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For two centuries, Bucher Municipal – part of Bucher Industries – has engineered solutions that keep cities, roads, and critical infrastructure moving. Today, with more than 2500 employees, operations across five continents and net sales of CHF 605.2 million in 2025, the organisation has evolved into one of Europe’ s leading suppliers of municipal vehicles and equipment.
The company’ s heritage runs deep. Its roots stretch back to Switzerland in 1807, while its UK sweeping story began with Johnston Sweepers in 1904. Bucher acquired Johnston Sweepers in 2005, and its expertise now sits within a much broader portfolio – one that combines proven engineering with a clear focus on the future. Bucher Municipal was an early pioneer of electrification, launching what it describes as the industry’ s first all-electric truck-mounted sweeper in 2018. Today, its Dorking location remains Bucher Municipal’ s centre of competence for truck mounted sweepers, where innovation continues to shape its MaxPowa range and deliver powerful performance across every model.
We sit down with Martin Starkey, Division President of Bucher Municipal, along with Angela Johnson, Engineering Director, and Gareth Knopp, Engineering Innovation & Simulation Manager, to discuss the company’ s latest innovation – one set to create new standards in truck-mounted sweeping. This technology is suitably named‘ SmartAssist’, which has already been recognised with the Fleet Product or Service of the Year award at the 2026 Fleet Vision International Awards.
SmartAssist combines AI, computer vision, and intelligent machine control
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