Steve Richmond

While UK forklift sales have continued to recover following the market decline in 2009, the automated handling equipment market has not been as resilient.

According to Jungheinrich UK Ltd, industry statistics highlight that the market for automated materials handling products, which include products like stacker cranes, picking systems and mini-loaders, has remained static at best.

But Steve Richmond, director of Jungheinrich UK Ltd's systems and projects division, believes that the sector is set for a period of sustained growth. "I believe that companies have now reached the point where they can no longer put off investing in their systems and processes. The lack of investment in recent years means that, in many cases, productivity and efficiency is not being maximised, and, for many firms, operational costs remain higher than they need to be.

"In short, failing to invest in updated intralogistics systems is at odds with accepted business drivers."

The majority of the growth in the automated handling sector will, Richmond contends, come from mid-level solutions that can demonstrate a quick return on investment.

According to Richmond, future interest in automation will, in part, be driven by a shift in the size and scope of modern systems. "Many users now employ partial automation - hybrid systems that are part-automated and part-manual.

"In the past, some companies shied away from automation because they felt that a move to an automated system would mean that every aspect of the operation would have to be automated," he continues.

"This is simply not the case. If designed correctly, semi- and fully automated solutions can be flexible and scalable to allow for future growth and investment strategies and that will prove very attractive."

Separately, the Hamburg-headquartered Jungheinrich Group saw its consolidated net sales rise by 9% to EUR1.074 billion (USD1.333 billion) for the six months to 30 June 2012 (prior year: EUR987 million/USD1.225 billion).

Group intelligence indicates worldwide demand for the first half of the year totaled 489,200 trucks, 3% down from the previous year's 505,200 units. Europe, the group's core base, declined by 8% - Western and Eastern Europe accounted for decreases of 9% and 4% respectively. Asia's market contracted by 3% compared to the first half of 2011, marked by a "disproportionately steep decline of the Chinese market". The North American market grew by 9%.

Jungheinrich expects the global materials handling equipment market to shrink by a mere 2% to about 960,000 units.