Dear reader,
WELCOME TO FORKLIFTACTION.COM,
MATERIALS HANDLING ONLINE.
This is issue #141 - 22 January
2004 of the weekly newsletter for industry
professionals.
|
 | |
 |
Forkliftaction.com's story about the purported
rightful king of England being an Australian forklift driver
drew a great response from members. But we can't take all the
credit. We discovered the story only after Wayne, from Canada,
emailed us. If you come across a forklift-related news item,
send an email to news@forkliftaction.com.
Forkliftaction.com survives because of member input, and the
news is no different.
Forkliftaction.com's research
team has added some of the Crown Europe range of forklifts,
pallet movers and work assist vehicles to the specifications
in the Equipment Catalogue. If you deal with this
brand, please check our entries and contact Rodger Lamb if
changes are required.
|
| |
 |
1.
**EXCLUSIVE** SMH ON THE ACQUISITION
TRAIL 
OLATHE, KS, United States
US parts
giant Systems Material Handling Co (SMH) has made two
strategic acquisitions.
SMH, which was taken over
by Belgian parts giant TVH Forklift Parts last year,
acquired Paragon Parts LLC, of Louisville, KY, and Kiser
Products Inc, of Haven, KS, last month. Financial
details of the acquisitions were not
revealed.
SMH said it would acquire all assets of
Paragon and merge the company into its US and Canadian
operations. Paragon's Louisville, KY, facility would be
closed.
SMH domestic sales manager Cathy Diaz
said: "Part of the reason customers called Paragon was
that they needed parts SMH did not offer. SMH plans to
continue sourcing hard-to-find parts for Paragon
customers using the same methods and sources that proved
successful for Paragon."
The Kiser acquisition
means SMH will immediately begin offering Kiser's
popular Mag-Klip, Mag-Mirr and Mag-Kaddy lines through
its TotalSource catalogue and Information Resource
Management Network online system.
The acquisition
followed "a financial setback" which crippled Kiser's
production and sales last year.
Ms Diaz said the
Kiser line would be made available worldwide through TVH
and TVH Australasia catalogues and ordering systems this
year.
- SMH website -
2.
AIRTRAX FILCO BUYOUT - TAKE TWO
MULHEIM, Germany
FiLCO GmbH has
signed a second letter of intent with Airtrax Inc for
the sale of "a substantial part" of its
equity.
The agreement, scheduled to close by
January 31, follows an abandoned buyout deal the
companies pursued in April last year and is contingent
on a revision of agreements on the number of people to
be hired by FiLCO GmbH.
FiLCO produced 560
forklifts in 2003 and plans to continue producing
Filco-branded units, refurbishing Clark units and
seeking additional private manufacturing for its 25,000
square-metre (270,000 square feet) facility.
No
financial details of the proposed transaction were
released.
3.
COURT REDUCES JCB ANTI-COMPETITION CHARGES,
FINE
LUXEMBOURG CITY, Luxembourg
The
Court of First Instance has annulled three
anti-competitive trading charges against JCB and ordered
a 25% reduction of a GBP25 million (USD45.7 million)
European Commission fine.
The court reduced the
penalty on January 13 after an appeal by JCB against
five charges of anti-competitive behaviour. The court
dismissed three of the five charges brought by the
European Commission (EC), Europe's anti-competition
watchdog. The EC was also ordered to pay 25% of JCB's
costs.
The original judgement was delivered in
December 2000, finding JCB was acting to hamper
competition with dealer agreements.
JCB chief
executive John Patterson said the company, which was
seeking a full overturn of the original judgement, was
considering an appeal to the European Court of
Justice.
"Although the judgement vindicates JCB's
decision to appeal, we are naturally disappointed the
court did not uphold the appeal in its entirety," he
said. "We will now be examining the judgement before
deciding whether an appeal will be lodged."
- Read the judgement -
4.
**ADVERTISEMENT** MACHINERY FOR SALE
Qty. 2 Hyster Hyster H800E/H36.00E,
year 2000
Coil Handling or Fork Handling
Configuration
H970E/H44.00E with special
engineering from Hyster. 80,000 pounds at 48 LC (36,000
kg @ 1200mm), wheelbase shortened 22 (56cm). Equipped
as follows:
Cummins QSB11 Turbo Diesel
3 Speed
Powershift
180in/4.6m OAHL Omni Mast (Single
Stage)
90in/2.3m Integral Coil Ram
Cabin with A/C
& Extended for rider/trainee
4,400 & 4,800
hours
Options Available
124in/3.2m Fork
Carriage with side shift or fork positioner
Forks to
Specification
173in/4.4m MFH Standard Vista Upright
(2 stage)
Contact: Matt Dougherty
FCM,
Inc.
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
P:
+1-404-363-4888
W: www.fcmforklifts.com
E: matt@fcmforklifts.com
5.
ITA, OSHA FORM ALLIANCE
WASHINGTON, DC, United States
The
Industrial Truck Association (ITA) and the Occupational
Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) have formed an
alliance, with the sole aim of protecting workers from
forklift hazards.
OSHA administrator John Henshaw
said thousands of preventable forklift-related injuries
occurred each year in the USA.
"The alliance is
designed to do something about that. We look forward to
ITA's counsel and expertise in designing training and
information products that will have a positive impact on
the health and safety of workers," he said.
ITA
president Dirk von Holt said the ITA was looking forward
to working with OSHA regulators.
"The ITA has a
long history of working with OSHA. We believe
formalising this relationship is a major step towards
increasing worker safety."
A joint statement said
the alliance would:
Promote training based on
OSHA's operator training standard;
Develop safety
information for possible inclusion in operator manuals
and distribution through online, print and electronic
media; and
Provide speakers, exhibit or appear at
events such as ITA's annual or spring meetings, and
participate in forums on issues about forklifts.
- ITA website -
6.
**FORK TALK** VAUGHN ELECTED 2004 AED
PRESIDENT
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, United
States
Dale Vaughn, president of OCT Equipment Inc,
has been elected 2004 president of Associated Equipment
Distributors (AED).
Vaughn was installed during
AED's 85th annual meeting in Orlando this month,
attended by 2,300 distributors and
manufacturers.
Other AED officers elected
were:
Senior vice president: Walter Berry,
president of Berry Companies Inc, Wichita, KS.
Vice
president: Dale Leppo, president of LeppoRents/Bobcat of
Akron, OH.
Vice president: Les Bebchick, president
of Equipment & Systems for Industry Inc, Hopkinton,
MA.
Vice president, Canada: Brian Taschuk, vice
president and COO of Hammer Equipment Sales Ltd,
Calgary, Alberta.
Vice president of finance: James
Price, executive vice president of Valley Supply and
Equipment Co, Funkstown, MD.
- AED website -
7.
TOYOTA LAUNCHES BRAZILIAN SUBSIDIARY
KARIYA, Japan
Toyota Industries Corp
will establish a forklift sales subsidiary, Toyota
Industries Mercosur (TIM), in Sao Paulo, Brazil, this
month.
The new company, which starts trading in
April, would have JPY1 billion (USD9.3 million) in
paid-up capital, and would sell forklifts in Brazil and
Argentina, a Japanese News Digest report
said.
Until now, Toyota had sold forklifts in the
two countries through South American subsidiaries of the
carmaker Toyota Motor Corp. Toyota expects to sell 800
forklifts in Brazil and Argentina this year, up from 530
last year.
8.
**ADVERTISEMENT** NEW PIVOT SEAT NOW AVAILABLE FOR
FORKLIFTS & UTILITY TRUCKS!
The Huddle Group has introduced the
"Transport" retrofitable pivot seat.
The
"U-TURN" Pivot is also available as a stand alone unit,
retrofitable with all seats and trucks!
Universal -
fits most seat/truck combinations
15-degree
pivot
Choice - "Both Way" or "One Way" pivot
Low profile - only adds 5/8" to height
Durable,
heavy-duty construction
Huddle also has a "Rebound"
suspension unit (for WBV and low-frequency vibration)
and a full ergonomic seat incorporating both the U-Turn
and Rebound.
CONTACT: Huddle Group, +1-260-470-9838,
visit www.huddlegroup.com, or email: rovitt@huddlegroup.com.
9.
WORLD MARKET PREPARING FOR IMHX
BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom
The world
forklift market is getting excited about IMHX 2004,
opening at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre on
March 2.
The official sponsor, the Fork Lift
Truck Association, will have a dedicated stand at the
show, featuring a display of scale model forklifts. The
FLTA is encouraging members to use its stand as their
"base camp" for exploring the rest of the
show.
Barloworld and Hyster have joined forces
for an assault on the show, adopting a "Smarthandling"
central theme, designed to address key aspects of
materials handling: cost management, process
improvement, and environmental and health & safety
concerns.
Hyster's full product line will be on
display, and the manufacturer will offer a sneak preview
of its JXMT three-wheel battery electric forklift, which
is planned for release late this year.
Linde
Material Handling UK will use IMHX to showcase its new
brand identity, launched in December, which shakes off
the Lansing branding from the company.
Linde has
also launched a special IMHX logo, said sales and
marketing director Stephen Moule.
"IMHX is the
main event in the UK materials handling industry
calendar. It is an international exhibition as well as a
major European event," he said. "IMHX allows us to
present and demonstrate everything Linde Material
Handling stands for."
- IMHX 2004 website -
10.
ROBBERS IN BANK BUNGLE
THE HAGUE, Netherlands
It should
have been a highly daring bank heist. Four robbers
ram-raided a bank, lifted out a safe with a forklift,
placed it inside their getaway van and drove off at high
speed.
But the safe fell onto the road because they
forgot to shut the back doors, according to the
Birmingham Post & Mail.
| | |
 
FEEDBACK
We appreciate your
feedback and will reply promptly. A form to register your comments
is at: www.forkliftaction.com
or simply email us at
info@forkliftaction.com.
If forklifts are your business and you have news, press releases,
photos or tender information to publish, we'd love to hear from you.
Please email us at: info@forkliftaction.com.
COPYRIGHT
Forkliftaction.com
News is copyright. Unauthorised reproduction is illegal. We are
happy for you to onforward this newsletter to potential new
subscribers. If you would like to discuss syndication of
reproduction of our news on your website, please contact us at biz@forkliftaction.com | |
