Scaling the Bauma mountain

You know an exhibition was good when you're looking forward to the next one three years hence, even while this one is still going on.

There is a thing. It’s a look or a facial expression that marks Bauma as utterly unique in the pantheon of equipment exhibitions. There is a similar look that you see on the faces of exhibitors on the last day of other such shows; a look of blessed relief that says: “We made it through”. At Bauma, there is still an expression of relief, yet that look is different. You see it on the faces of exhibitors on the opening day of the show. And it’s an expression that says: “At long last. Today we get to share everything we have been working on secretly for the past few years”.

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Bauma is a mountain. It is not an event you attend or a place you visit. It is a thing you conquer. Rising to the challenge of Bauma requires grit, resilience and endurance. But when you have scaled the peak, the view is amazing; the feeling is euphoric; and you will have memories that will last you a lifetime.

10 times I have visited Bauma; and ten times it has defeated me. I have always returned with regrets: regret that the show didn’t last just a little bit longer; regrets at the things I should have seen but didn’t; regrets at the people I planned to meet but couldn’t. But not this time. This time I arrived in Munich with a very long and very detailed list of tasks. And now as I sit in the Munich apartment that has been my home for the past week, my suitcase packed and waiting by the door, my list of tasks is a sea of ticks. Every machine I wanted to see; every person I wanted to meet; every stand I wanted to visit. Done.

Of course, I am not kidding myself. I am sure there were dozens of hidden gems that I didn’t stumble upon; maybe there were enlightening conversations to be had while I was otherwise engaged. But I will return from the Messe Munchen safe in the knowledge that I gave it my all.

And trust me, the equipment manufacturers did likewise. Bobcat, Hitachi, Kobelco, Komatsu, Liebherr, Volvo, Wacker Neuson and all the others brought their A-game; their engineers made possible the impossible, producing equipment not of today but of years to come. There will be a time when there are hundreds of the new Komastu PC220s on sites around the world; when a Kobelco SK300 Straight Boom demolition machine goes to work; when an autonomous Liebherr wheel loader eliminates the strain of repetitive and tedious work; and when the Hitachi Landcros One evolves from stunning concept into a fully-fledged machine. When that time comes, we few; we happy band of brothers will all look back and remember when and where we saw it first.

The show was not without its disappointments, of course. At Bauma 2022, we were afforded a glimpse of a hydrogen-fuelled future. Three years later, hydrogen still remains tantalisingly out of reach while the electric revolution continues to gather pace.

But if a hydrogen future remains just beyond our grasp, Bauma 2025 proved that machine autonomy is right here, right now. Yet it is arriving in a quiet, subtle way - not as a human replacement but as a human aid. Liebherr’s autonomous wheel loader doesn’t actually require an operator; but the seat and the cab remain because there are some tasks and applications that still require that human touch. Komatsu’s PC220 has an autonomy feature that allows it to replicate movements and actions taught by the person behind the levers, thereby alleviating operator strain. Meanwhile, Hitachi’s autonomous excavator is perfectly capable of digging a trench to a precise length and depth. But it still requires a human with an iPad and an understanding of construction to tell it to do so. Any suggestion that the days of the human operator are numbered are, at best, premature, and - at worst - a long way wide of the mark. At least for now.

Along with autonomy, there was another, less palatable word on the lips of exhibitors and visitors alike: Tariffs. But even the presence of a looming orange cloud could not dampen spirits. This was an upbeat Bauma; a momentous Bauma; a Bauma that will live long in the memory of those lucky enough to be there. Deals were being struck, business was being done, and while trade wars might have been raging elsewhere, Bauma was a time and a place where the construction equipment world came together, united.

As I said at the outset, Bauma is a mountain. And each time I have attempted to scale it previously, it has taken something from me. It has hurt my feet, addled my brain and broken my spirit. But not this time. This time I have returned intact and I have brought back just a little bit of Bauma with me. I have brought back memories of experiences that very few people will ever enjoy. I have been aboard a massive electric Komatsu mining shovel; I have seen the dawning of a new equipment era with Hitachi’s Landcros One concept machine; I have seen machines from KTEG, Kobelco, Develon and Liebherr that will change the face of the demolition industry in the months and years to come. I have met people that I previously knew only by name or reputation, and people that know me purely as “that guy on the Internet”. And, like the hundreds of thousands of others that visited Bauma, I have borne witness to man’s ingenuity and innovation, and to the constant pursuit of bigger. Better. Safer. More.

And, best of all, I got to experience all of that and so much more with my son.

I fully intend to be there again in 2028. But, for now, auf wiedersehen Bauma. Und Danke.