The advantages and necessity of construction machines are obvious. Due to technical innovations, we can further optimize the construction process. The more the machines take over, the more likely we are to hand over the physical work to them. However, progress costs money – and not a little. Such machines are becoming increasingly expensive and the thought quickly arises: "Can I borrow the machines?" More and more companies offer their customers exactly that, and Maria Obermeier is the boss of such a construction machine rental company.
Growing with Responsibility
Our guest Maria Obermeier is only 29 years old, but has been managing director of the OBM Baumaschinen company for nine years. The focus is on the rental and sale of construction machines. In this case, rental is mainly in the regional area. She completed her training as a technical draftsman for mechanical engineering at her training facility only six months before moving to her father's company.
This was followed by an apprenticeship as an office clerk, as she wanted to better understand the business processes. It was actually her plan to resign, but when her father suddenly died, she stayed and took over the position of management at the age of just 20. We were very impressed by your courage in taking this step – especially at such a young age.
Three employees became eleven, and she was thus able to gradually withdraw from the daily business. She particularly enjoys the organizational tasks. At OBM, everyone can actually do everything – good prerequisites if someone is absent at short notice. So everything can still go on. Maria elaborates this for us in a little more detail.
- "The girls in the dispatch department or in the office also drive forklifts. They have a forklift license and load and unload things. Our men in the workshop also have to process the orders using a tablet."
Renting Construction Machines
I need a construction machine – so how does it work with renting? Maria explains it to us, because a lot has changed in this process as well. In the past, a potential customer called or wrote an email telling them which machine they needed. This was then reserved for him and he could either pick it up or OBM delivered it. Then, the machines are used and they are brought back or picked up.
The OBM Online Shop for renting construction machines recently went online. All the devices can be found there, each with a calendar where the reservations are noted. Book, reserve, pay – everything works completely digitally and flexibly, even outside the opening hours. The return of machines is also possible 24/7. We think it's impressive. Especially for the construction industry, where innovations are rather lagging behind.
How do I use a construction machine?
There are rarely those who pick up the reserved machines, including the ultimate users on the construction site. So instruction on pickup makes hardly any sense. Maria has also come up with a solution for this. Which lever can do what? How do you change the blades of a mini excavator? The company's instructional videos are now available on YouTube. Of course, this helps many customers and has been received very positively so far.
OBM offers around 500 machines, from small vibratory plates to large loaders. Depending on the machine, you either need a special driver's license or the normal vehicle driver's license is sufficient. Customers can find this information in the online shop on the page about the machine.
Construction Machines and Digitization
What about digitization in the field of construction machines? Is there any progress here, or is the construction industry pattern again showing that everything is running a little bit slowly? Maria's answer is clear:
- "That is one point where, in my opinion, the construction industry is still very far behind."
We almost thought so. Maria's company already goes one step further and each machine has a GPS transmitter. This tool allows her to see where the devices are in the company and make sure that they do not exceed certain circles. Billing also works using this tool. If someone exceeds the agreed number of rental days, they end up being charged more. Controlling the remotely controlled excavators or hybrid excavators or switching them off after the work is done works in the same way.
For crawler excavators, for example, you have the option of 3D control. An entry is made to determine how deep and how large the excavation pit has to be. This means that the staff is noticeably relieved. Many older excavator drivers have an eye for this, but still appreciate GPS and 3D control.
Autonomous construction machines are also gradually being launched. Maria reports here, for example, about autonomous rollers, but all of this seems to be a bit removed from real construction sites.
Daily Routine of Young CEO
What is it like, as a young woman, to be a managing director? It is certainly not easy in such an industry. However, Maria has never found it particularly difficult to assert herself early on, especially with customers.
- "I was lucky that I had a truck driver's license when I started. That made an impression when I was able to bring the machines to the construction site myself."
In her daily work, she does not notice any such problems; after all, many of her colleagues are women, too. On construction sites, on the other hand, it is a little different. In the beginning, the men were rather surprised and skeptical when a woman came to the construction site. But if she shows them how the machines work and delivers them herself, it is resolved very quickly. There were only a few single cases of negative experience, as Maria says, but they stayed within limits.
Will rental overtake sales?
Maria is not sure about this. For companies, the trend is to buy a certain basic stock of machines that they need on a regular basis. Everything else is rented, if necessary. Sales to private hands have not necessarily decreased over the years. This is where it becomes interesting to see how everything develops over the next few years.
Future of Construction
In general, she assumes that everything will be faster and more digitized in the future. Whether robotics, prefabricated parts, or BIM – there are many possible ways. Especially nowadays, Maria sees construction machine rental on the rise.
Maria tells us that well-used machines are in great demand. In her company, they have no machines more than three years old. They have their own workshop for their construction machines and those of customers, and they also offer assembly buses. Customers either drive their machines to the workshop or Maria's team drives to them.
More and more companies are starting to rent exactly the machine they need for their project. For her company, she definitely plans to stay up to date. Especially when it comes to recycling and sustainability.
Of course, healthier materials are important in construction. Filters and new motors or partially hybrid systems ensure that machines are gradually working more efficiently and sustainably. Maria herself already has some machines in her fleet that run on electricity, for example, a micro excavator TB210 and a small loader WL 20 by Wacker. In her opinion, the low capacity of the batteries is problematic for rental. A vibrating plate that only runs for half an hour on a battery does not currently make much sense on construction sites.
As usual, the construction industry takes a little longer to keep up with the trend. Maria refers to agriculture here, which is already much more advanced in terms of GPS technology and autonomous driving. There has been something like this for years. In general, however, it seems to be more positive that Germany will soon make the change in the direction of digitization in the construction industry as well. Approaches are already there.
Above all, she thinks the sharing approach of construction machinery provides room for expansion. If construction sites and companies shared their machines with each other, it could lead to far more efficiency and less traffic. Everyone involved would benefit from this.
Maria, what is your favorite building?
Even if Maria does not work directly in the construction industry, we ask her about her favorite building, of course. She also has one thing on her mind. Since she helped to take care of it, she answers the Siemens Innovation Center in Amberg, the worldwide visitor center for Siemens. We think it's a very good choice. Thank you for being with us!