There are a couple of interesting predictions about the future of the industry in this week's newsletter. On the one hand, Jungheinrich is tipping a 2% sales fall this year, after a 3% slide in global first-half sales.
Western European sales fell 9%, and at the other extreme, the North American market grew by 9%.
Meanwhile, another survey expects global demand for materials handling products to climb 4% annually until 2016. But even there, the predictions are for uneven performance. The World Material Handling Products study sees automated conveyors and automated guided vehicles as the major growth areas.