云笼罩着年代how from concerns about the spread of COVID-19, CONEXPO-CON/AGG still managed to bring well over 100,000 attendees to Las Vegas. But the triennial equipment trade show itself was cut short due to virus concerns, ending a day early on March 13.
[For ENR’s latest coverage of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, click here]
Show organizers with the Association of Equipment Manufacturers announced there were more than 130,000 registrations for the show, with cancellations from international attendees at less than 1%. But the show, while not deserted, appeared less crowded than the 2017 CONEXPO exhibition, which recorded more than 128,000 attendees. Several major exhibitors chose to stay away, including Volvo Construction Equipment, Mack Trucks and software vendor Procore.
While some manufacturers and attendees steered clear, crowds still thronged to the sprawling showgrounds, with a clear appetite for new equipment amid a strong construction season. But worries over the virus slowly spread, and manufacturers sought to calm attendees’ fears about equipment deliveries.
重型设备经理对该病毒的最初担忧集中在中国的放缓将如何破坏制造商的供应线。但是这些问题似乎主要是解决的，本月有一些中国工厂返回网上。总部位于中国的设备制造商Liugong告诉ENR，由于冠状病毒而对其产量没有任何重大影响。新利18备用
Jim Umpleby, chairman and CEO of Caterpillar, told reporters that coronavirus had not resulted in significant disruptions so far to the company’s logistics chain. He said for the most part, facilities in China are back up and running. “We are monitoring it very closely,” he said of the coronavirus. “We are following the guidelines from the CDC, WHO and local governments.”
The larger issue may not be a disruption in shipping from China, but delays or even halts in construction activity in major markets around the world.
Chris Sleight, managing director for U.K.-based equipment market analyst Off-Highway Research, notes if a virus-related slowdown is coming, it’s arriving just as the global equipment market has peaked. “2019 was another good year. In our measure of the market, which is specific machine types, about 1.1 million machines sold worldwide, which was down just 1% or 2% from 2018, so basically the second-highest volume on record,” says Sleight.
Off-Highway Research focuses primarily on sales of earthmoving equipment and cranes, which it uses to track economic activity in key markets around the world. Sleight says the good times for equipment sales have lasted longer than he and some other industry analysts had previously forecast, and the impact from COVID-19 may only be one of many factors leading to a cooling-off period.
“Obviously the market has been in a good place, globally and in general, and most individual markets have kind of reached a peak. So we felt that even without coronavirus that the top of the cycle had been reached,” he tells ENR.
“现在很明显北美，欧洲和中国去年达到了顶峰。我们总是会看到今年的经济低迷，这取决于冠状病毒对此的影响。” Sleight说。“我认为我们会说（全球设备销售中）的周期性低迷可能是10％。现在，我不知道会是什么，但可能会超过10％。”
重新启动和新鲜铁
近年来，卡特彼勒（Caterpillar）一直在浓缩其重型设备产品，恢复模型并收紧阵容。Conexpo是一个机会，可以炫耀新线条，其中有七个挖掘机和五个backhoes作为展位的核心。
基于下一代挖掘机冷杉st introduced two years ago, the seven new models include three small excavators in the 13-ton to 15-ton range as well as two wheeled excavators. The 20-ton Cat 325 compact radius excavator is intended for tight work areas, including on roadways. The Cat 395 is the largest of the pack, a production machine with the same hydrostatic swing circuit as on Cat’s massive mining shovels. The Cat 420 XE backhoe boasts high-tech features as standard options, including electronic loader controls with programmable loader kickout and return-to-dig function.
案例施工设备带来了Conexpo的场合，以推出其电动反铲装载机，称为ZEUS Project。580 E构建在与CASE CE的柴油供电的反铲装载机的同一平台上，并能够完全转移其锂离子电池库的一次充电。根据案例CE代表的说法，铲子可以在八个小时内充分充电，并具有与柴油动力的同一桶形突破性力量。
John Deere introduced its SmartGrade 333G Compact Track Loader at CONEXPO. It is Deere’s first compact machine that features its proprietary SmartGrade grade-control system. The Moline, Ill.-based company also revealed a new scraper earthmoving productivity system that offers operators real-time tracking of the volume of material in its scrapers via an in-cab monitor.
Amid the forest of tower cranes in CONEXPO’s festival lot, German-based crane maker WOLFFKRAN had its 166-B slewing tower crane set up. Already available in Europe, the company thinks the crane’s small footprint would be a good fit for construction in busy U.S. metro areas.
“Customers really like how quickly they can put up this crane,” says Todd Yager, president of WOLFFKRAN’s growing U.S. operation. Building out the company’s U.S. presence has taken time, but Yager says the interest level at the show was strong despite subdued crowds. “This has been a good week for us.”
By Jeff Rubenstone in Las Vegas, with Scott Blair, Aileen Cho, Jeff Yoders
