Our research and development (R&D) efforts focus on the basic idea of offering customers the greatest possible degree of benefits and production efficiency through our products and services. Our guiding principle is to strive to produce high-quality, effective and reliable products that are geared to meet market requirements.

As a technology leader, we therefore feel a permanent obligation to pursue groundbreaking solutions and exploit the potential to optimise successful product lines. By expanding our product range, we meet the needs of emerging markets. By critically examining our manufacturing and process costs and stringently managing complexity, we move towards our goal of cross-product modularisation of all our components and assemblies. Internationally networked teams of development engineers with broadly spread specialist and local market expertise now work closely together to develop products that can be used globally.

The Demag Cranes Group believes the large amount it spends on R&D strengthens its operating units and also considers it to be an investment in the future aimed at safeguarding its technology leadership in the long term.

In financial year 2009/2010, R&D expenses, including capitalised development expenses, amounted to EUR 18.9 million on a consolidated basis (EUR 2.0 million of which capitalised) compared with EUR 28.2 million (EUR 0.6 million of which capitalised) in the previous financial year. R&D expenses include operating adjustments of EUR 0.4 million in financial year 2009/2010 and EUR 7.3 million in financial year 2008/2009. Operating R&D expenses therefore amount to EUR 18.5 million for the past financial year (EUR 2.0 million of which capitalised) and EUR 20.9 million for the previous year (EUR 0.6 million of which capitalised). Of these total expenses, EUR 12.6 million (2008/2009: EUR 12.2 million) related to the Industrial Cranes and Services segments and EUR 5.9 million (2008/2009: EUR 8.7 million) related to the Port Technology segment. As a proportion of revenue, operating R&D expenses amounted to 1.8 percent (2008/2009: 1.9 percent).

In the Industrial Cranes segment, R&D work continued to focus on optimising existing product lines in the mature markets and extending the product portfolio for the mature and emerging markets. Particular emphasis was placed on new product developments for target markets in the rapidly growing regions. The first products are nearing completion and will soon be launched on the relevant target markets. IT-based product configurators for quotations and order processing, including associated online tools for customer support, were also further expanded within the global Demag Cranes Group.

In the components field, the successful DC chain hoist line was extended to include the DC 15 chain hoist as well as the double chain hoist – a further step towards rounding off our product range in this area. Through standardisation of the contactor controls, the DR rope hoist range was enhanced with a practical option for conventionally controlled cranes and specific hoist applications. Customers can thus choose between electronically controlled hoists with a wide range of capabilities in hoist monitoring and control, and conventionally controlled hoists. Development work in the drives field focused on preparing the motor ranges for the new EuP directive (2005/32/EC) on improving energy efficiency. This directive establishes a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for energy-using products. The Demag Cranes Group is thus not only complying with current rules but also making an active contribution to environmental protection.

In the cranes field, the energy chain for power and signal supply has been successfully implemented in our Standard Cranes. Depending on specific requirements, users can now choose between the conventional trailing cable system and the space-optimised, low-noise energy chain. Extending the portfolio of the Standard Cranes product group, the first stage of development of a standardised portal crane was completed and successfully implemented in the target markets. Further variants are under development and will be introduced to the markets gradually. A further addition to the existing product spectrum is the newly developed wall-mounted travelling crane construction kit, which is nearing completion. A new range of profile sections for the established KBK light crane system has significantly improved the possibilities of design specification in the construction kit system. A positive by-product of this is the streamlining of the construction kit and hence a reduction in variations.

As regards standards and directives, implementation of the new European Machinery Directive, which came into force on 29 December 2009, has been successfully completed and applied to all products.

In the Port Technology segment, we continued to update the compact class portfolio of Mobile Harbour Cranes with the introduction of Generation 5. With the Model 3 Mobile Harbour Crane, we further extended our technology lead in the lower performance range. With the first Mobile Harbour Crane to use frequency-controlled asynchronous motors to carry out the main motions, Demag Cranes is extending the range of Generation 5 Gottwald Mobile Harbour Cranes in the Port Technology segment. As the successor to the HMK 260 E, a Generation 4 Mobile Harbour Crane, the new Model 3 rounds off Generation 5 as an entry-level unit in the 100-tonne class. The new crane is also the first to use the new Gottwald hybrid drive, which was developed to production readiness last year. Through a forward-looking combination of on-board diesel generator and electrostatic short-term energy storage system, the energy recovered from crane lowering and braking movements is stored and fed into the crane power system for the next work cycle. The short-term energy storage system uses wear- and friction-free electrostatic double-layer capacitors (ultracaps), which store electricity without additional energy conversion and therefore with high efficiency, display high power density and high cycle rates and are ideal for heavy-load crane operation. In addition to the hybrid drive, the use of dynamic brake resistors improves energy management through significant fuel savings and opens up additional opportunities for significant cost reductions and sustainable environmental protection.

At seaports around the world, there is a strong trend towards greater environmental responsibility. In this connection, emissions standards for sea terminals are being continuously tightened. In order to handle a transport volume of several hundred million containers a year, container terminals use not only container bridges and yard cranes, but also numerous heavy-load transport vehicles for transport operations in the terminal. In contrast to the mostly electrically operated cranes, the heavy load transporters are usually powered by diesel electric or diesel hydraulic drives and therefore consume large amounts of fossil fuel. For this reason, they are responsible for numerous negative environmental impacts such as high noise emissions and high local pollution levels.

As an innovation leader in the area of port technology, Demag Cranes has set itself the aim of developing an emission-free drive train for such vehicles that counters these disadvantages. For this, a battery-powered test AGV (B-AGV) has been developed and implemented as a first step, and has been tested for around a year starting in 2009 in the real container terminal of a major terminal operator. The aim of the tests was to demonstrate the technical and manufacturing feasibility of the battery-powered drive train.

The test operations in the container terminal validated the required performance features in terms of operating hours, charging time, efficiency, reduction of noise levels and average power consumption. The preliminary trials with the battery-driven test vehicle were successfully completed at the beginning of 2010. Based on the very promising results, Demag Cranes' subsidiary Gottwald Port Technology GmbH, together with HHLA Container-Terminal Altenwerder GmbH (CTA), the Institute of Automotive Engineering (ika) of RWTH Aachen University and Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg GmbH (ifeu), is involved in a consortium researching a battery-powered drive train for container transport vehicles. In addition, a fully automated battery changing station is being set up so that batteries can be automatically charged and exchanged.

All the above R&D activities are actively supported by our Services segment to maximise benefits – notably with regard to operation and maintenance – and ensure the provision of all resources and expertise needed by our service force. We also develop associated spare part and service packages to span the entire crane and component life cycle and application range.