Determined to make a difference: pioneering spirit – yesterday, today and tomorrow

In 1977, Liebherr presents the LTM1025. With a telescopic boom length of 24metres and a load capacity of 25tonnes, the new mobile crane can be deployed on-road as well as off-road for never-before-seen perfection. This pioneering achievement is recognised across the industry and the term ‘all-terrain crane’ is coined. Once again, Liebherr is able to set the benchmark. In the mid-1980s, electronics are gaining more and more impact, even in crane construction, and Liebherr developers revolutionise the previously predominant plug-in card principle of crane control. The solution: ‘Liebherr Computed Control’ – LICCON for short. Central, simple and practical – that’s the guiding principle. ‘We integrated hardware components into a control system whose logic we had designed and programmed ourselves,’ explains Erwin Morath, head of the control department at the time. ‘LICCON was thus unique and could not be copied by the competition.’

Mobile and crawler cranes are becoming ever more powerful – and more sophisticated. They are also faced with increasing standards for maximum safety. To fulfil these standards, more and more safety systems are being integrated, including cameras, sensors, automated assistance systems and remote control for a better view of the load or of what’s happening around the lift during operations. The latest crane data in the work process is used in real time and visualised on the monitor in the crane cab. This also allows for more extensive and more complex data management. It is also laying the foundation for the new CranePlanner2.0. With this digital planning tool, users can adjust the crane to their exact application scenarios, test functions and clarify the necessary safety conditions. This is opening up a brand new and greatly expanded horizon for planning.

Increasingly complex construction sites and more stringent requirements for mobile and crawler cranes are shifting the focus of Liebherr’s research and development onto the expansion and integration of intelligent assistance systems. One such development is LICCON3. With this latest version of crane control, Liebherr is setting yet another milestone in the industry – with fast data bus, new programming language and software, significantly more memory, higher processing power and improved safety tools. However, digitalisation is not an end in itself. As in the company’s formative days, technology continues to serve a function at Liebherr. At the centre of it all, however, are the people. To support crane operators in their increasingly challenging and high-responsibility job, Liebherr will therefore not only bring control and the latest digital tools to the design, but also prioritise ergonomic and safe working operations for crane assembly or setup tasks.

From the 1970s onwards, Liebherr-Werk Nenzing GmbH has been gradually expanding its offering – previously centred around ship cranes and offshore cranes – with a whole range of new products. So, by the end of the 70s, it adds the duty cycle crawler crane to its portfolio, followed in the 90s by a new kind of crawler crane and a series of combined piling and drilling rigs. This is driven by the company’s guiding principle of manufacturing its own machines for the most varied areas of deep foundation application in true Liebherr tradition – ‘all from a single source’.

As well as expanding the product families, Nenzing is also particularly focused on the electrification of its portfolio of construction machines. This allows it to meet the growing need for a significant reduction in CO₂ and noise emissions. Liebherr's vision of an emission-free future for lifting operations is exemplified in the LR 1250.1 unplugged, the world’s first battery-powered crawler crane, unveiled in 2020. Barely a year later, the first LR 1160.1 unplugged is delivered. In ‘plugged-in’ mode, the crane produces the exact same output as the diesel-powered equivalent. ‘Unplugged’, the crane’s work performance is identical to when powered by the mains. The range in battery mode is currently sufficient for approx. eight hours of crane operation, which can be extended by between 20 and 60% by integrating additional batteries.

Achieving zero-emissions is the greatest challenge facing the construction sites of the future. Many towns and cities are already enforcing regulations to further minimise CO₂ emissions and to significantly reduce the particle load and noise pollution of construction projects, namely in areas with a high volume of people, such as amusement parks, hospitals and residential areas. ‘The city of Oslo is considered one of the world’s trailblazers for zero-emission construction sites. From 2030, all sites there should be free of emissions,’ says Dietmar Hämmerle, product manager for crawler cranes at Liebherr-Werk Nenzing. ‘We delivered the first unplugged machine to Oslo back in November 2020. With our electric LRunplugged series (LR 1130.1, LR 1160.1, LR 1200.1, LR 1250.1), we have proven that battery-driven zero-emission electric solutions are capable of daily operation without compromise.’

Take a look at the unplugged machines in action here.

Liebherr’s mining product segment has its origins in the company’s Colmar site (France), which grows during the 1960s to become the leading centre of crawler excavators. The following decade, Liebherr begins producing mining excavators. To get as close as possible to global customers, Liebherr-America Inc. is established in 1970 in Newport News in the US state of Virginia. It is there that, in the 90s, Liebherr expands its business to include mining trucks, cementing the company as an important player in the mining industry. In 2011, mining becomes a dedicated product segment. At its birthplace in Colmar, a new plant is built to expand the segment further.

The philosophy of Liebherr Mining is to offer scalable solutions, giving customers the ability to incrementally deploy tailored products and services to meet their specific needs. This approach sees Liebherr Mining expand its technology portfolio, with significant milestones recently achieved. For example, in August 2023, Liebherr announced the deployment of a fleet of four T 264 autonomous haul trucks in Western Australia for onsite validation, marking the next stage of development of a new autonomy product for the mining industry.

‘For most applications, the nature and method of mining are changing,’ asserts Oliver Weiss, executive vice president R&D, engineering and manufacturing, Liebherr-Mining Equipment SAS. He also explains that Liebherr is closely monitoring this changing paradigm. ‘The machines running on green energy have to be used differently and the infra structure of the energy supply chain, which ends at the machine, needs to change dramatically.’ Since different types of energy are needed owing to the varying costs in different regions, Liebherr is working on variations of its equipment and more extensive adaptation of the machines. This means that drivetrains will be able to run on renewable energy from the grid, batteries, combustion engines, fuel cells and hybrids. Oliver Weiss believes a technology-neutral approach is encompassed in Liebherr Mining’s decision ‘to remain application-independent by offering a variety of solutions that can be exchanged or supplemented.’

1 April 1954: on Hans Liebherr’s 39th birthday, the Liebherr-Werk V plant commences operations in Bad Schussenried (Germany). This paves the way for the first in-house mixing technology product: a reverse drum mixer for concrete. With on-site concrete-mixing being the norm back then, the reverse drum mixer becomes a big seller. In 1958, it is followed by the first mixing tower. This allows construction companies to produce concrete of a consistently high quality centrally and to deliver out to individual construction sites. In 1967, Liebherr builds the first truck mixers, giving operators an economical means of transporting concrete to the construction site. The advertisement at the time is (naturally!) euphoric and tells the story of its genesis: ‘Lots of concrete truck mixers are new. This one is brand new! The fully hydraulic HTM 6 concrete-transporting truck mixer from Liebherr is the result of many years of experience amassed from the production of concrete mixing systems, concrete transporters and hydraulic machinery.’

The principle of mixing concrete has barely changed over the years. What has changed dramatically, however, is the expectations on product quality and availability, as well as the efficiency and sustainability of production – all of which have increased. This is why Liebherr has worked resolutely in Bad Schussenried to develop its concrete mixing plants, truck mixers and pump systems. One decisive factor in the technologies used has always been how to manufacture ever higher-quality concrete very efficiently. With concrete transportation, the development is also heading in the direction of ultra-modern fully electric ETM truck mixers. These pick up the high-quality concrete at the mixing plant and transport it to the construction site without producing any emissions. Unloading at the construction site is also clean and quiet. A single battery charge lasts the ETM truck mixer the entire day – which is ordinarily five return trips a day.

The ETM series of electric truck mixers is Liebherr’s response to the growing requirements in terms of emission reductions in built-up areas. The demands of developers – and customers – are high. Even with zero-emissions operation, the central focus is still on the performance and reliability of the new generation of truck mixers. Liebherr is also keeping pace with the growing customer demand for flexibility, agility and emission reductions through its mixing plant series – for example Betomix and Mobilmix. The new plants consume up to 30% less energy than their predecessors. Plus, when the concrete is being manufactured, the recipe is far more accurate, which improves the carbon footprint. The operation of the plants and the machine fleet will in future be increasingly controlled with digital systems. This means they can be used even more efficiently and maintenance issues can be identified sooner.

In the late 1950s, having made its name as a leading crane manufacturer in Germany, Liebherr commences operations at its first plant outside Germany: in the Irish town of Killarney. From here, the company aims to get a foothold in the British and North American markets with its tower cranes and subsequently its container, dockyard and specialist cranes. In 1967 in Killarney, Liebherr builds the first container crane for what is then a new industry. However, the production in the maritime crane product segment is not centred on Ireland. Parallel to this, maritime cranes are being manufactured in the Liebherr-Werk Nenzing plant in Austria. And in South Africa in the late 1950s, Hans Liebherr sets the course for the international direction of the maritime cranes and the Group as a whole by founding the Group’s first company outside Europe.

In 2024, our Group comprises over 150 companies in more than 50 countries on all continents and employs more than 50,000 people around the world. Almost 4,000 of these work for the maritime cranes product segment. The products are manufactured in Killarney (Ireland), Sunderland (UK), Rostock (Germany) and Nenzing (Austria). Sales and service branches are operational on all continents. The product portfolio incorporates a versatile and well-structured product range for all types of material handling in ports and at sea. This includes ship to shore container cranes, mobile harbour cranes, offshore cranes, ship cranes, and rubber and rail mounted gantry cranes. It also incorporates a variety of digital solutions and comprehensive technical advice. Key to the success of Liebherr maritime cranes is the international collaboration within the product segment, in order to be as close as possible to the technological innovations and the customers around the world. Products that Liebherr develops in Ireland or in Rostock are largely built and tested in the same location.

Innovations in Liebherr’s maritime cranes are primarily born of intensive market monitoring and close collaboration with the customers. This involves transforming market and product requirements, which are recognised by different in-house departments, such as product management, sales and customer service, into solutions by means of a structured innovation process that incorporates other departments including engineering, production, procurement and controlling. This ensures an atmosphere of innovation and development in the plants themselves. In addition, in Nenzing, there is a specialist digital solutions and consulting department that looks at the incorporation of digital products and services along with future technologies, both within the product segment maritime cranes and across all segments. At present, development is particularly focused on innovative drive technologies, fibre rope technology, automation and assistance systems, condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.