While electrification and automation were key themes at CeMAT Australia in Melbourne last week, a more pressing question for some was about the impact of increasing imports of competitively-priced Chinese materials handling equipment on domestic Australian producers and distributors.

Simon Urch, sales manager for NSW, Victoria and Tasmania with attachment company KAUP, identifies the increase in Chinese products coming onto the market as the biggest near-term threat to the sector.

He says because of availability locally, it is now common for many Chinese forklifts to come in with Chinese-made attachments.

“There is so much new Chinese product coming in,” Urch says. “And they don't have the sort of overheads and costs that we have in the market space now.”

KAUP, which attended CeMAT Australia for the first time, was promoting its smart-load control (SLC) autonomous system which regulates the clamping pressure of forklift attachments, improving efficiency and reducing damage.

Jonathan Polyblank, director of materials handling equipment distributor Hyworth Forklift, was asked at CeMAT what he considers as the greatest threat to the materials handling sector. 

“The influx of new product, specifically from China,” he says. “I don't think the current discounting from the Chinese manufacturers, is sustainable in the long-term.

“I think some Aussie businesses won't be able to survive that and that is my biggest fear at the moment.

“I've spoken to a lot of Aussie forklift companies, and they're all saying the exact same thing.”

Sarah Cooper, national operations manager with Industrial Batteries Australia, also observes “there are a lot of Chinese manufacturers flooding the market”, and this is creating additional competition and price pressure.

And while this has some concerned about the impact on Australian businesses, there are others who believe it's fair competition.

David Cooper, managing director of Industrial Batteries Australia, adds that one of its biggest sellers, its BSL product, comes out of China and “you can't fault them, to be honest”. 

“It's a different China now than it was 10 years ago, that's for sure,” he continues.

Lithium-ion continues to grow 

David Cooper says there has been a big uptake of lithium-ion technology and this is still a major talking point for those in the Australian materials handling sector.

“Our sales of lithium-ion products have increased four-fold on the last year,” he continues.

“About one in five of the batteries we sell now is lithium-ion, whereas last year it was about one in 20 batteries with lithium-ion.

“That gives you an idea of how it is being embraced and the technology variance has really opened up doors for electric equipment. That's why you're seeing such a big uptake of it.”

Space optimisation is not only a European problem

Articulated forklift maker Bendi was showcasing its narrow aisle forklift which can lift up to 12.5m high, has a mast with 220-degree rotation, operates in aisles as narrow as 1.8m and can be used for indoor and outdoor applications.

Andy Higham, international sales with Bendi manufacturer Landoll, says the articulated forklift’s ability to work in 1.8m aisles is more narrow than any competitors.

Higham adds it is a misconception that Australia’s warehousing, manufacturing and logistics sectors do not experience the same constraints.

“The bigger the land mass the less need there is for optimised use of space is not true,” he says. “In Australia, where does all the business get done? It’s all concentrated in the cities and that demand for space is driving prices up making space more expensive than it has been in the past.

“We are seeing the same thing around the world. The cost for real estate is increasing quickly and that means businesses need to optimise the space they have rather than look to expand outwards.”

UN Forklift makes CeMAT Australia debut

China’s UN Forklift made its entrance at the CeMAT Australia event for the first time where it showcased the latest developments in its F Series, including the FE Series 4-wheel electric forklift, the F Series LPG forklift and the F Series hydrostatic rough-terrain forklift.

UN Forklift says the F Series reflects its most recent R&D direction, emphasising versatility, efficiency and adaptability across multiple applications while also engineered to respond to evolving consumer demand around clean power solutions, optimised life cycles and improved controllability.

Also being displayed at the event was the latest iteration of UN Forklift’s N Series rough-terrain forklift, a long-standing flagship product line it says addresses core challenges in infrastructure, construction and agricultural projects where stability and traction are critical.

UN Forklift says demand for rough-terrain forklifts continues to grow strongly in Australia and it is ready to meet that demand.

Automation - not for everyone?

If there was one thing everyone at CeMAT Australia could agree on, it is that automation is well and truly here to stay and is quickly transforming the sector. But it's also clear automation is not a one-size-fits-all solution and is outside of the realm of affordability for most smaller operations.

UN Forklift says automation “is not a replacement for conventional equipment, but a natural extension of it—particularly when built on stable, well-proven product platforms”.

Andy Higham from Landoll says quite simply “the majority of material handling customers can't afford automation”.

“When we’re doing these training sessions with younger sales reps, they always want to know when we are going to automate,” Higham continues. “They want to know when we are going to make it like a video game.

“But that's not us because there's plenty of customers, I call them the smaller customers, that have 20 forklifts and under, and they are never going to automate.”

Louise Inglese, CEO of Australian forklift safety product developer Genie Grips, agrees that SME (small to medium) businesses could not viably automate in the near-term.

“In Australia, SMEs employs 80% of people and they can’t afford the costs they need to lay out to start automating.

“That doesn't mean it won't ever happen, but we're a long way from everyone being able to automate their operations.”

Toyota was showcasing its range of AGVs and autonomous driverless vehicles as well as some manual handling equipment.

George Malamatinis, GM marketing and business development with Toyota Material Handling Australia, agrees automation is a hot topic and a great investment for some businesses, but not all of them - yet!

“We have had a lot of strong interest in automation but not all sites are suitable for autonomous forklifts,” Malamatinis adds. “AGVs are good at following a prescribed path and doing some repetitive tasks - so you can repurpose drivers to do more productive work - but there is also a comprehensive installation process.

“There's a bigger upfront cost initially to install this, but over the long term, for larger companies automation will provide efficiencies across the business.”

Knapp had two stands at CeMAT Australia to showcase its automation portfolio and held the Australian launch of its Aerobot smart sorting solution described by Michael Kemeny, managing director of Knapp Australia, as a good entry level automation solution for smaller and medium sizes businesses.

“They can start with a smaller set-up, a couple of racks or one rack and one or two bots and then grow and I think that's how the market's going to shift to more flexible solutions,” he explains.

It will be interesting to see how far automation comes between now and CeMAT Australia next year.