauma, both with asset management professionals and OEM companies.”

Pictures from your stall seemed to show miniature machines. What was that about?

“We’d brought scale RC models of a wheel loader and a crusher to demo our RFID tagging feature. People were drawn in by these miniature machines. When we explained the tags, and how staff has to scan them on-site to tick off a maintenance task, they quickly saw the value. A common reaction we got was: ‘As things are now, we don’t know if someone’s been there to perform the check, or if they just say they have’.”

How were the rising fuel prices affecting the conversations?

“People were very open to ideas on how to save money by reducing fuel consumption. We’ve seen customers achieve very impressive results in this area with our fleet optimisation feature, which combines data monitoring with gamification to minimize idling. When talking about this with visitors to our stall, it was easy to explain the return on investment, as well as the potential to drastically reduce their CO2 emissions.”

Any other highlights you want to share?

“When the whole fair was about to close on the last day, lots of people got into machines and beeped their horns at the same time. That loud drone of horns was really quite something. I also really enjoyed hanging out with people from the Swedish CheckProof team. Since I work in the UK, we mainly talk online, so it was nice to spend some time together face-to-face.”

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