TMHU takes on ProLift
IRVINE, CA, United States

Toyota Material Handling USA Inc (TMHU) has bought one of its award-winning forklift dealerships to facilitate its succession planning.

TMHU said in a statement that ProLift Industrial Equipment Co LLC had one of the most extensive track records of success of all Toyota dealerships. Prolift is based in Louisville, Kentucky, and has branches in Evansville and Indianapolis, Indiana; Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio; Lexington, Kentucky; and Elkins, West Virginia. ProLift has won Toyota’s President’s Award and its predecessor, the Quality Dealer Award, 14 times since 1990.

Asked if Pro-Lift had approached TMHU for assistance with succession planning, TMHU said in a statement to Forkliftaction.com News:
“Toyota encourages its dealers to plan appropriately for succession and, in areas where that isn’t possible, we attempt to identify existing or new dealers to successfully represent the Toyota brand.  

“After all other avenues have been exhausted, Toyota will consider purchasing a dealership to ensure Toyota’s continued strong representation and support to customers.”  

ProLift Industrial Equipment president Bill Skinner said:
“The transition will be seamless and our customers will see business operating as usual.”

The new company, Toyota Material Handling Midwest Inc, will do business at ProLift Industrial Equipment’s facilities, with no change in staff or support.

Toyota has 69 authorised dealers covering 188 locations in the US.

The acquisition price was not disclosed.

Brief history of ProLift Industrial Equipment:
1978 Bill Skinner establishes business renting surplus forklifts, relying on Dixie Warehouse & Cartage Co for financial backing and equipment to rent.

1980 ProLift appointed dealer for Allis-Chalmers and Taylor Machine Works.

1983 ProLift becomes Toyota dealer.

1998 Bill Skinner and five minority owners, Bob Ritz, Anne Ewing, Dave Graffy, Gary Stephan and Ron Kinslow, grow the company to more than USD50 million in annual revenue with six locations in three states and 220 associates.

1999 Bill Skinner buys majority ownership in ProLift from Dixie Warehouse, which bankrolled the dealership in 1978.

2007 TMHU buys Pro-Lift. ProLift has grown to seven locations in four states with 335 associates. Revenues have nearly doubled.

Crown first with fleet management
NEW BREMEN, OH, United States

Crown Equipment Corp claims it is the first forklift manufacturer to design and build a fleet management system.

The Ohio-based forklift manufacturer has just launched InfoLink, a wireless fleet management tool. Crown told Forkliftaction.com News in a statement that other forklift manufacturers had partnered with third party providers to offer customers fleet management systems.

Crown senior vice president Jim Moran said customers lacked a “convenient, accurate way” to capture data to make informed decisions.

“To deliver the operational cost savings customers desire, we need to develop technology that provides them information to manage their systems as efficiently as possible,” he said.

InfoLink comprises an on-board operator interface that wirelessly communicates forklift data to a central server using the networks most warehouses already have.

Through InfoLink, warehouse managers compile data on forklifts’ operating hours, control access to forklifts, ensure operators conduct safety inspections, manage planned maintenance programs and track when and where forklifts have collided.

“Customers want to know if their fleet is the right size and if each forklift is being used in the most efficient way,” Moran said.

“Comparing data across facilities enables customers to receive information that provides them with a competitive edge.”
Moran said Crown’s expertise in forklifts and its established dealer network gave it an advantage over other fleet management system providers.

“Our industry experience played a key role in addressing customer and market-specific needs. For example, it helped us identify the most effective placement of a sensor and its sensitivity level for individual applications.

“Providing service support on a national basis can be difficult for pure software providers. Our established dealer network is a value-add for InfoLink customers,” he said.

A Crown statement said InfoLink would pay for itself in 14-18 months.

JIVA: A flat year for Japan
TOKYO, Japan

The Japanese Industrial Vehicles Association (JIVA) forecasts Japan’s forklift market to be flat this year.

That is despite growth in forklift sales for all classes in 2006.

According to figures from World Industrial Truck Statistics, a global alliance of industrial truck associations, a total of 88,419 forklifts were sold in Japan in 2006.

There were 20,839 electric counterbalanced forklifts sold, a nine per cent jump from 2005, 18,129 electric narrow aisle forklifts, a 9.4 per cent increase, 4,824 electric pedestrian forklifts, a 5.2 per cent jump, and 44,627 internal combustion counterbalanced forklifts, a three per cent increase.

JIVA senior manager Ken’ichiro Takase said total sales showed positive growth in the fourth consecutive year, based on strong investment in Japan’s private sector.

Growth in “demand for electric forklifts was stronger than for IC forklifts. This could be caused by increased environmental friendliness in customers.

“[But] we estimate the 2007 Japanese market will be almost flat,” he said.  JIVA’s forecast was based on a “consensus of members’ estimates”.

For Sale – 20,000lb Telehandlers

• 2006 LK200R s/n LT1204 “Demonstator Model” Telehandler  20,000lbs  24ft Lift Cummins B5.9 6 Cyl Diesel Engine 20hrs  $225,000. USD.
• 1992 Lull Dynalugger  Telehandler  20,000lbs  24ft Lift   Lightly Used. Very Clean Cummins B5.9 6Cyl.  Diesel Engine Low Hours  $50,000 USD.

Contact Tim Wheeler at TimWheeler@LIFTKING.com

Briefs

Plastic packaging to increase
CLEVELAND, OH, United States
A Freedonia Group study of 18 selected markets says plastic is expected to increase its share of the packaging materials market to 53 per cent in 2010.

Plastic currently has less than a 50 per cent share of the packaging materials market in the 18 markets.

Plastic packaging growth would result from its competitive cost and performance advantages, the study said.

New attachment gives telehandler a lift
McCONNELLSBURG, PA, United States
JLG Industries Inc has introduced a new personnel work platform to be used with its JLG, Gradall, Lull and SkyTrak telehandlers.

The 32 square foot (2.97 square metre) platform, which has a 1,000lb (453.6kg) capacity, holds two people, a JLG statement said. It has a swing gate entry with a removable front panel for entry and exit, steel mesh flooring and eight lanyard attachment points.

Workers can be lifted as high as 55 feet on rough terrain sites, the statement said.

Konecranes Lifttrucks delivers milestone forklift
MARKARYD, Sweden
Konecranes Lifttrucks AB has delivered its 2,000th forklift, a 22 tonne forklift, to Swedish building products supplier Moelven Byggmodul.

Konecranes Lifttrucks managing director KG Salomonsson said Moelven Group was a long-time customer.

“[It] pleases us this machine was sold through our Swedish distributor BT Svenska AB, our best performing distributor in 2006.”

Germany orders 27 Edrive straddle carriers
STOCKHOLM, Sweden
Kalmar Industries has received orders for 27 of its seventh-generation straddle carriers from German terminal operators.

MSC Gate Bremerhaven GmbH & Co KG and North Sea Terminal Bremerhaven (NTB) GmbH & Co have ordered 10 and seven ESC440 W units respectively. HHLA’s Container Terminal Burchardkai GmbH (CTB), at the Port of Hamburg, ordered 10 ESC350 W units.

The orders, with undisclosed values, will be delivered by the northern summer of 2007.

Forklift carries split house before divorce
BERLIN, Germany

A forklift was used to pick up half a house after a German man decided to settle his imminent divorce by chainsawing the family home in two.

Reuters New reported police said the 43-year-old trained mason measured the single-storey house, which was about eight metres long and six metres wide, before chainsawing through the wooden roof and walls.

The police spokesman said: “The man said he was just taking his due but I don’t think his wife was too pleased.”

Fully integrated RFID forklift now on sale
MELBOURNE, VIC, Australia

Peacock Bros, Intermec Inc, Alpha Warehouse Solutions and Cascade Australia have completed construction of what the partners say is Australia’s first fully integrated radio frequency identification (RFID) forklift.

Intermec supplied the RFID equipment; Peacock Bros was responsible for installation, software, customisation and assembly; Alpha provided the forklift; and Cascade supplied the backrests.

Craig McKenzie, Peacock Bros marketing coordinator, said the RFID units would retail for about AUD20,000, including programming, and could be fitted to new forklifts pre-delivery or to “any normal forklift”.

“It is based on a prototype developed by Intermec Inc (Forkliftaction.com News http://www.forkliftaction.com/news/newsdisplay.asp?nwid=3850). It has wireless internet and Bluetooth capabilities or data can be uploaded through batching; a physical update,” he said.

The RFID readers and antennas were pre-mounted in backrests and hard-wired to CV30 computer terminals in forklift cabins. The readers captured information on RFID Gen 2-tagged boxes, pallets and products.

The computer terminal was wirelessly connected to central inventory and management systems to enable data sharing between warehouse floors and main office computers.

McKenzie said preliminary tests showed the system could process RFID-tagged items three times faster than conventional barcoded systems.

The fully integrated RFID forklift was “the missing link” in RFID technology because it meant drivers did not have to leave forklift cabins to scan boxes by hand.

“You don’t even need to have line of sight with the barcodes. It can read codes even if they are hidden in a stack of boxes and can identify multiple tags. The beam you get on a hand-held scanner is nothing like the beam you get on this unit,” he said.

Middleware software meant the RFID units could translate forklifts’ native computer language to warehouse systems, so it was not necessary to upgrade full computer systems.

The RFID forklift will be on show at the Wireless World exhibition in Sydney this month and the Matex exhibition, in Melbourne, in May.

McKenzie said Peacock Bros had several major transport companies interested in the technology, but no sales had been made yet.

RFID showcased in Sydney warehouse
SYDNEY, NSW

IT services company LogicaCMG has transformed its Lane Cove, Sydney, warehouse into an RFID Innovation Warehouse to showcase RFID technology and LogicaCMG’s services.

Craig Lennard, LogicaCMG industry distribution and transport managing director, said the warehouse had been RFID enabled with forklift, hand-held and fixed-mount readers to demonstrate the benefits of RFID technology.

The warehouse gave LogicaCMG the opportunity to market itself as an end-to-end IT solutions provider and raise awareness of its services to attract clients.

Lennard said the warehouse was similar to LogicaCMG’s Netherlands warehouse and was established in partnership with GS1 Australia, Sybase, Intermec Inc and Alien.

GS1 allocated numbers and bar codes, and IT technology companies Sybase, Intermec Inc and Alien Technology provided RFID equipment and software.

Demonstration scenarios included automatic consignment receipting and label production; end-to-end location tracking; automated tracking and validation with third-party suppliers; and hand-held asset tag administration and identification.

Lennard would not say how much the warehouse upgrade cost, but said “several large Australian retailers” had already arranged to visit the warehouse.

WorkChoices “biggest threat since asbestos”
MELBOURNE, VIC, Australia

WorkChoices poses the “biggest threat to the safety of Australian workers since asbestos”, says Kevin Jones, Safety Institute of Australia, Victorian vice president.

He said stress-related injuries were rising because of the “flexibility” of WorkChoices that allowed workers to forgo leave entitlements and work longer hours.

“WorkChoices is opening a Pandora’s box of new health problems stemming from stress and high workloads. It’s the greatest threat to workers’ health since asbestos because it harms people from all walks of life in such an insidious way; millions of Australians will suffer its potentially devastating effects,” he said.

Jones had no data to support his claim that stress and fatigue-related injuries were rising, but said that was because insufficient research had been done.

“WorkChoices has only been in 12 months, but industrial relations reforms have been happening for years. [SIA] believes the linkage” between stress-related injuries and workers’ compensation claims “is there”, he said.

A spokesperson for Federal Employment & Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey rejected Jones’s comments. “Asbestos killed a bunch of people ... the suggestion that WorkChoices is akin to that is puerile.”

He said companies should not encourage employees to work when they were tired because fatigue posed an obvious workplace risk.

Occupational health & safety (OHS) had “nothing to do with WorkChoices legislation” because it was not governed by federal laws. “It’s very hard to have a sensible debate with anyone who makes a statement that is so stupid. Obviously a 38-hour week is protected under WorkChoices and, regardless of that, OHS is run by the states,” he said.

Briefs

Manitou partnership provides finance
SYDNEY, Australia
Manitou Australia has partnered with Capital Finance to provide finance packages for its clients under the brand Manitou Finance.

Manitou Finance will support Manitou Australia’s independent dealer network, which includes more than 30 dealers in the agriculture and industry sectors.

Tieman Industries restructures management
MELBOURNE, VIC, Australia
Tieman Industries, an Australian materials handling and dock safety product manufacturer, has restructured its executive management group.

Founder Neil Tieman is chairman and directors Colin and Dale Tieman are now joint managing directors.

Marcel Wynn, general manager, sales & service, and Jack Parr, general manager, operations, are new appointments.

5^th ASEAN Ports and Shipping 2007 Malaysia Exhibition and Conference

The ASEAN Ports and Shipping Exhibition and Conference is the largest annual Container Ports, Shipping and Transport Logistics Exhibition and Conference in the ASEAN region and one of the largest throughout Asia. The event will be held this year on 12^th and 13^th June at the Persada Johor International Convention Centre, Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Click here for the full text of this release, including pictures.

Western Tydens on display at IMHX

Western Tydens, a British exhaust manufacturer, together with our partners Engine Control Systems (ECS), will be exhibiting our Combifilter range of Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF), Catalytic Converters and Spark Arresters at the IMHX show in Birmingham.

Click here for the full text of this release, including pictures.

Bolzoni Auramo release the new class 4 sideshifter

Bolzoni Auramo has now completed the range of sideshifters with the introduction of the class 4 units. The class 4 sideshifters is based on the design of the existing class 2 and 3 units, which have been very successful on the market. The new models are available with capacity 6500 kg at 600 mm or 8500 kg at 600 mm and 3 different sideshifting stokes.

Click here for more information on this product, including pictures.

Rob Vetter: One good apple
BLAINE, WA, United States

You have probably heard the proverb ‘one bad apple can spoil the barrel"’ but have you seen the effect one good apple can have on the others? “Apples” are a metaphor for forklift operators and the “good” ones are those operators who take the time do their jobs safely and in accordance with their training.

Click here for the full Safety First feature, including pictures.

Pam Oakes, Nexen Lift Trucks Ltd - UK
SUFFOLK, United Kingdom

As sales director of Nexen Lift Trucks Ltd, Pam Oakes gets a buzz from introducing the growing UK forklift brand to overseas markets.

Click here for the full Industry Profile feature, including pictures.

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