While demand for lift trucks has slumped during the past 20 months, continued engineering and design innovation will have an important role in rebuilding demand, says Jim Malvaso, president and CEO of Raymond Corp. (www.raymondcorp.com). "If we bring increased value - higher reliability, lower cost of ownership, greater ease of use and higher productivity - then there will be an added incentive for lift truck buyers to buy," he adds. Malvaso's comments were made in an exclusive interview with Modern Materials Handling on the day he dedicated Raymond's new product development technical center and customer showroom at company headquarters in Greene, N.Y.

The 46,000 square feet facility, which Raymond started to build just as lift truck sales initially fell off, features larger and better-equipped prototype assembly and testing areas. The center also houses corporate engineering, an industrial design lab and product showroom. "Our goal is to design and ship products that are superior to the products currently in the marketplace in terms of performance and reliability," Malvaso said during the facility's dedication. He expects the center will play a significant role in helping Raymond meet that goal. Meanwhile, Malvaso says Raymond's backlogs are up from their lows. He expects to see steady but modest improvement in demand between now and the end of 2003.