German construction machinery manufacturers Putzmeister Group has reported consolidated sales of $1.5 billion in 2007.

The company for developing and assembling plastering machines, which was founded in 1958 in Karl Schlecht's father's garage, is today, with over 20 subsidiaries world-wide, one of the leading providers of concrete pumps and booms, mortar pumps and screed conveyors as well as pump and silo systems for industrial high-density solids, the company said in a statement.

Putzmeister's range of products is rounded off by mobile conveyor belt systems and high-pressure cleaners for professional operators, it added.

Putzmeister, which employs 4,000 staff, began establishing its own branches in Germany as early as the 1960s (Munich, Essen, Hamburg, Hildesheim – later also Frankfurt, Berlin and Gera).

From the 1970s, international subsidiaries were also added in Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Brazil and South Africa, and later also in the US, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, India and Turkey. In addition, a well trained organization of around 300 dealers and service support points supported PM sales at home and abroad.

With the development of a practical mortar pump (1958), the first continuous mixing pump for gypsum plaster (1965) and a compressed air-based screed conveyor (1965), Karl Schlecht revolutionised the industry in both interior and exterior construction work.

Putzmeister extended its range of products with the development of concrete pumps in the 1960s. – TradeArabia News Service