UPLIFTER GmbH & Co. KG

The transformation from a tradingcompany 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", that's how most customers start their request to the 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 if you take a look at the beginnings of the company. Uplifter is transforming from a trading company to a manufacturing company.

"This year we are celebrating 20 years of Uplifter," Martin Lobinger notes as he lets his gaze wander from the company's location in Oberaich to the Upper Palatinate landscape. 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 with 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. Big journeys, other countries - Lobinger worked in a wide variety of industries, sometimes as a crane operator, then as an arborist. From then on, Lobinger specialised in these auxiliary devices 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," the company owner recalls with a smile. The company grew rapidly within a few years, branches were established and even its own production and development department - Martin Lobinger's pride and joy - is now an integral part of the company's core competencies. Self-confidently, Martin Lobinger explains: "There hasn't been a year without at least 30 percent growth so far. The annual turnover in the Uplifter Group is over 20 million euros."

The international business "at the village" can only run with digitalisation. Martin Lobinger relies on a modern company model consisting of internationality and family-friendliness. "Fewer and fewer people are working in the construction industry, building sites are becoming digital, houses are printed, 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 is enough space right next to the company headquarters in Oberaich. Incidentally, the development and production site in Nabburg is currently being expanded. Lobinger's goal is to double turnover in the next few years. "That is possible if you stick to the issues. Problems are not problems, they are work". The company boss had to experience this himself when he had to fight his way back into his entrepreneurial life in 2017 after a fall and life-threatening injuries. Since then, partner Peter Jauernig has been in the Uplifter boat.

In honour of the company's 20th anniversary, the 20th anniversary special edition of the Uplifter Glassworker has been released.