Compaction specialist BOMAG is celebrating its 50th anniversary at a time when the company is also recording a record financial performance

BOMAG has been part of the Fayat Group since 2004, which coincidentally, is also celebrating its 50th anniversary.

As the Fayat Group is family owned it does not publish its full results, however its roadbuilding division is an increasingly important part of the company and its turnover accounted for e765.8 million in 2006. Further growth is expected and general manager, Jean-Claude Fayat said: "And this year it will be over 800 million Euros."

The construction sector has been bullish worldwide but according to Fayat, the period of low interest rates and cheap lending has gone and this will put a damper on the construction market. However he said that he thinks construction growth will continue at a more moderate rate. "We are not a financial group and we are not looking for a quick profit. The majority of the profit we gain remains within the company."

The sub-components are put together separately and then assembled on the line allowing efficient and speedy manufacturing

The roadbuilding division, of which BOMAG, Marini and Breining form the key components, is a core operation for the Fayat Group. This operation includes road machines, asphalt production and road maintenance. "More than ever, we are convinced that family owned groups have a bright future ahead as long as they remain responsive," Fayat said. "The fast decision making process is one advantage of a family-owned group."

According to Jörg Unger, managing director of BOMAG, the firm has broadened its worldwide spread by manufacturing in other countries outside of Germany including the USA and China, as well as having licensing agreements with firms in India, Japan and Malaysia. This expansion has been reflected in BOMAG''s financial results.

Since the Fayat Group bought BOMAG, the financial performance has been impressive and has grown steadily. Turnover for 2007 will be in the order of e600 million, compared with 550 million in 2006, 456 million in 2005 and 401 million in 2004. Unger said: "We are talking about profitable growth. This makes us one of the most profitable companies in the industry."

Sales have grown worldwide and more specifically, in areas including Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. "Our aim is to achieve an average growth rate of 10%," he said.

He explained that this will be achieved through expanding sales in core markets using the proven product range, as well as transferring some of the technology from the firm''s larger machines into new light equipment models. Unger said: "We have not yet developed the light equipment business, which is why we are developing a more closely knit sales network."

The company also plans to develop a stronger presence in the hire business through its dealers and customers. Unger said that BOMAG has already gained a key rental chain as a major customer in the US for tampers and vibratory plates and sees further growth in Germany through OBI, which rents out BOMAG vibratory plates.
Meanwhile Unger says that BOMAG also plans to increase its presence in Russia, China and India, where it sees sales potential.

The company is also hopeful of business growth in other markets too. Key deals scored so far include large orders of machines to the Japanese and Chinese contractors now working on Algeria''s highway construction plan for another 1,200km of new roads. Unger said that BOMAG also wants to boost its presence in South America.
The company is keen to develop its range and Unger said: "Our development budget has increased over the last two years by around 20%."

Robert Laux, head of technology at BOMAG said: "In the R&D department we are working on the refinement of our product range. These tasks are much more complex than they first appear as we have to align our machine technology to prevailing regulations and guidelines.

This covers areas such as exhaust emissions, noise and whole body vibration, as well as improvements to the workplace for the operator. Between 2011 and 2013 we will have to rework virtually all our heavy machines as the modifications needed to comply with these directives have major implications."

Laux added: "Of course in order to maintain our edge, we continually carry out research on the basic principles of soil mechanics and material compaction. Different materials and compaction jobs require new ideas."

One of the fruits of this approach has been the development of the polygonal drum, now fitted to some of the firm''s soil compactors and which provides extra depth compaction according to Laux.

A more recent technical development is BOMAG''s huge BW236 soil compactor, seen in prototype form at the Bauma exhibition in Munich, Germany, earlier this year. This 37tonne machine is the largest and most powerful soil compactor built so far and can be used to compact material to a depth of 4m .