ITC keynote speaker is Jörg Hegestweiler, BKL

Jörg Hegestweiler, managing director sales and marketing at BKL Baukran Logistik, will give the keynote address at this year’s ITC conference in Vienna on 27 June.

Hegestweiler, who joined BKL as managing director in January 2018 and has worked in the tower crane and construction equipment industry for 25 years, will address the changing environment for tower crane operations, including trends in the sizes of cranes and the financial model for tower crane rental.

“We have to rethink the size of the machines”, he told ICST, “In Singapore, for example, you have a trend towards prefabricated construction, with 35-40 tonne blocks needing lifted. Is Europe going to go that way?”

He will also highlight some of the challenges facing rental companies, citing the increasingly sophisticated crane control systems that add to costs. 

“Is the market paying for that?”, said Hegestweiler, “Pricing is catastrophic when you consider the current market situation, with a high demand for tower cranes.”

He said rental companies were benefitting from a strong market and relatively cheap finance. “But if rental utilisation rates go down to 60 or 70 per cent, then you will have a problem, definitely, whether you are working in Germany or the UK.”

Hegestweiler’s career includes18 years at Liebherr tower cranes and five with formwork specialist Peri.

Based in Munich, BKL is one of the largest tower crane rental companies in Europe, with a fleet of 400 towers as well as around 80 mobile cranes.

ITC takes place at the Savoyen Hotel in Vienna on 26 and 27 June, 2019. On the 26^th there will be a planned site visit in the afternoon, followed by an informal drinks reception in the evening. The full-day conference will take place on the 27^th. For more information see: www.khl-itc.com

The conference is organised by KHL Group and International Cranes and Specialized Transport (ICST). The event partner is SC&RA.