First Global Develon Day a great success

Customer visit to Korea showcases facilities and new developments in products and autonomy

DEVELON, formerly known as Doosan Construction Equipment, say they received a very positive reaction from customers and dealers who attended the brand’s first Global Develon Day in South Korea in late September 2023. Held eight months after the new Develon brand was first announced by parent company HD Hyundai Infracore, the event attracted a global audience, with a strong presence from the US, Europe, South America, and the Middle East.

Held over three days, the event began with Develon Day at the company’s proving ground facility at Boryeong, to the south of Seoul. Events on the second and third day included a tour of the Develon manufacturing facilities in Incheon, a special visit to the Demilitarized Zone, and visits to some of the most famous heritage sites in Korea.

At Boryeong, customers and dealers were welcomed by Seung Hyun Oh and Young-cheul Cho, joint chief executive officers of HD Hyundai Infracore. The presentations from both CEOs highlighted the company’s long history in the construction industry and the vision behind the Develon brand. Both stressed that Develon are dedicated to changing the future for customers and providing value beyond products by creating smart construction solutions to meet tomorrow’s needs.

The Develon Day programme at Boryeong showed how the company intends to do this with a display of the latest construction equipment and demonstrations of cutting-edge technology, including Develon’s latest-generation Concept-X2 autonomous solutions and the exclusive Transparent Bucket safety system for Develon wheel loaders.

A key aspect of the Develon Day was the Expert Talk, where specialists talked about the evolution and current status of autonomous construction equipment at Develon. The company sees five stages to this work. First is the use of technology to increase safety, second is the automation of processes such as auto-digging, third is to make tasks autonomous, with the fourth stage being full autonomy with an external control centre, moving finally to the fifth stage, which is full site automation. According to Develon, the company is currently between Stages 3 and 4, but is hoping to demonstrate a Stage 5 solution in 2024.

Developed in house, Concept-X2 is the latest version of Develon’s Concept-X, the world’s first automated construction solution, unveiled in 2019. In the finale to the day at Boryeong, Develon gave a demonstration of the latest Concept-X2 autonomous construction equipment, including the DD100-CX dozer and DX225-CX crawler excavator. Both machines feature a new cabinless design and a linear core design language.

Complementing the Concept-X2 demonstration, Develon presented a range of smart technology solutions, including the first view of the new Quarry-X solution, designed to integrate all the operational processes involved in running a quarry, from order taking to sales using ICT technology to manage the site and increase productivity with minimal cost and time.

The Quarry-X concept from Develon addresses various customer needs by reducing machine downtime, improving the efficiency of loading operation management, and preventing unexpected accidents. It does this by providing services that support the shipment, production, safety, and fleet management of quarry sites using smart construction equipment features.

Between the welcome from the company CEOs and the Expert Talk, visitors were divided into separate groups to take part in the Experience Develon tour, with exhibition booths, displays, and demonstrations in different parts of the Boryeong campus.

One section of the tour was dedicated to the latest in smart construction equipment from Develon. This included the new DX225LC-7X – the company’s first ‘Smart’ crawler excavator, designed to help operators work faster and more efficiently. Next to the DX225LC-7X, Develon demonstrated the company’s Transparent Bucket 2.0 safety system, a. world first which allows the wheel loader driver to see blind spots in front of the bucket on the machine, using the monitor in the cab.