Few equipment manufacturers are located in as pleasant a surrounding as sideloader producer Baumann.
Cavaion Veronese has been home for over 40 years, a stone’s throw from the tourist hotspots of Bardolino and Lake Garda.
The location was said to have been selected for its proximity to a renowned nearby technical school by owner, Wolfgang Baumann, who believes craftsmanship “permeates the local culture”.
The fledgling business took just six months to produce its first model. A family company to this day, Baumann now sells its three- to 50-tonne sideloaders worldwide, through 106 dealers in 76 countries.
The production facility itself is arranged in halls, producing less than 400 units annually. So the emphasis is on high levels of durability and engineering integrity rather than mass market.
Fabrication, painting, CNC bays, parts storage and refurbishment are either side of the central assembly hall, whilst around the building exterior, tilting beds and manmade ramps serve as testing facilities.
A select number of suppliers help with items such as chassis and steering axle development, but a huge amount of work is carried out in-house, from mast creation to wiring looms, painting to welding. Per unit, the manufacturing process usually lasts around a fortnight, with up to another week, depending on capacity, set aside for testing. “We test at full speed,” says managing director Klaus Pirpamer. “Up, down, stop, start. On a higher level of work cycle. In real life, equipment is rarely worked as hard.” Baumann clearly respects its past whilst looking squarely to the future. It is committed to continuing spare parts availability for all models – that’s almost 50 years’ worth of designs.
Wolfgang Baumann is a regular visitor, and the odd set of bleary eyes during our visit betray the previous night’s celebrations for one employee’s 40th anniversary at the company. “There were a lot of stories to tell,” grinned Mr Pirpamer.
Back on the shop floor, new production techniques and new products are being introduced to ensure there will be plenty more stories in future. The innovations built into the smaller, AC electric-powered ELX, could prove even more important than this year’s Archimedes outreach system, for which Baumann gained its first FLTA award.
Unveiled at LogiMAT in 2016, the ELX is now in full production, with the first UKbound models being finalised for delivery later this month.
Mr Pirpamer has high expectations for the compact model, and has already predicted a doubling of electric model sales. As well as huge savings in weight, allowing a larger, ‘intelligent’ battery system, the ELX also features a redesigned chassis, new wiring schematic, steering axle and flow matching hydraulic system, all designed to provide a highly efficient and durable machine capable of efficiently working in small spaces.
Aside from likely persuading diesel users to make the leap to electric, it will perhaps represent Baumann’s greatest opportunity for winning back former sideloader users that have switched to multi-directional machines. “The main benefit to multi-directional machines,” suggests Mr Pirpamer, “lies in the smaller spaces in which they can operate. If you match that benefit, you’ll start to see our other features such as travel speed and distance, stability and comfort becoming more important to the user.”
Compct sideloader first
Baumann says the ELX is the first electric sideloader under four metres in length that retains a full well width and ground clearance. The bespoke battery more than doubled the work cycle expectations during field trials, but that’s not the only electric upside.
“Cost saving, of course, is a big factor, but so too is noise, added Mr Pirpamer. “In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, long-established companies which have seen towns grow up around them, are under pressure to cut noise pollution by neighbours and legislators.”
A robust chassis is a crucial part of the sideloader physiology. Progressing down the production line, an overhead crane is used to transport the huge chassis frames between fabrication and workshop, while a new rotator is used to help with mast welding.
“We sent people to the chassis manufacturer for over six months before adding them to our suppliers,” said Mr Pirpamer. “Simple requests, such as changes in fork length, have huge repercussions for the chassis, axle and deck. Our new outreach system also resulted in changes to the weight distribution, so the integrity is crucial.”
Mr Pirpamer credits a new technical production troubleshooter with helping to bring new developments to the production line, while technical director, Riccardo Bove, has spent years working on refining and revolutionising everything from electronic systems to hydraulics and ergonomics.
Another of this year’s new developments, a panoramic cabin, is also on show. Two years in the making, and following six months of testing, the cabin has been redesigned to strengthen the framework and allow central side struts to be removed. The previous cab, said Mr Pirpamer, improved visibility to the front corners, but the continuous glass side panel now means the driver has a muchimproved view from both sides.
There was also time to be treated to a view of the H2GX60, a fully-working prototype and fuel cell powered sideloader, developed in conjunction with a German energy business.
The concept was the first Italian-made fuel cell machine to receive European funding and has proved its capabilities with over 600 hours of field trials.
“For us we will not be happy until we’ve had at least 10 times that amount,” commented Mr Pirpamer, “but the case for hydrogen fuel use is still to be made, particularly in Europe where the cost of hydrogen is higher.”
The counter-argument suggests the answer is for businesses to self-generate hydrogen, produced on-site via wind or solar panels, or for hydrogen to be spun off from renewable sources where the fuel is, in effect, used as a storage medium. Whichever way the market goes, Baumann appear well placed to continue its tradition of high quality and highly engineered machines.
For what sideloaders may lack in terms of numbers, in comparison to counterbalance machines perhaps, they arguably make up in importance to customers where they tend to play a more mission-critical role.
“The pace of change is very fast,” concludes Mr Pirpamer, “maybe too fast! Customers tell us they like a new engine, but for us it is an old one. Similarly, others may not know, or care even, about fuel consumption on engine machines, but for electric models it is the total opposite. Our approach is to do what we do best, and to keep working closely with our customers. Whether new, or those that have been with us for many, many years.”
