by US correspondent Roger RenstromMaterials handling exhibition NA 2006 featured displays from forklift manufacturers Hyster, Hytsu, JLG, Komatsu, Landoll, Narrow Aisle, Noblelift and Yale.
Trade group Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA), of Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, organised the North American Material Handling Show & Forum, known this year as NA 2006, from March 27 to March 30 in Cleveland.
Based on input from MHIA roundtable leaders, Brian McNamara, MHIA executive chairman, said MHIA saw an economic turn start in the third quarter of 2002 and an indication of continued growth well into 2007.
MHIA predicted new orders would rise 11 per cent to 13 per cent in 2006, followed by an additional 3.5 per cent to 5 per cent in 2007. Shipments should grow 10.5 percent to 12 per cent, followed by growth of 6.5 per cent to 8 per cent in 2007, McNamara said.
NA 2006 attracted displays from nearly 500 materials handling and logistics providers with exhibits covering 150,000 square feet (15,000 square metres). The event included an education centre with presentations and displays dedicated to the emerging adoption and implementation of radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies.
Other NA 2006 newsYMHCYale Materials Handling Corporation (YMHC), of Greenville, South Carolina, USA, introduced its NTA-SB series of very-narrow-aisle forklifts in 3,000 pound and 3,500-pound (1,350kg and 1,575kg) capacities for high-density warehouse applications.
In a joint marketing initiative, YMHC, Hyster Co and exhibitor ID Systems Inc, of Hackensack, New Jersey, USA, collaborated in promoting an active RFID-based ID Systems vehicle asset communicator mounted on a forklift. The device linked wirelessly to a system demonstration in the ID Systems exhibit.
JLGJLG Industries Inc, of McConnellsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, exhibited its MSP Series of vertical mast stock pickers with platform heights of 10 feet, 15 feet or 20 feet (three metres, 4.5 metres or six metres) for overhead applications in warehouses, retail stores, factories and offices. JLG also demonstrated its Model 20MVL mobile vertical forklift with a 350 pound (157.5 kg) platform capacity for construction, maintenance and retail use.