The European construction equipment industry represents approximately 5% of the total EU engineering output and accounts for approximately 20% of the world’s production of construction equipment. It is projected to grow at a steady annual rate of 4.6% over the period of 2015–2020 and reach a market value of US $62.5 billion by 2020. Largest infra construction projects valued over US $400 billion in 2017. Only in EU, this sector consists of about 1,200 companies with 150,000 directly employed, a turnover of €40 billion was reported (2017).[1] Three of the world’s top 10 largest construction equipment manufacturers are MORE partners: Volvo CE (3^rd), Liebherr (5^th) and Deere (7^th). The Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) states that ‘the industry is working hard to offer machines with the highest productivity and lowest environmental impact. However, delivering the next generation of machines to the market remains a complex challenge. This requires enabling technologies (KETs) for active safety, site automation, site resource utilisation optimisation, optimised energy consumption, and machine awareness of surroundings.’ Logistics is even larger. Cargotec, of which HIAB is a part of, alone employs 11,000 people. MORE will contribute to the development of such KETs and thereby strengthen the competitiveness of Europe’s HDM machine industry

[1] Committee for European Construction Equipment, 2017. Annual Economic Report 2018, p. 17.