20 years Uplifter - The change from a trading to a manufacturing company!
Uplifter - successful on the market since 2001
The transformation from a trading company to a manufacturing company!
More than 20 years ago, Martin Lobinger had big plans - today, the Uplifter company is known worldwide as the specialist for lifting and vacuum technology
"We need an Uplifter" is how most customers start their enquiry with Uplifter Sales and Rental Support. However, what is meant is not a device with the name Uplifter, but in general a machine for lifting and moving loads, such as the Maeda mini cranes or the specially developed Glassworkers with vacuum suction cups. Uplifter has become a brand over the years, the name says it all. This is a very successful development in the company's history and even more interesting when you take a look at the beginnings of the company. Uplifter is transforming from a trading company to a manufacturing company.
‘In 2021, we celebrated 20 years of Uplifter,’ recalls Martin Lobinger as he gazes out over the Upper Palatinate landscape from the company's location in Oberaich. Oberaich, then as now a very small village in Bavaria, rurally situated with a view of meadows, fields and forests. Here, all is still right with the world. The employees also very much appreciate the idyllic workplace and enjoy nature far away from the hustle and bustle of the city - enough space for creative ideas.
Lobinger's vision 20 years ago: "To make building easier with special machines". The know-how from Oberaich is now also in great demand on the international market. The company itself now has over 100 employees, seven branches in Germany and ten subsidiaries abroad.
It all started at the ‘Aierl’. This is the house name of the Lobinger farming family in Oberaich (Guteneck municipality). This is where company founder Martin Lobinger grew up together with six siblings. It soon became clear that the third youngest should take over the farm. Vocational and agricultural college followed and Martin Lobinger became a farmer who would follow in his father's footsteps and continue to run the farm. ‘I was 24 when I realised that wasn't enough for me,’ says the Upper Palatinate native. His parents Anton and Betty were sympathetic to ‘trying things out’ and let their son search for his path and eventually find it. Travelling extensively, to other countries - Lobinger worked in a wide variety of industries, sometimes as a crane operator, then as an arborist. And what do you need to cut down large trees? EXACTLY! A crane and a platform! From then on, Lobinger specialised in this auxiliary equipment with great enthusiasm. The foundation stone was finally laid in the former agricultural estate in Oberaich: Uplifter was born. ‘The first machines went to the BMW plant in Leipzig,’ recalls the company owner with a smile. The company grew rapidly within a few years, branches were established and even an in-house production and development department - the pride and joy of Martin Lobinger - is now an integral part of the company's core competences.
The international business ‘in the village’ can only run with digitalisation. Martin Lobinger, himself the father of three children, relies on a modern company model consisting of internationality and family friendliness. ‘We have fibre optics in the building and we have specific goals that we want to achieve,’ says Lobinger, describing the comfortable starting position. ‘Fewer and fewer people are working in the construction industry, building sites are going digital, houses are being printed and there are paving fields that are laid automatically.’ Lobinger therefore wants to focus more on self-propelled machines and revolutionary laser technology. Lobinger has the opportunity to expand: there are currently plans to relocate the development and production site from Nabburg to Oberaich, which will have numerous strategic and economic benefits for the company. This centralisation enables a more flexible and faster response to customer requests, as employees from all departments can work together directly on site and optimise processes in a sustainable and meaningful way.
Lobinger's aim is to continue to drive Uplifter forward as a successful trading and production company - true to the motto: ‘Problems are not problems, they are work’. The company boss learnt this for himself when he had to fight his way back into his entrepreneurial life in 2017 after a fall and life-threatening injuries. That's why today he relies all the more on his entire Uplifter team: highly qualified employees who are passionate about the industry and eager to get stuck in, score points with their expertise and specialist knowledge and get innovative ideas and developments off the ground.
- 2001 Founding of Uplifter in the parental farmhouse.
- 2007 to 2013 Branch offices in Munich, Düsseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Frankfurt
- 2010 Branch office in the Czech Republic
- 2012 Construction of the sales location in Oberaich
- 2013 Branch office in Poland, new office building in Oberaich
- 2016 Ergomount Systems GmbH founded in Nabburg with its own development department
- 2018 New branches in Poland, subsidiary in Bratislava, founding of a holding company, new shareholders, new managing directors
- 2019 Subsidiary in Slovakia
- 2021 Expansion of the development policy and production site of Ergomount Systems GmbH Nabburg
- As of April Merger of Uplifter GmbH & Co.KG with Ergomount Systems GmbH
- 2022 Exclusive sales partnership for SPT mini cranes throughout Western Europe
- 2023 Further expansion of the Europe-wide dealer network and special machine construction
- 2024 Location optimisation of the branches in Germany
- From 2025 Centralisation of all departments to Oberaich