Visitors flocked to attend the trade shows in Melbourne last week

Visitors flocked to see the 405 exhibitors participating in co-located trade shows, Safety in Action and Melbourne Materials Handling, which ran concurrently with the Australian Carbon Trading Expo in Melbourne last week.

"The success of the three events - which drew 11,521 visits from industry - means we will certainly run them in tandem again next year in Melbourne," says Australian Exhibitions & Conferences MD Marie Kinsella.

"What surprised us, and our exhibitors, was the intensity of their interest in everything the Australian Carbon Trading Expo had to offer. Visitors seemed so keen for information. In fact, we had to increase the size of the seminar room at the last minute to accommodate the 765 people who heard from our speakers.

"There were synergies between exhibitors. For example, logistics providers and forklift suppliers were keen to partner with organisations that could provide carbon offsets or reduce emissions."

Among the 67 exhibitors taking part in the materials handling show was forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment, who tells Forkliftaction.com News it was happy with the interest shown in its new products and took several promising enquiries. "The attendance was considerably stronger than Matex, from our observations, helped no doubt by the combination of exhibitions," says Craig Kenchington, general manager, marketing.

He says the company introduced its new, Australian designed and built SHR5500 Series Crown power-Steered walkie reach truck at the show.

Another exhibitor, NTP Forklifts, says it seems to be the best exhibition to show its range of industrial and warehouse equipment.

"We have had the best response this year and believe the expo is improving each year," says national sales manager Damien Garvey.

The company, which has just been appointed national distributor for the Jungheinrich range of products, says the exhibition was a good platform for it to inform the market about that development.

It launched its new Jungheinrich pantograph reach truck at the show. "This is the first European-built pantograph reach truck developed for the Australian and American markets. They have initially produced two models, a single and double deep reach truck, with capacities up to 2 tonne and lift heights up to 10.16 metres. The usual signatures of Jungheinrich are there, AC technology, travel and lift speeds the best in the range and the longest running time per charge," Garvey says.

He says response from visitors to the new model was very positive. "This model is now a superior-quality option for customers who were limited to two or three manufacturers previously."

He suggested next year's show should extend one day to close later to help those who could not attend during normal working hours.

Toyota Material Handling Australia, which has exhibited at the show since its inception, tells Forkliftaction.com News the show enabled the company to improve exposure on some of its forklifts and demonstrate its commitment to the importance of safety in the materials handling workplace.

George Malamatinis, marketing and business development manager, suggests a demonstration area for forklifts would be beneficial next year.