Dear reader,
WELCOME TO FORKLIFTACTION.COM,
MATERIALS HANDLING ONLINE.
This is issue #131 - 30 October
2003 of the weekly newsletter for industry
professionals.
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Next week Forkliftaction.com begins its
feature series on the world market for tyres, wheels and
castors. Several advertisers have taken the opportunity to
showcase their companies and products during this special
"spotlight" on the industry sector. But it's not too late!
Contact Penryn
Maddrell for more information.
This week
Forkliftaction.com's research team has revised the entries in
the Equipment
Catalogue for Hoist and Kalmar forklifts and the Meyer
range of attachments. If you deal with these brands, please
check our entries and contact Rodger Lamb if
changes are required.
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1.
CASCADE, RONCARI WORK TO LINK BUSINESSES 
PORTLAND, OR, United States
Cascade
Corp has acquired Roncari Srl, and management teams will
now jointly discuss with agents how to blend an
overlapping global network.
The deal increases
Cascade's penetration of standard and specialised
forklift attachments in Roncari's home country of Italy,
Richard Anderson, Cascade senior vice president and
chief financial officer, said.
Roncari employs 70
and has annual sales of USD12 million. That would add
about 5% to Cascade's business volume.
The
acquisition "gives Cascade better in-country access to
the Italian market and all the European countries", said
John Rogers, a securities analyst with DA Davidson &
Co.
"We have complementary products we will offer
jointly to the market," said Terry Cathey, Cascade
senior vice president and chief operating officer. "It
is our intention to maintain both brands and make sure
we continue to provide our customers with a broad range
of price (and) performance options."
The Roncari
family established the company in 1967. Beyond its
Italian base, Roncari has European agents in West-Milton
Keynes, England; Barcelona, Spain; Soltz, France;
Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands; and Rimforsa,
Sweden.
In recent years, Roncari has developed
agent relationships elsewhere in Thailand; Singapore;
Jakarta, Indonesia; Australia; New Zealand; and, most
recently, Friendswood, Texas.
In comparison,
"Cascade has the leading share in each major market in
the world", Mr Cathey said.
Co-founder Giuseppe
Roncari will head the acquired business. Other active
family members include sales director Maurizio Roncari,
technical director Davide Roncari and marketing head
Michela Roncari.
In Vago do Lavagno, Italy, the
6,000 square metre (64,800 square feet) Roncari plant
uses work centres, robot welding stations and systems
such as 3D parametric modelling, finite element analysis
and production planning.
Roncari's products
assist cargo movement on forklift trucks, with
fixed-position equipment, and in automated warehouses.
The products include side shifters and fork positioners,
clamps for a variety of applications, and rotating,
tilting and materials handling
equipment.
Specialised attachments are made for
the paper, grocery, forging, metals and concrete
industries. Roncari also makes intermodal container
handlers and ship-to-shore handling
accessories.
Cascade and Roncari signed a
preliminary agreement on September 11, and completed the
transaction on October 21. Cascade paid USD6.5 million
in cash for Roncari.
- Cascade website -
2.
ITA SEES BETTER TIMES AHEAD
PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL, United
States
Forecasts at the Industrial Truck
Association's (ITA) annual meeting indicate further
market recovery is underway.
There were 265
attendees at the October 18-22 event, up from the 250
who attended last year.
A survey of ITA directors
anticipated 2004 production of 155,754 units,
representing a 3.17% increase from this year, said ITA
president Jim Moran. ITA represents forklift
manufacturers and suppliers in the USA, Canada and
Mexico.
Mr Moran said the ITA survey projected
2003 production of 150,967 units, up 0.41% from last
year. The rate would be above the dip to 142,000 in 2001
but below the 2000 peak of 223,645.
Takeo
Shibuya, president of the Japan Industrial Vehicle
Association (JIVA) and president of Komatsu Forklift Inc
in Tokyo, estimated 2003 forklift sales in Japan would
increase 3% to 4% over the 2002 total of 68,353, but
below the 2001 total of 73,917.
Hans-Peter
Schmohl, president of Linde's materials handling
division, reported on behalf of the industrial truck
division of the Fdration Europenne de la Manutention
(FEM) in Brussels, Belgium. European orders for the year
ended August 31 had increased 1% to 169,000
units.
Orders increased 1.2% in Germany, to
35,000 units, and 4.2% in the United Kingdom, to 19,500.
Orders decreased 4.4% in France, to 30,500 units, and
4.9% in Italy, to 23,500.
ITA's Business Trends
Task Force reported industry pessimism about the
possibility of European, Japanese and American
manufacturers harmonising standards for hydraulic
operating pressures and criteria for batteries and
chargers.
Peter McDonald, of SRE Controls Inc, in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, presented results of a survey
of ITA manufacturing members.
Six of 15 survey
participants, or 40%, thought hydraulics harmonisation
might occur. Seven of 17 voting manufacturers, or 41.1%,
thought harmonisation might occur for batteries and
chargers.
At the same time, 14 of 17 voters, or
82.4%, thought integrated side shifters would catch on
in North America.
Mr Moran's current two-year
term as ITA president expires on December 31; he was
also ITA's president in 1993. Mr Moran is senior vice
president at Crown Equipment Corp, in New Bremen, Ohio.
He will pass the gavel to ITA's incoming president, Dirk
Von Holt, who is president of Jungheinrich/Multiton Corp
of Richmond, Virginia.
- ITA website -
3.
**ADVERTISEMENT** HEAVY LIFT TRUCK DEALERS
WANTED
SVETRUCK, a global manufacturer of
large capacity pneumatic tire forklifts, container
handlers and log stackers, is looking for US and
Canadian dealers.
The Swedish manufacturer caters
to the ports, forestry and heavy metals industries. Lift
capacities range from 18,000lbs (8000kg) to 115,000lbs
(52,000kg).
Svetruck is established throughout
Europe, Africa and the Far East. A strong network is
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Canada.
Interested? Forward your company name,
website, contact person, phone, fax and email address to
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All
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See svetruck.com for more company and
product information.
4.
BARLOWORLD BUYS DUTCH HYSTER DEALER
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
Barloworld Ltd has acquired Geveke Intern Transport
BV, Hyster's Dutch dealer, for R41 million (USD5.9
million).
The purchase, effective this month,
includes Geveke's 1,000 long and short-term rental
units. Geveke, which employs 150 people, has annual
revenue of EUR30 million (USD35 million) and had a 2002
operating profit of EUR500 000 (USD583,000). Geveke has
been Holland's Hyster dealer for 50
years.
Barloworld chief executive Tony Phillips
said the deal was funded by the company's existing cash
resources in Europe.
"This expansion of our
materials handling business is part of our long-term
strategy to grow our company. The geographic coverage of
Geveke in Holland is adjacent to our existing operations
in Belgium and the UK and will form an integral part of
our European business," he said.
Before the
Geveke acquisition, Barloworld's industrial distribution
business employed 3,200 people in the US, UK and
Belgium, had 2002 sales of GBP384 million (USD652.3
million) and a combined forklift rental fleet of 25,000
machines.
Barloworld industrial distribution
chief executive Brandon Diamond said Geveke's name would
change to Barloworld Intern Transport. Geveke's Lex Knol
would remain as managing director.
"We are
looking forward to including Geveke in our Hyster
dealership network, and using Barloworld's expertise to
add value for Geveke's customers," he said.
- Barloworld website -
5.
NACCO BOOSTS PROFIT, SEES GRADUAL GAINS
MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, OH, United
States
Nacco Industries Inc anticipates increased
overall forklift shipments this quarter, compared to the
fourth quarter of 2002.
"While global market
prospects remain uncertain, lift truck markets in the
Americas are anticipated ... to improve gradually," the
holding company said. "Europe and Asia-Pacific are
expected to remain relatively flat."
The firm's
wholesale unit reported a USD1.6 million profit on sales
of USD367.2 million for the third quarter, which ended
September 30. That contrasts to profit of USD800,000 on
sales of USD342.3 million for 2002's third
quarter.
Nacco attributed the improvement, in
part, to increased volumes and a consumer shift to
higher-margin forklifts and parts.
Shipments
increased to 16,163 units for the quarter, compared to
15,299 units last year. The worldwide backlog for the
wholesale unit increased to 20,100 units at September 30
compared to 19,400 units at June 30 and 18,700 units at
September 30, 2002.
Nacco's dealerships reported
a USD1.0 million profit on sales of USD40.7 million for
the quarter, compared to a USD1.6 million profit on
sales of USD43.3 million in 2002. Nacco attributed the
decline to the January sale of the retail unit's
Americas operations. Favourable movements in Europe and
Asia-Pacific partially offset the decline.
Nacco
would continue its efforts to improve performance of
wholly-owned dealerships through 2004 "as part of its
objective to achieve and sustain at least break-even
results", the company said.
- Nacco website -
6.
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7.
**SAFETY FIRST** USERS: THE FINAL SAFETY
LINK
NEWARK, OH, United States
My last
article discussed the dealer's role in forklift safety.
This week I'll discuss the next link, the forklift end
user. Ultimately, most responsibility for safe forklift
operation falls on the end user.
One thing end
users should do is ask for and expect the support of
their forklift's manufacturer and distributor. It is the
responsibility of end users, for example, to ensure
their lifts have data plates, but if they are not in
place or are not correct, then the other entities must
help them correct the situation.
Click here for the full text of this
safety column.
8.
JCB CHAIRMAN HONOURED
NEW YORK, NY, United States
JCB
chairman Sir Anthony Bamford (right of picture) has been honoured by
a leading transatlantic business
organisation.
The 2003 UK Entrepreneurial Award
was presented to Mr Bamford by BritishAmerican Business
Inc (BABi) at a dinner honouring outstanding business
leaders on October 23.
BABi chief executive
Richard Fursland said Mr Bamford "emerged as the
unanimous choice" to receive the award, which recognised
his and JCB's business achievements.
Mr Bamford
said he was "delighted" to receive the
award.
"The USA is the largest market in the
world for (us) and accounts for around one third of the
total world market. It offers huge potential for JCB and
we value our trading links," he said.
The award
was particularly special as it was presented on the 58th
anniversary of the founding of JCB, and the 58th
birthday of Mr Bamford, who took over as JCB chairman in
1975 after the retirement of his father, company founder
Joseph Cyril Bamford.
Under Mr Bamford's
leadership, JCB's annual sales have increased from GBP43
million (USD72.9 million) to more than GBP800 million
(USD1.4 billion).
- JCB
website -
9.
FORKLIFT REFLIPS FLIPPED SPORTS CAR
GLASGOW, United Kingdom
A forklift
was used to get a luxury sports car back on the road
after it flipped and landed on its roof on a railway
line.
Two men in the GBP70,000 (USD119,000)
Maserati Spyder V8 convertible were lucky to escape with
only minor injuries.
An Evening Times report said
the driver, 25, and passenger, 19, were rushed to
hospital after the car left the A8 near Braehead
Industrial Estate, Glasgow.
Workers took two
hours to tip the car back on to its wheels with the aid
of the forklift. Picture courtesy of The Evening
Times.
10.
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