23.05.2003

Impressions of Paris

There was a lot for Intermat visitors to see – full reports will appear later, but here are some first impressions from the Vertikal.net team of reporters.

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Sunrise in the Intermat crane sector

For five days Intermat in Paris was home to the world’s construction industry. Among the hundreds of stands were many important manufacturers from the lifting industry and three of them, Liebherr, Manitowoc Crane Group and Terex, had three of the biggest stands at the show. A national strike, which brought much of France’s public transport system to a standstill, blighted the opening day of the show, but many determined visitors nevertheless made it to the show. Thursday night saw Intermat’s first late night opening which met with mixed responses – those companies that organised stand parties felt it was worth while, those that did not were left with empty stands. Total visitor numbers were down because of the strike, but the organisers nonetheless registered 180,000 visitors.

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Thanks to all the readers that visited our stand!

There were many new launches at Intermat as previewed in “Cranes & Access”, but there were also some surprises at the show – Haulotte with crawler mounted platforms, the launch by French scaffold manufacturer Comabi of a range of one man vertical lifts, and (even though it was expected) the public display of Terex-Demag’s AC 700 – the largest mobile crane at the show.
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Liebherr's new EC-HM tower crane

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The new 600 tonne capacity Manitowoc 18000 was visible throughout the showground

For crane buyers there was the rare chance to visit the three main manufacturers in one afternoon. Collected together in one of the outdoor areas were Liebherr, Manitowoc Crane Group and Terex – all separated by just a metre or two of aisle!
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Sold at the show! Adrigham & Barnhoorn bought this Sennebogen 680 HD during the show - here Jack Barnhoorn (right) applies the new decals.

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The crane industry in Paris

For buyers of powered access equipment, there was plenty of news. In the 3.5 tonne truck-mounted sector in particular there was plenty of action with new launches from Haulotte and Manitou (although the latter is currently only available in France). New platforms were also presented by newcomer Lionlift.

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The Stargate 7638 from Oil & Steel is mounted on an all terrain carrier from Marchetti and has a 76 metre working height.

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A new articulated, crawler mounted platform from Haulotte.

Recent years have seen growing interest in the potential uses of telescopic handlers and Intermat was no exception. The “crème de la crème” was at the show and an important new range was launched by Caterpillar. Also exhibiting were Merlo, JCB, Dieci, Manitou, Genie, JLG, Haulotte, Case, New Holland and Bobcat.

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Dieci's range of telescopic handlers was in the halls.

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Manitou Twisco

Its always tempting to just look at the biggest machines displayed at international shows, but some of the smaller machines also deserved a look. Teupen’s trailer mounted platforms weigh just 750 kilogrammes and can be towed by anybody with a “B” class licence. In the small crane sector, Locatelli’s 12.5 tonne GRIL 8125 AT crane was on show as with an electric power pack.

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Tower cranes at Intermat.

But it’s not just the exhibits that make a good show. Our final comment goes to Clive Elsbury who won a free trip to the show courtesy of "Cranes & Access", Air France, and the Intermat show organisers:

"Over the years I have been to many shows and it never fails to amaze me how much smaller the carriers become and just how much more capacity the upper structures of the cranes and access platforms have. There was a wonderful display of equipment on show and the exhibitors all did the industry proud. Genie, Upright, Ruthmann and Wumag were all very helpful.

"It was good to meet up with so many 'old faces' and to make new contacts.

"Intermat was and will undoubtedly remain one of the foremost plant exhibitions in the World - travel strikes permitting!"
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Our own stand proved a draw to young and old alike!!

* For more information about products displayed at the show read our on-line preview: "Vertikal Intermat"