Linde centre brings forklifts up to speed
ASCHAFFENBURG, Germany

Linde Material Handling’s single largest investment for efficient product development in five years was officially launched in Aschaffenburg last Friday.

The EUR10million (USD13.4 million) new development centre, at the 294,000 square metre site of Linde’s forklift-producing Aschaffenburg-Nilkheim plant, unites all departments involved in the iPEP program under one roof.

Linde Material Handling CEO Stefan Rinck called the building “a future source of success” for the company.

Marketing manager Manfred Hoen said the centre was “physical proof” of Linde’s sustainability.

The development centre consists of three new buildings and the integration of an existing one. The buildings offer 10,000 square metres of space for offices, test stands, workshops, assembly shops and a prototype workshop (Forkliftaction.com News #287).

The iPEP program, the blueprint for Linde’s new product developments, was launched in 2005 to reduce Linde products’ “speed to market”, Hoehn said. IPEP, a German acronym for innovative product development processes, is also aimed at reducing costs at the start of production and “bringing forward development capacities”.

Rinck said with iPEP, an idea’s market success and feasibility would be assessed early in the development and its implementation determined. More research and tests would be conducted during the initial stages of product development.

“Conceptional modifications are relatively cheap during this period,” he said.

The new process structures had been successful during development of the E12 to E20 electric forklifts and the H14 to H20 diesel and LPG forklifts, the first forklifts developed under iPEP, a Linde statement said.

Linde has been manufacturing forklifts at its Aschaffenburg-Nilkheim plant since 1958. In a media statement, Linde announced it had produced its 500,000th forklift at the plant. The H35 T LPG 3.5 ton forklift was presented to Coca-Cola Erfrischungsgetranke AG.

More than 30,000 1.2-4.5 ton internal combustion and electric counterbalanced forklifts leave the 113,000 square metre Aschaffenburg plant each year. That was about two fifths of all Linde forklifts produced in 2006.

Hoehn said Linde Material Handling (UK) Ltd, in Basingstoke, the UK, and Linde Heavy Truck Division Ltd, in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, produced more than 12,000 units in 2006. Fenwick-Linde, in Châtellerault, France’s output was 30,000 units; Linde Xiamen, in Xiamen, China’s output was more than 3,700 units; and Linde Lift Truck, in Summerville, South Carolina, US, about 500 units.

Linde anticipated its millionth vehicle would be completed in less than 10 years.

“About 50 years ago our production in Aschaffenburg started with a very small amount of trucks each year. Now we are producing more than 30,000 trucks a year and that number will keep increasing in the future,” Hoehn said.

Dubai’s SkyCargo soars high
CAIRNS, Australia

Ram Menen, Emirates Airline’s award-winning air freight division’s divisional senior vice president for cargo, was in Cairns last week for the 2007 Australian Federation of International Forwarders’ annual conference. He spoke to Forkliftaction.com News reporter Christine Liew in an exclusive phone interview.

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“We are extremely serious and focused on cargo.” Ram Menen said. “More than 20 per cent of the airline’s business actually comes from cargo.”

For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007, Emirates SkyCargo’s fleet carried 1.2 million tonnes of cargo, surpassing its record of one million tonnes carried in the previous fiscal year. SkyCargo said in an April 26 statement that its revenue for last financial year was AED5.4 billion (USD1.47 billion), 19 per cent or AED874 million (USD238 million) higher than the year before.

Emirates SkyCargo’s revenue and freight capacity had been growing 20 to 25 per cent annually since the airline’s inception in October 1985, Menen said. A past president of The International Cargo Association, Menen has headed SkyCargo since its establishment.

Today, SkyCargo’s fleet of 100-plus planes flies to more than 80 cities worldwide.
“We move more palletised cargo all over than lots of airlines. We have an all wide-bodied fleet, which allows palletised movement all across our network, unlike a lot of other passenger airlines that tend to have narrow-bodied airplanes operating regionally out of their hubs.

“Nine of our 103 planes are freighters. We have a further 21 new wide-bodied production freighters on order for delivery over the next four to five years,” Menen said.

This month, SkyCargo announced that the first of three Boeing 747-400ERF aircraft, being wet-leased from Netherlands-based global express and mail delivery services company TNT, would be delivered this week. SkyCargo will also dry lease two aircraft from Guggenheim Aviation Partners for a 10-year term. The aircraft, which will be operated by TNT, will be delivered in July 2007 and February 2008. SkyCargo also ordered 10 Boeing 747-8 freighters at the Farnborough Air Show in England last year.

Menen credits Dubai’s infrastructure for SkyCargo’s success. He said the Dubai Government started a distribution network when it established Emirates in 1985.

“[Dubai] is a city that is being built on fast forward mode. When the government set up the airline, [Emirates] probably catalysed Dubai’s growth. Later, in the 1990s, Dubai started catalysing our growth. It’s a very happy relationship.”

The Dubai Government has allocated 140 sq km of land to establish the Dubai World Central International Airport. To be completed by 2017, the airport will have six parallel runways, three passenger terminals and eight concourses capable of handling 120 million passengers a year. Twenty-five sq km of the land had been set aside to create Dubai Logistics City, next to the Jebel Ali Free Zone. Slated for operations at the end of 2007, its air cargo capability would be 12 million tonnes a year. The largest air cargo volume currently handled, about 3.6 million tonnes a year, is by Memphis International Airport, in Tennessee, USA.

“The airports and ports are not growing fast enough. We know passenger numbers and air cargo are growing. [Dubai World Central] will be the world’s largest airfield.

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Kiwis to launch driverless forklift
AUCKLAND, New Zealand

New Zealand start-up company Inro, based in Auckland, is on the threshold of producing the world’s first driverless forklift for use in warehousing work.

While AGV (Automated Guided Vehicles) have been around for some time, Inro founder and Technology Development director Grant Sargent tells Forkliftaction.com News that his invention, which should be in production within a year, is quite different and can perform several tasks that cannot be done with an AGV.

He is, however, reluctant to expand on this due to commercial and legal constraints - but will reveal more on the project in a few months’ time.

What is known so far is that the company is heavily funded by the New Zealand government through its Foundation for Research, Science and Technology which invests over NZD460 million (USD336 million) a year in innovation.

Sargent believes his invention will cut hourly operational costs by half and deliver substantial fuel and production efficiencies.

He estimates that the company has the potential to generate sales, mainly in export markets, of more than NZD25 million (USD18.3 million) in five years.

Doosan eyes higher Chinese sales
SEOUL, Korea, South

Construction equipment and forklift manufacturer Doosan Infracore Co Ltd aims to raise its annual sales in China to about USD3.24 billion by 2010.

According to a SinoCast China Transportation Watch report, Doosan Infracore has pumped USD71 million into the Chinese equipment market, reaping USD600 million in revenues in 2006.

Doosan Infracore China Co Ltd’s Yantai, Shangdong province facility can produce 10,000 excavators, 3,000 forklifts and 1,000 machine tools a year.

In July 2006, mass production of G-series forklifts, designed for China’s mid-segment market, began at Yantai. The plant was established in 1996 to tap into China’s construction equipment market (Forkliftaction.com News #274).

Dooosan has said it planned to repeat its success in the Chinese excavator market with forklifts. It started producing forklifts in China in 1998.

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High-reach forklifts sold to Saudi Arabia
TIPTON, United Kingdom

Saudi Arabian building materials group Al-Fozan has ordered five Flexi HiMAX articulated forklifts to work in its Qatar and Bahrain high-bay warehouses.

Aiman Hawari, the project's principal consultant from the Al-Subeai Group, said the articulated truck concept was "relatively unknown" in the Middle East.

"But it is clear it offers significant advantages in a high-bay warehousing environment, especially in the Gulf region where development land costs are on par with, if not higher than, those in western Europe," Hawari said.

The forklifts, commissioned in June from Narrow Aisle, will retrieve and put away pallets at heights up to 12 metres. Each warehouse facility has a floor area of more than 10,000 square metres. The Qatar facility is in a rapidly-developing industrial zone while the Bahrain facility is at the new Sitrah Island development, a Narrow Aisle Ltd statement said.

John Maguire, Narrow Aisle's sales and marketing director, said the company had been supplying very narrow aisle forklifts to the Middle East for more than 30 years.

"The current market is not large. [But] due to growth in logistics of at least 15 per cent per annum, there is an opportunity for suitable equipment that can work under local conditions. The GDP of the Gulf region has grown by more than eight per cent for each of the last three years.

"This is our first order in Qatar and Bahrain but we have been supplying Dubai and Saudi Arabia for some years," he said.

The order value was USD350,000, including service and parts contracts for three years.

Movers & Shakers

McCONNELLSBURG, PA, United States
JLG Industries Inc, a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corp, has announced several key leadership changes. Oshkosh executive vice president Charlie Szews praised the JLG staff (below) for their focus, commitment and flexibility during the integration of JLG and Oshkosh.

Wayne Lawson, JLG vice president of sales and customer support for Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME), will lead the development and implementation of JLG’s EAME marketing and sales strategies. Lawson also assumes responsibility for JLG’s major accounts team in Europe and the used equipment sales team.

Mike Rafi has been promoted to vice president and manager for the Caterpillar Alliance Group. A JLG statement said growing the Caterpillar Alliance was a  key area of JLG’s strategic focus. It said Rafi had demonstrated strategic vision and strong partnership capabilities essential to JLG and the Caterpillar Alliance. In 2005, JLG and Caterpillar signed an agreement for JLG to produce Caterpillar-branded telehandlers (Forkliftaction.com News #237).

Joe Dixon has been promoted to vice president and general manager of ServicePlus. Dixon will increase the ServicePlus organisation’s global presence and commitment to customer service. ServicePlus, a JLG segment that repairs, maintains and reconditions equipment, has operations in the US and France.

Kristin Skyba has been appointed vice president of global marketing. Skyba was vice president of marketing communications for Oshkosh Truck Corp. She will remain an officer of Oshkosh while leading the development and implementation of JLG’s global marketing strategies.

HOMEWOOD, IL, United States
Bolzoni Auramo Inc has appointed Jim Baker as southwest regional sales manager. Baker will be located in Houston, Texas. He will be responsible for forklift attachment sales in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, and New Mexico.

Forklift driver’s son is world’s whiz kid
REDRUTH, United Kingdom

A forklift driver’s wife has claimed a world record for the fastest birth.

Claire Radbone, of Redruth, Cornwall, had given birth to a 7lb 10oz son, Jamie, within 60 seconds of her waters breaking, The Sun reported.

The Sun had reported last Friday that Palak Vyas, 30, of Isleworth, West London, thought she held the record. Her daughter, Vedika, had been born in less than two minutes.

But Radbone, 33, told The Sun this week her son’s arrival was so quick her stunned midwife didn’t have time to connect the oxygen supply at her home. The midwife had recorded the time of Jamie’s arrival on her medical notes.

Radbone’s husband, Nathan, said: “I was ready to help with her breathing and that, but Jamie just came out so quickly. I think six kids is enough for us.”

Jamie, now 11 months old, is the couple’s sixth child. Radbone’s other children were also born quickly. Her longest labour was with her eldest child, Hayleigh, who arrived in seven minutes.

Queensland’s $70 billion infrastructure wave
Queensland, Australia

Queensland faces a new wave of infrastructure construction worth more than $70 billion over the next decade, according to figures in the latest CEDA information paper on Queensland's economic development.

To finance this investment and attract expertise to manage it, Queensland will need the best possible enabling environment, with an understanding of the private funds available, a world-class regulatory framework and transparent contracting and bidding processes.

These and other findings are contained in three papers in the second volume of CEDA's “Sustainable Queensland” project, a detailed examination of how the state can cope with the growth expected in the years ahead.

The report shows Queensland faces a new wave of infrastructure-building, stretching over at least 10 years and possibly more than 20 years.

The report says the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Programme contains $33 billion of spending over the next 10 years and the state's “Blueprint for Business” another $36 billion over five years. On top of that is a share of $15 billion in planned federal AusLink road funding.

Fun and facts combine at forklift function
GOLD COAST, Australia

Manitou Australia’s Manitour roadshow, which has already been staged in Western Australia and Victoria, rolls on to the Gold Coast on 15 June and New South Wales on 31 August.

One of the highlights of the tour is a demonstration by Manitou-France employee, Arnaud Lestienne, who shows his unparalleled product knowledge when driving the machines on two wheels. Unfortunately, Lestienne will not be at the Queensland event.

Attendees are invited to trial a wide range of Manitou machines, with six active demonstration areas. Once participants trial all six product areas, they will go into the draw to win a Triumph Daytona 675 valued over $16,000, drawn on 31 August 2007.

As well as product demonstration areas, and dependant on location, some participants will also have the opportunity to race go karts or try their hand at a V8 experience.

Briefs
RIVERSTONE, Australia

Forklift employee enslaved by poker machine
RIVERSTONE, Australia
A Dural woman was sentenced to two years imprisonment with a non-parole period of one year for stealing $110,000 from her Riverstone employer.
Raelene Elizabeth Berich, 39, was the bookkeeper for Hubtex Australia, a forklift importer, between May 2005 and August 2006.
Investigations revealed that instead of paying clients, Berich was making funds transfers to her personal bank accounts. She told the court that she lost all the money to poker machines at Riverstone RSL Club.
"They treated me like a queen," she told the judge.
"They reserved my favourite machine for me. I was like a zombie."

Queensland Materials Handling Show

In its second year, Queensland Materials Handling will showcase a collection of the industry's biggest names when it runs from June 19 to 21 at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Yale Forklifts, Hyster North, Ace Forklifts and Qld Lifting and Recycling Equipment are among the new exhibitors from the forklift industry to join a line-up that already included Toyota Materials Handling, JLG Prolift, EV Alert and Shockwatch. And, just in time for the July implementation of Queensland's new forklift licensing provisions, Easy Guides Australia will offer its unique picture-based training learning guides and PowerPoint training materials.

Not limited to forklifts, Queensland...

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Annual Meeting for CITA & ITA

Asia's Biggest Professional Forklift&Parts Exhibition Shanghai--CITA 2007 3nd China International Forklifts & Parts Fair (Shanghai)

On May 21-22, 2007, the annual meeting of CITA (Power Industrial Truck Technical Institution of China Construction Machinery Association）was held in Shanghai Bothland Hotel. This meeting as before focused on forklift section. Many professionals and experts of this industry and related associations from local China as well as America and Canada from North America attended this conference.

Detailed contents of this meeting were as follows:

The distinguished guest from America Industrial Truck Association, Mr. James J. Malvaso, chairman of the association and close friend of CITA,...

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Hu-Lift releases new products

Based on requirements out of domestic and international market, Hu-Lift adopts new advanced technologies and ceaselessly updated and improve old product series, successfully pushes series of new products into market in recent period, including electric pallet trucks, DC/AC electric forklift, electric stackers etc. With the same quality and function of original products, the new series is with more reasonable designs, beauty modeling and superior performance.

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

Phil Singleton, NYK Forklifts
BRISBANE, Australia

After nearly two decades in Australia’s materials handling industry, Phil Singleton, general manager of Brisbane-based NYK Forklifts, distils his service experience into these fundamental principles: “Listen to what your customers want; keep up to date with changes in the industry, particularly new technology; and actually do what you say you do.”

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

Ed Somand, Toyota Material Handling USA Inc
IRVINE, CA, United States

As fleet services manager for Toyota Material Handling USA Inc (TMHU), Ed Somand is often on the road. When he’s not visiting customers in the field, Somand works from his home office. The father of two says forklift users are increasingly interested in fleet management systems.

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

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