ProMat 2007

By Roger Renstrom

US materials handling expo ProMat 2007 attracted 750 exhibitors with displays covering 300,000 square feet (27,000 square metres).

Dry weather greeted attendees in a month better known for stormy climatic conditions in Chicago, known as the "windy city".

The non-profit Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA), of Charlotte, North Carolina, organised the trade show and broad-based educational conference, on January 8-11.

An educational seminar in progress.

Participation was brisk for business seminars, part of the educational conference, at the Knowledge Centre. Six self-contained meeting rooms in the centre of the exhibition hall held a total of 69 seminar sessions.

Toyota Material Handling USA vice president of sales Bob Bosworth said ProMat was a "great show".
"We were ecstatic with the traffic. Dealers were bringing in customers, and we had a big crowd in the booth during peak periods."

Scott Johnson, Clark Material Handling Co's dealer services director, said the Kentucky-based company "had a full booth with a blend of current dealers, customers and national accounts".

Keith Allmandinger, senior marketing manager of Komatsu Forklifts USA Inc and Tusk Lift Trucks, said there was good traffic, interest and sales leads at the show.

Yale Materials Handling Corp regional aftermarket sales manager Joshua Thomas said ProMat was "a great venue" to showcase new products. "We had incredible traffic [on] Tuesday."
Kevin Trenga, Raymond Corp's marketing communications manager, said: "We like the [south] hall location and having exhibits on one floor, and we like the colour coding of [exhibit floor] carpets for specific" exhibit categories.

Many exhibitors showed an awareness of emerging technologies relevant to forklift operators. The presence of fuel cell systems and their future prospects was seen at numerous exhibits, and the ProMat directory's product index listed 72 companies under the joint category "Radio Frequency Identification and Data Communications Equipment".

The Toyota FCHV-F

Toyota Material Handling USA displayed a fuel cell forklift prototype, the FCHV-F, developed by Toyota Industries Corp and Toyota Motor Corp while Jungheinrich introduced the EFG D30 rotating cabin forklift to the US market. The FCHV-F was first introduced at CeMAT 2005 in Hannover, Germany (Forkliftaction.com News #230).

Jungheinrich initially demonstrated the potential market capabilities of a forklift with a rotating cabin at a 2003 seminar, in Munich, Germany, and continued refinements, leading to the ProMat introduction. Subsidiary Jungheinrich Lift Truck Corp has assigned EFG D30 units for hands-on, end-user evaluations in the US for several months. The German forklift manufacturer launched the EFG D30 in Europe in 2005 (Forkliftaction.com News #195).

MHIA gave a "favourable" outlook in its forecast of 2007 materials handling equipment manufacturing for the US market.

"Our forecast is for slower growth in 2007, in the 3.5 per cent to 5.0 per cent range, closing out the most recent expansion phase of our business cycle," MHIA executive chairman Brian McNamara said.

In 2007, "shipments will grow at an annual rate of 6.5 per cent to 8.0 per cent, [and] we forecast that consumption will expand at 6.5 per cent to 8.0 per cent". McNamara is president of Southworth International Group Inc, of Falmouth, Maine.

Another trade group, Material Handling Equipment Distributors of America (MHEDA), organised a January 8 higher education classroom day for more than 25 students at ProMat. Participants received an overview of the materials handling industry, guidance in visiting a section of exhibits in the hall and networking at a MHEDA reception.

MHEDA is arranging an intensely scheduled two-day program for several professors and students during the group's April 29-May 2 convention and exhibition in San Diego, California.

With the wind up of ProMat 2007 activities, MHIA intends to focus on the group's next big undertaking, the NA08 materials handling and logistics show and conference, on April 21-24, 2008, in Cleveland, Ohio.