Dear reader,
WELCOME TO FORKLIFTACTION.COM,
MATERIALS HANDLING ONLINE.
This is issue #101 - 03 April
2003 of the weekly newsletter for industry
professionals.
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been launched with great success. Materials handling industry
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1.
CLARK OFFER REJECTED, CLARK MHE GOES
BUST 
MULHEIM, Germany
The employees of
Clark Material Handling Europe (CMHE) have rejected a
buyout offer from Clark Material Handling Company (CMHC)
and plunged the company into terminal
insolvency.
CMHE entered receivership when Young
An Hat Company of Korea bought CMHC on January 31,
bringing it out of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A similar
buyout plan was formulated for CMHE, but the plan was
rejected on April 1. Other bids, including one rumoured
to be from a large US materials handling player, were
nullified by the employee decision.
CMHC chief
executive Kevin Reardon said CMHCs plan, in accordance
with European Union corporate laws, would have seen CMHE
employees placed in a transfer company, with six
months guaranteed pay, and moved to a revived Clark
Europe as needed.
Those employees not transferred
to the new entity after six months would be paid another
six months severance pay and released. Mr Reardon said
the employees rejection of the plan meant many would be
out of work immediately.
The options were
explained to employees on March 28, and votes on the
options were required by March 31.
This is a
very disappointing result for us. To do the deal as
planned, we needed the support of the majority of the
workforce, but we didnt achieve that, and now secondary
plans need to be initiated, Mr Reardon
said.
CMHC would now establish a sales office in
nearby Ratigen, where temporary offices have been
operating since the receivership on January 31. That
office would be transferred to more permanent offices
and launched as Clark Europe GmbH on April
14.
The perfect outcome would have been to
retain the existing workforce and facility and keep
turning out trucks for our dealers and customers. We did
everything possible to achieve this, but unfortunately
we failed, Mr Reardon said.
He assured
Forkliftaction.com News that dealers would still be
supported, and would hardly notice any changes.
Forklifts and spare parts built in Korea would now
supply the European market, meaning a lag of three
weeks shipping for dealers.
Clark Europe would
build a research & development facility in Germany
before year-end, but a decision on whether the company
would build another manufacturing facility in Mulheim
had not been made.
If a manufacturing facility
is built, it will most definitely be in Germany, its an
important strategic location for us, and it would be
great if it was in Mulheim, as we have all that local
expertise to draw on, Mr Reardon said.
- Clark website -
2.
ECONOMIC WOES HAMPER LINDE RESULTS
WEISBADEN, Germany
A difficult
economic environment was the major factor in Lindes
materials handling businesses returning a profit of
EUR148 million (USD159.3 million) in 2002, down 38
percent on the EUR240 million (USD258.3 million) 2001
result.
Lindes 2002 annual report, released last
week, showed sales revenue peaked at EUR2.979 billion
(USD3.2 billion), down three percent from EUR3.071
billion (USD3.3 billion) in 2001. Orders received fell
2.8 percent from EUR3.14 billion (USD3.38 billion) to
EUR3.053 billion (USD3.29 billion).
After the
drastic fall in demand (30 percent) in 2001 in north
America, our European operations suffered a similar fate
in 2002. In the first six months of the year, demand
declined by around 10 percent, although it fell rather
less in the second half, the report
said.
Despite the poor economical situation,
Linde was able to retain market leadership in Europe
with 35 percent. Linde and subsidiaries Still and OM
Pimespo increased their market shares in Germany but
fell in Italy and Spain.
In America and Asia, the
market improved. Linde doubled sales volumes in Japan
with the help of joint-venture partner Komatsu. The
increased cooperation resulted in greater use of the
companies production facility in Xiamen,
China.
Linde would counter the negative effects
of the economic downturn with an optimisation program
which would streamline processes, reduce costs and
generate improvements in competitive ability and
earnings power, the report said.
The program,
called TRIM.100 (Total Reorganisation of our
International Multi-brand strategy), would strengthen
Lindes individual brands and produce savings of EUR100
million (USD107.7 million) in 2003 and 2004, Linde said.
The program would also see 1000 jobs cut.
Under
TRIM.100, Still, OM Pimespo and Komatsu would form a
new worldwide brand association, with each retaining its
brand identity and independence. Linde would be
reinforced as a global brand.
- Linde website -
3.
TOYOTA IN CHINA JOINT VENTURE
NAGOYA, Japan
Toyota Industries
Corporation and trading company Toyota Tsusho
Corporation will set up a forklift sales joint venture
in Shanghai, China, next month.
In a move
intended to meet growing forklift demand in China, the
joint venture, Toyota Material Handling (Shanghai) Co,
will be 70 percent owned by Toyota Industries and 30
percent by Toyota Tsusho, a Jiji Press report
said.
The joint venture will start manufacturing
in April and begin distributing forklifts through
various Chinese dealers in June. Toyota said it expected
to sell 1000 forklifts in China this year.
- Toyota website -
4.
UKFORKS BUYS GBP1.2 MILLION OF JCB
TELEHANDLERS
HARROGATE, United Kingdom
Ukforks, a
materials handling equipment hirer, has expanded its
fleet with a GBP1.2 million (USD1.9 million) purchase of
JCB telehandlers.
The company, a subsidiary of
plant hire group Vp, bought a fleet of 10, 12 and
17-metre telehandlers. The deal follows a GBP2.5 million
(USD3.9 million) deal struck in January for
Italian-built Dieci Runner and Icarus
telehandlers.
Ukforks divisional director David
Williams said ukforks regularly replenished its
fleet.
"This latest investment fits precisely
with this philosophy. These are excellent, robust
machines which are already in use on house-building and
construction sites from where we are getting very
positive feedback, Mr Williams told The Northern
Echo.
Vp, formerly known as Vibroplant, was
established in 2000 and has a fleet of more than 1000
vehicles and more than 100 staff. It is currently the
largest UK provider of telehandlers and forklifts to the
construction industry.
- ukforks website -
5.
**ADVERTISEMENT** THE MATERIALS HANDLING INDEX BOOK
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companys details are listed by using our simple Are
You listed? search: www.forkliftaction.com.au/directory/are_you_listed.asp.
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6.
STOCKA LIFTS PROFITS, SALES IN 2002
ESLOV, Sweden
Stocka Industries AB,
one of Swedens leading forklift manufacturers, posted a
SEK3.3 million (USD389,013) pre-tax profit on sales of
SEK135 million (USD15.9 million) for the year ended
December 31, 2002.
The 2002 results improved
slightly on Stockas 2001 figures, when it posted a
profit of SEK3.2 million (USD377,225) on sales of SEK129
million (USD15.2 million).
The company said in a
statement that, while the market had decreased during
2002, it became a fine year of sales. The customer base
was widened with the help of contracts with big
customers and sales to existing customers
increased.
Stocka increased staff numbers to 93
ahead of launching a new office in Gothenburg in January
this year. The company said several new products would
be launched this year.
Stocka was established in
1906. It manufactured its first hand pallet truck in
1918 and its first forklift in 1950. The company, in
which German forklift maker Still bought a 25 percent
share in 2000, has distributors throughout Europe, the
Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
- Stocka website -
7.
CAT LIFT TRUCKS ANNOUNCES DEALERS OF THE YEAR FOR
2003
HOUSTON, United States
Seven Cat
Lift Trucks dealers have earned the prestigious Dealer
of the Year title for 2003.
The awards recognise
dealer achievements in Cats Pursuit of Excellence
program and excellence in sales and service.
The
dealers of the year are Erie Industrial Trucks Inc, of
Erie, Pennsylvania; Hewitt Equipment Ltd, of Pointe
Claire, Quebec; Miami Industrial Trucks Inc, of Dayton,
Ohio; Nebraska Lift Systems, of Omaha, Nebraska; Portman
Equipment Company, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Toromont Lift,
of Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Wiese Planning &
Engineering Inc, of St Louis, Missouri.
- Cat Lift Trucks website
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8.
NEW BT TRUCK REDUCES FORCE FOR HEAVY
LOADS
MJOLBY, Sweden
BT Industries has
released a new hand pallet truck designed to reduce the
strength needed to move and manoeuvre heavy
loads.
The new BT Pro Lifter (pictured) features
a unique device that enables operators to easily
overcome the inertia of a heavy load.
A lever on
the handle activates a mechanism that temporarily
connects with the trucks front wheels. Once connected,
an ordinary pump motion turns the wheels one third in
the direction the truck is moving. This works in either
direction.
The force needed to move a standard
hand pallet truck laden with 2300kg is reduced by
two-thirds with the new product, BT says, and makes
precise positioning of heavy pallets easy by using the
mechanism to inch the truck into position.
- BT Industries
website -
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