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MATERIALS HANDLING ONLINE.
This is issue #156 - 06 May 2004
of the weekly newsletter for industry
professionals.
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COMING VERY SOON
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A
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become a valuable research tool in your business. If you're
able to help, contact info@forkliftaction.com.
All
you need is a computer with a link to the internet.
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1.
SURVEY REVEALS LAX MAINTENANCE ATTITUDES 
SYDNEY,
Australia
Technology company Intentia has revealed a
"fix it when it's broken" attitude to maintenance of
industrial plant, equipment, facilities and
assets.
An international study, conducted for
Intentia by Enterprise Economics in 2003, found 90% of
organisations believed pre-emptive maintenance increased
productivity and return on assets, but only a third
spent more than half their budget on preventive
strategies.
"Organisations are under increased
pressure to deliver more for less, with reducing
resources and budgets. The results show there also
appears to be a lack of awareness by management of
issues relating to maintenance and the benefits that can
be gained by an integrated maintenance system," said
Intentia's Adam Eaton.
"Advanced maintenance
techniques are not garnering support from broader
management and the true value these techniques can bring
to an organisation's profitability is not being
recognised."
Less than half the 470 survey
participants saw maintenance as an investment in
productivity and profitability, but viewed it as a
corrective approach.
One in eight respondents
said their annual loss of production due to plant
equipment failure exceeded USD500,000.
"A third
of organisations with more than 1,000 staff experienced
an annual maintenance-related loss of production of more
than USD500,000 – most of which could probably be
avoided with the right maintenance strategy," Mr Eaton
said.
- Intentia
website -
2.
JLG WINS NEW MILITARY WORK, BUYS
BUILDING
McCONNELLSBURG, PA, United
States
JLG Industries Inc has won a two-year contract
with the US Marine Corps to refurbish the service's Tier
1 telehandler fleet.
The fleet includes 132
Millennia Military Vehicles (MMV) deployed in April 2002
during Operation Iraqi Freedom and returned to the
United States this year.
JLG has committed to
ship newly-developed MMV models over the contract
period. The new models comply with US Tier 2 emission
control regulations.
Separately, the US Army has
indicated it will negotiate with JLG for a three-year
sole source contract to recondition 350 All-Terrain
Lifter Army System (ATLAS) vehicles and 350 predecessor
models. The reconditioning is aimed at bringing the
ATLAS vehicles and earlier models up to current
standards.
David Peacock, JLG military programs
director, said the rework niche market provided good
growth potential, and "there is a growing demand for
reconditioning and remanufacturing of military access
equipment".
JLG has acquired a purpose-built
remanufacturing facility in McConnellsburg that the firm
will use for its new military activities. The seller,
JLG customer and equipment renter National Equipment
Services Inc, set up the centre in 2000 to rebuild
aerial work platforms. The property is next to JLG's
existing service operations.
- JLG website -
3.
ROCLA SALES GROW
JÄRVENPÄÄ, Finland
Rocla
Oyj has released its first quarter results, revealing
net sales grew 14% over the same period last year,
rising from EUR19.2 million (USD23.4 million) to EUR21.8
million (USD26.5 million).
Development in the
automated guided vehicles (AGV) and industrial truck
markets "remained modest", the company said in a
statement. In the industrial trucks business, new
products for new markets and sales efforts by dealers
formed the platform for favourable overall development
in the first quarter.
Exports and international
operations accounted for 76% of Rocla's consolidated net
sales, up from 71% in the first quarter of 2003.
Industrial trucks accounted for 85% of total sales, up
from 81%, and AGVs fell to 15%, from 19% last
year.
Rocla said "solid performance" by
distributors, and the Orion truck family, developed for
the American market with Mitsubishi Caterpillar
Forklift, boosted deliveries.
"In the fiscal year
2003, earnings by quarter kept improving throughout the
year. This trend continued and picked up momentum in the
first quarter of 2004," the company said.
"The
improvement of results is a combined result of active
sales efforts, long-range cooperation with strategic
business partners and cost efficiency boosting
rationalisation and savings programs.
"The fiscal
period 2004 is expected to turn out clearly better than
the previous one, both in terms of net sales and
results."
- Rocla
website -
4.
RAYMOND OPENS STATE-OF-THE-ART TRAINING
CENTRE
GREENE, NY, United
States
The Raymond Corp has opened a state-of-the-art
training facility for its dealers and
customers.
The 8,000 square feet (720 square
metres) Raymond Learning Centre is in the centre of the
company's headquarters in Greene, New York. The centre
has five classrooms, a truck lab space and two breakout
rooms that overlook the factory floor.
"Dealers
and customers can look out and actually see their trucks
being manufactured," said Kathy Adams, Raymond's manager
of information & training services. "Our classes
cover topics such as new products and their benefits,
lift truck operator and safety training, how to maximize
the efficiency of lift trucks, and how to service lift
truck fleets. Plus, the intimate class size of about 10
students gives us the chance to learn from our
customers."
The classrooms use educational
technologies including large-screen displays, document
cameras, and high-speed internet connections. Ergonomic
furniture is used in the learning spaces.
The
centre's seven full-time employees include instructors
specialising in technical topics and product
applications. The centre intends to train 300 to 700
people a year in classes designed to maximise efficient,
effective learning.
"Our primary objective is to
help customers maintain a high level of performance," Ms
Adams said. "We know customers aren't just buying lift
trucks, they're investing in solutions to real business
objectives."
-
Raymond website -
5.
SMH APPOINTS FIRST OMG DEALER
DEWSBURY, United
Kingdom
UK importer and distributor SMH Ltd has
appointed Euro Trucks Direct (South) Ltd to be its first
OMG dealer.
Euro Trucks Direct has traded for one
year under managing director Brian Hamblin, and is
ideally situated to introduce the OMG range of
warehousing products to the south UK coast, said Anthony
Wortley, SMH marketing manager.
Euro has already
confirmed an order for 13 OMG machines, including
several ride-on power pallet jacks, walk behind power
pallet jacks, stacker trucks and reach
trucks.
SMH has been importing OMG forklifts for
a year, and has sold more than 120 trucks.
"Now
we feel we are in an excellent position to launch OMG
across the UK through a comprehensive dealer network,"
Mr Wortley said.
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SMH website -
6.
WORKER KILLED IN FORKLIFT INCIDENT
WARREN, OH, United
States
US Occupational Safety & Health
Administration (OSHA) officials are investigating a
forklift-related death at a plastics processing
plant.
James Andrew Lee Wilson, 25, of Warren,
was critically injured on April 25 and died early on
April 26. He was working in a 61,000-square-foot
(5,490-square-metre) injection moulding facility in
Brown Corner, near Warren.
While no official
explanation was released, a TV station reported that Mr
Wilson, who was operating a tow tractor, stepped away
from the in-motion equipment and was pinned while trying
to remount.
In an unrelated settlement last
September, the Warren facility's owner, Atlantis
Plastics Inc, of Atlanta, was fined USD2,957 by the OSHA
for serious non-compliance of four standards for
machinery requirements, liquefied-petroleum-gas storage
and handling, power tool requirements and electrical
systems design.
- OSHA
website -
7.
SMART 2005 - DATES ANNOUNCED
SYDNEY, Australia
Up to
1,000 delegates are expected to attend the Smart 2005
conference, on Wednesday, June 1, and Thursday, June 2,
2005, at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition
Centre.
Smart 2005 organising committee chairman
Bill Thompson said the biennial event, which covers
supply chain and logistics management, would have more
than 60 speakers, with a strong emphasis on case study
presentations.
"Our research has shown delegates
find case study examples extremely valuable. Learning of
others' experiences and how they solved their particular
issues is viewed as a powerful aid to making decisions,"
he said.
The organising committee includes
representatives from key industry associations - the
Logistics Association of Australia, the Australasian
Production & Inventory Control Society, the
Australian Institute of Purchasing & Materials
Management, the Chartered Institute of Logistics &
Transport in Australia and the Refrigerated Warehouse
& Transport Association of Australia.
- Smart
Conference website -
8.
FORKLIFTS SAVED FROM FIERY END
GREENVILLE, NH, United
States
A man has taken drastic measures to save two
forklifts from a fire, crashing them through a plant's
closed loading doors.
Mike Lamarre, general manager
of Lamarre Concrete, rushed to a fire at the company's
plant last week. Once inside, he first crashed a
USD100,000 forklift through the doors, then followed
with another worth $50,000. A third forklift could not
be saved, according to Associated Press.
The fire
destroyed half the 13,500-square-foot plant.
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9.
EMC FORKLIFT PARTS RELEASE NEW REPLACEMENT PARTS
CATALOGUE - EDITION 5
EMC Forklift Parts
offer the most informative and comprehensive parts
catalogue for Japanese 1.5 to 3 tonne capacity forklifts
in the south pacific region. With over 25 years
experience in spare parts, EMC designs, manufactures and
distributes quality replacement parts and accessories
for the Southeast Asian region. Located at the doorstep
of Asia's large manufacturing network, EMC works with
quality manufacturers to offer the most cost-effective
replacement products for your forklift needs. For your
copy of the new EMC catalogue email info@emcgateway.com or log onto www.emcgateway.com.
Click here for the full text of this
release, including pictures.
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