The best way to imagine the significance of today's celebration is to look back at the very first issue of Forkliftaction.com's newsletter.
(View first issue:
www.forkliftaction.com/newsletter/archive/0001.htm)
Launched in July 2000, the newsletter started as a plain text email containing two stories: one about Crown Equipment Corporation (USA) and another about Clark Equipment (Australia). It was then emailed fortnightly to 50 subscribers in three countries.
Today, almost five years on, the newsletter has evolved tremendously in its style and content. It is published weekly and contains about ten news stories covering the materials handling industry worldwide.
The colourful email format with a side bar containing links to the online discussion forums, upcoming events, industry tenders and job vacancies is sent to 14,700 registered subscribers and read by an estimated 55,000 in 161 countries.
The newsletter was the first development in the Forkliftaction.com internet portal project.
''Industry professionals around the world are increasingly turning to Forkliftaction.com for the sort of immediate and relevant industry news, views and feedback that helps keep them up to speed on what's happening,'' Michael Leu, Forkliftaction.com's executive director, said.
"The readership continues to grow at an impressive rate and the website has well and truly established itself as a successful marketing tool for the industry on every continent," he said.
The Forkliftaction.com internet portal (
www.forkliftaction.com) not only offers a news archive with stories from the past 200 newsletters spanning five years in the global materials handling industry, but also features:
* Business Directory (
www.forkliftaction.com/directory) - currently listing 20,000 materials handling suppliers from around the world.
* Discussion Forums (
www.forkliftaction.com/forum) - a busy ''meeting place'' where the international forklift community shares ideas, gossip and business or technical expertise.
* Spec-Checker (
www.forkliftaction.com/equipment) - technical specifications of materials handling machinery from the world's major suppliers.
* Events (
www.forkliftaction.com/events) - comprehensive list of world materials handling events occurring around the world.
* Business Tenders (
www.forkliftaction.com/tenders) - a list of open tenders for materials handling equipment and services from around the world.
* Jobs & Resumes (
www.forkliftaction.com/jobs) - a service that allows members to browse for job vacancies or post their resumes for prospective employers
The Marketplace, Forkliftaction.com's newest initiative, is scheduled to be launched in the coming weeks. Dealers in the Forkliftaction.com community are already taking up this opportunity to import their stock lists to explore the potential of this unmatched industry audience. Their used equipment stock lists will be a part of the new Marketplace when it is launched into the global industry.