Hiab announced at Bauma its vision to have all new Hiab equipment connected by 2018. Urbanization will inevitably make cities more crowded, meaning that Hiab customers have more loads to manage in less time and in tighter spaces, said Roland Sundén, president. The company’s goal, he said, is all new equipment be able to communicate with other systems and devices by 2018 “so that our customers get to enjoy the benefits of connectivity.”
During Bauma, Hiab introduced several innovations including HiVision 3D vision control system, MULTILIFT Optima, HIAB T-Series cranes, and Hiab ProCare service agreements. At the Hiab press event, Rafal Sornek, vice president for technology and quality development, and guest speakers Michael Browne, Gloria Elliott, and Peter Tyreholt, discussed what the future holds for load handling in an increasingly urban and sustainable society.
“We need to rethink the flow of goods and do things in a much more systems-based way. Otherwise we will face incredible increases of congestion, which will either be seen as unacceptable or extremely inefficient. Urbanization is a complicated issue and we need to get involved more,” said Browne, a professor of logistics and urban freight transport at the University of Gothenburg.
“In addition to other benefits, I believe in connectivity and digitalization as enablers to solve a lot of the problems we see in urbanization. With a more connected and digital world we can create more sustainable business models with circular economy,” continued Tyreholt, senior advisor at Cybercom.