“A fantastic vibe” – Around the construction industry of the future in a week

From October 24 to 30, the Messe München exhibition centre became once again the hub of the international construction and construction machinery industry. With key topics such as “Digital Construction Site” and “Construction Methods and Materials of Tomorrow”, the world-leading trade expo bauma clearly had its finger on the pulse of the market, attracting nearly 500,000 visitors from over 200 countries to the Bavarian capital.

We too participated with a booth in the bauma Innovation Hall, packed with enthusiasm and our robotic shotcrete printing solution (metaphorically, that is). In the Startup Area, a first-time expo segment, we encountered a new generation of companies, that, like us, are driven by innovation and passionate about creating the construction industry 2.0. The pioneering spirit in the Innovation Hall was palpable – “a fantastic vibe”, in the words of our Chief of Staff Simon – and we were able to take away a lot of inspiring ideas and promising contacts.

Our 3D printed concrete parts turned out to be quite the crowd magnet, so our booth often resembled a beehive, with our booth team Alexander and Simon working hard to answer all incoming inquiries about the Concrete Aeditor and the robotic shotcrete process. We were also pleasantly surprised by the substantial number of international visitors, which made up around 50% of bauma attendees overall. In addition to visitors from other EU countries, we were able to welcome construction industry professionals from the US, Brazil, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia.

Our engineering colleagues also seized the opportunity to experience the industry in all its facets in one place and to talk shop with fellow engineers and construction experts. Philipp, our Head of Mechatronics & Automation Engineering, was delighted with the technical depth of the discussions he had and to see “how different exhibitors managed to balance high technology and robust construction machinery”.

All in all, we had a very successful week in Munich, not only introducing our 3D printing solutions to a wider audience, but also bouncing ideas with cooperation partners and suppliers such as KUKA outside of our usual day-to-day business. We received a lot of positive feedback at bauma, which drives us on and may in time lead to productive collaborations with new strategic partners and suppliers.