Light Equipment Purchase Helps Amand Maintain Competitive Edge

The Amand group of companies regularly rejuvenates its equipment fleet at intervals of three to five years. On each occasion, several manufacturers have the chance to demonstrate their capabilities. For the last 20 years, Ammann has emerged victorious from the bidding rounds and in early summer 2018, 79 of its compactors were delivered to Amand.

Investments Yield Competitive Edge

In order to maintain its competitive edge, Amand is committed to investing in the very latest technology – a principle that has helped this family-managed group of companies to establish its reputation over the last 80 years. Nowadays, over 600 employees work at Amand’s two facilities in Germany, located at Ratingen (North Rhine-Westphalia) and Grumbach (Saxony).

Amand issues new invitations to tender for the compaction equipment it requires. It holds an open competition, usually held at intervals of three to five years. The previous tender for compactors was issued six years ago thanks to the excellent quality of the Ammann machines purchased back then. This year, three bidders took up the opportunity to tender. They demonstrated the capabilities of their machines in two rounds of tests under real conditions.

“Feedback from the construction site is enormously important – that’s where the machines are used, so that’s where we listen to user experience,” says Jörg Fröhlich, the senior company officer in Amand’s commercial management department who led the negotiations. Once again this year, Ammann prevailed over the other bidders as it has done for the last two decades.

This is a somewhat unusual anniversary, marked by deliveries to Amand of 79 pieces of light equipment – 10 more machines than the total for the prior investment cycle. The Ammann machines included rammers; towed vibratory plate compactors; reversible and heavy fully hydraulic vibratory plate compactors; and trench rollers. All compactors will feature Ammann’s striking turquoise and yellow colors.

State-Of-The-Art Civil Engineering

Amand will deploy the new machines in all the areas where it is active, including earthworks, civil engineering and road construction. Ammann’s equipment will be used to build motorways, railways, bridges and embankments, and also for development projects, cable conduit installations and canal construction. Consequently, Ammann compactors are present on all Amand worksites. Examples include the construction of the Angerbach Valley Bridge near Ratingen and the residential housing complex being built by Amand Project Development in Korschenbroich.

One compelling reason for Amand’s decision to choose Ammann is the Swiss manufacturer’s unique compaction technology. For the last 20 years, Ammann’s compactors have featured the patented triple-shaft exciter system that guarantees perfect running characteristics. “Ammann has consistently optimised the triple-shaft system so that our compaction technology also delivers visible financial benefits to our customers,” according to Carsten Peddinghaus, Ammann’s Sales Manager, Large Machines North. “That’s why these two anniversaries – of our innovative triple-shaft technology and of our longstanding collaboration with Amand – are closely linked.”

The Big Picture Is Important

“Groundbreaking technology is a key factor here, but of course our lengthy partnership based on trust is equally important,” says Mario Gebser, Amand’s Workshop and Machinery Fleet Manager. “At the end of the day, it was the big picture that convinced us.”

The machines did not stay in the yard for very long after their arrival. For many of the compactors, the order of the day was “straight to the construction site” – where they were exchanged for the old machines on the fly. “That all went smoothly, because our people are familiar with Ammann,” Gebser reports.

This isn’t the end of the story for the machines that have been replaced. They are overhauled by Ammann and allocated to the used equipment business wherever possible – showing that longevity and sustainability also are benefits of the compactors.