A Crown Equipment Corp survey finds that 71% of respondents say driving down costs is the biggest materials handling challenge facing their organisation.

Of 556 respondents, 86% believe that the materials handling industry will become more reliant on technology within the next five years.

Regarding specific types of technologies, 40.4% cite forklift fleet management and 32.5% point to automated storage and retrieval systems.

Within the fleet management area, 7% are actively evaluating solutions and 22% are interested in the subject but do not have immediate plans for implementation.

Previous barriers to entry into forklift fleet and operator management are gradually coming down, says Tim Quellhorst, Crown senior vice president. "One of the most common misperceptions about the technology was that it was an all-or-nothing proposition. It's not. End-users are discovering that they can start using certain aspects of forklift fleet and operator management solutions to lower costs and increase productivity. As they get more comfortable, they're coming to us ready for additional features to be implemented."

Currently, adoption of technologies that automate forklift-related materials handling tasks appear to be limited to a small portion of the industry. The survey results show 26% of respondents have interest in the topic but do not have immediate plans to implement a solution. Fifty-four percent of respondents either had no interest in the technology or were not familiar with it.

Quellhorst says, "There is a lot we can learn about the pace of adoption of automation-related products from how the industry is incorporating forklift fleet and operator management technologies. In order for automation to realise its full potential, materials handling companies are going to need to work closely with early adopters to understand where the technology is successful and its shortcomings. And, it will be critical to present customers with an implementation roadmap that does not constrain them from adjusting to unforeseen business changes."

Crown Equipment, a New Bremen-based forklift developer, manufacturer and distributor, conducted the proprietary survey of materials handling end-users involved in the purchase of related equipment for their company.