#CECEatINTERMAT – a quick recap

CECE would like to thank and congratulate the INTERMAT organising team, the CISMA team for sharing the booth and all our members for their support and professional collaboration over the INTERMAT week.

The fair was an excellent opportunity for CECE to create new and maintain existing good quality contacts and keep track of the amazing innovations within the construction equipment sector. It was also a great way to raise our sector’s visibility in terms of policy-making, share our new media content such as our brand-new videos and tackle the issue of Digital Construction from a value-chain perspective.

Should you have missed any information about our presence at INTERMAT, you will find below a little report of all our main activities. Want even more? Just contact info@cece.eu.

On Sunday, we welcomed our Executive Committee and Steering Group for internal meetings and our General Assembly. Together with our member association CISMA, the French construction equipment industry association, we lead the usual Market Surveillance tour, to see if the presented machines were compliant with EU regulations. 45 machines were checked over 29 different brands. 12 of them were not in conformity. For more info, please read our Press Release here.

On Monday, we hosted two special guests, Ms. Barbara Bonvissuto, Head of Unit, Advanced Engineering and Manufacturing Systems, DG GROW, European Commission and MEP Ms. Anne Sander. We organised private tours of the grounds for both of them, to showcase the latest trends of our sector. Our President Enrico Prandini and Riccardo Viaggi, CECE Secretary General, accompanied them during the INTERMAT Inauguration Ceremony. Moreover, Members of the CECE Executive Committee had the chance to sit together with Barbara Bonvissuto for a working lunch and discuss the hottest policy files.

On Tuesday, we started our busy day by attending the International Associations Committee meeting. This annual meeting with leaders of the global associations, was hosted by our partner CCMA (Chinese construction equipment association). It was a great opportunity to exchange on latest business and economic trends. We discussed the political situation in our respective countries and presented our current activities on digitalisation, a topic shared by all the major associations around the table.

Later on, we hosted the CECE Lunch Press Briefing. Enrico Prandini discussed the priorities of his presidency, such as the run-up to the European elections in May 2019, the relationship with machines’ users that will be tackled at the CECE Congress in October and the digitalisation project CECE just launched. On this occasion, CECE released some brand-new videos, which can be enjoyed on our YouTube. Prandini also presented the CECE Annual Economic Report, highlighting the current positive economic conditions of the construction value chain and of the equipment sector more specifically. For more info, please read our Press Release here.

On Wednesday, we were fully focused on Digitalisation! We presented for the first time in public the next step of the CECE Digitalisation Project – a 6 months study carried out by consulting consortium I&D / SIRIO. CECE Secretary General Riccardo Viaggi opened the launch event by presenting the background of this project and the ongoing policy discussions taking place in Brussels about the digital transformation of the larger construction value-chain. The consulting team presented the methodology and the timeline of the project, surely raising everyone’s interest and willingness to contribute to the research.

CECE representative Robert Laux (BOMAG), Vice-chair of our High-level group on technical policy, closed the launch event by giving an overview of how the leading manufacturers of construction equipment are coordinating this technological development within CECE.

We closed off the Digital Day by hosting the very first working meeting of the consortium of stakeholders that will prepare a bid to win a European call for proposals under the Horizon 2020 EU research programme for the creation of a Digital Industrial Platform for Construction.

On Thursday, CECE hosted an internal meeting with the newly elected president of iCEMA, Mr. Arvind Garg, our Indian partner association. It was the perfect opportunity to exchange on current international trends and strengthen our worldwide relationships. It also remained a very busy day for our technical experts which will gather together and take part in various Product Group meetings. Furthermore, INTERMAT organised the INTERMAT RENTAL DAY. It showcased an exclusive round table on the theme "Equipment Rental in 10 years", addressing the market’s growth perspectives and its changing trends.

Friday was our last day at INTERMAT. We took that last opportunity to meet stakeholder and press on our stand. It was a real pleasure to meet so many interesting people from the entire construction value chain and discover all the brand-new technologies of the Construction Equipment sector.

We thank you for following us on our INTERMAT journey, we already look forward to renewing the experience in three years!