Following the vertical integration of other companies in the concrete business, pumping-machine giant Putzmeister used this week's World of Concrete show to launch a new line of mixer trucks. Little was said about the company's integration with China-based Sany, which bought the company last year.
The new truck is the result of Germany-based Putzmeister's acquisition last year of Intermix. The line is a "natural extension" of Putzmeister's existing products, says Dave Adams, president and CEO of Putzmeister America.
The trucks shown at the concrete show in Las Vegas are designed for the American market, engineered and built in the U.S., company representatives say. Only two parts—the hardened steel rollers on which the drum rotates—come from China.
Putzmeister also unveiled a 56-meter, five-section pumping boom that was originally built to compete with Sany in China but has since been adapted for the U.S. market. The two companies last year made the decision to split up their brands—marketing the lower-cost Sany brand only in China and leaving the premium Putzmeister brand to compete in other world markets.
"It's all Putzmeister product line here," said Bill Dwyer, vice president of Putzmeister America at the concrete show on February 6. "So Sany stays in China and Putzmeister is outside of China." Indeed, Sany, usually a large exhibitor, had no booth at this year's concrete show.
Although not on display physically at the show but seen in company brochures here, new pumping booms are now available from another Europe-based competitor, Liebherr, since its acquisition of Waitzinger this past October. Liebherr previously had a foothold in batch plants and mixer trucks, but it did not produce pumping booms.
Concrete equipment suppliers are expected to continue to further such vertical integrations to capitalize on the various phases of concrete production, delivery and placement.
"We're going to take it step by step," says Dwyer. "Right now, we've got to sell mixers."
