Welcome to Forkliftaction.com's first feature article on the world market for forklift attachments. Forkliftaction.com's journalists highlight the major developments during 2003 in this important market segment.

The world of forklift attachments is dominated by three major players: US-based Cascade Corporation out in front, followed by the Italian Bolzoni Auramo Group and Germany's Kaup GmbH.

Clearly the biggest market development of 2003 was Cascade Corporation's USD6.5 million acquisition of Italian attachments company Roncari Srl, which primarily makes standard and specialised attachments, in October.

Cascade, which has just turned 60 and enjoys a rumoured 80% share of the US market, announced it had signed a preliminary agreement in September, a move which gave the US company a golden opportunity to enter the Italian market.

Cascade plans to sell and support Roncari products largely through Cascade's existing global infrastructure - except in Roncari's home nation, Italy.

"Within Italy, Cascade's marketing and sales will be absorbed into the existing Roncari sales organisation," said Terry Cathey, Cascade senior vice president and chief operating officer. "Certain of Roncari's prior European distribution associations will remain, and are still being negotiated."

The acquisition, which adds 5% to Cascade's volume, impacts a network of agents Roncari had developed in recent years in Asia, the South Pacific and North America. Cascade intends to offer products under both the Roncari and Cascade brands in all markets.

"Many of Roncari's products complement Cascade's offerings and will enable Cascade to support a broader range of applications," Mr Cathey said. "Where application offerings overlap, customers will have an opportunity to choose between products that optimise total cost of ownership or lowest initial cost, depending on their particular needs."

Cascade appointed Maurizio Roncari as general manager of the Roncari facility. His father, Giuseppe Roncari, who co-founded the company in 1967, retired, effective with the sale of the business on October 21. Maurizio Roncari reports to Charlie Mitchelson, vice president and managing director of Cascade Europe in Almere, the Netherlands.

Davide Roncari, an engineer and nephew of Giuseppe Roncari, is assuming an expanded role in the combined Cascade-Roncari organisation with an initial focus "on damage reduction technology for carton clamp handling", Mr Cathey said.

Roncari employs 70 people, has a 6,000 square metre (64,800 square feet) facility in Vago do Lavagno, Italy, and has annual sales of about USD12 million. Cascade, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, USA, achieved net sales of USD258.8 million in 2002.

The Bolzoni Auramo Group, formed in 2001 when Bolzoni SpA acquired Finnish Auramo OY, has gone from strength to strength on the back of strategic acquisitions and product quality.

The acquisition of Auramo gave Bolzoni a strong foothold in the paper handling attachments market. Auramo was Europe's leading supplier. The company's management was integrated with Bolzoni's, and the businesses carried on as usual.

About 80% of Bolzoni Auramo's production is sold outside Italy. The company has six production plants, employs 550 people and has an annual turnover of EUR80 million (USD100 million).

Bolzoni Auramo pushed into the US market in earnest with the acquisition of Brudi from TBM Holdings in January 2002. While Bolzoni and Auramo had operated in the US before the Brudi acquisition, Forkliftaction.com sources said the takeover was a clever move, as Brudi was a popular, entrenched brand name in the insular US market.

For Kaup GmbH, 2003 was a year of achievement in the face of hardship. With the German economy on the ropes, export manager Uwe Killmann told Forkliftaction.com News the company was happy it was able to increase turnover.

"Despite the economic difficulties in Germany, we were quite happy with our order intake for the year," he said. "This difficult time has separated the men from the boys in this market, and we were pleased with our performance."

Based in Aschaffenburg, Kaup was established as a blacksmith, then turned its attention to manufacturing forklift attachments in 1962. The privately-held company claims it is number one in the European market.

Mr Killmann said the success of 2003 was attributed to, among other things, "mother nature".

"We've had a very, very hot summer in Germany, so much so that drink bottlers appealed for customers to return empty bottles for refilling," he said. "The climate placed a huge strain on the beverage industry, and the demand for greater materials handling has flown on to us."

Kaup manufactures attachments in Aschaffenburg and, since 1997, in Xiamen, China. Products from the German factory are exported worldwide, while Chinese-made products service the Chinese and Australasian markets.

Mr Killmann would not reveal Kaup's financial figures. He said the company was expecting to achieve at least the same turnover this year as last, but held some concerns about the Euro currency rates.

TO BE CONTINUED... Look for Forkliftaction.com News's second editorial feature, which will cover the interesting story of the market for container handling attachments and spreaders, on January 27.