Another record year for the industry
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/29/2006
2005 was another year of strong growth for the materials handling industry. And while the rate of growth may decline this year and next, the industry expects to post respectable numbers going forward.
That was the message delivered by The Material Handling Industry of America (Booth 1704) at the annual State of the Industry press conference yesterday. "When we look at the technologies that support material handling and logistics, we see an industry that provides $125 billion of solutions per year in the U.S. and employs nearly 700,000 workers," said John Nofsinger, CEO of MHIA. The industry today includes not only the traditional equipment and services that have always been associated with materials handling, but also corrugated packaging used for shipping, supply chain software and services, and the third party logistics industry, which provides order fulfillment services to manufacturers, retailers and distributors. Like many industries, materials handling was affected by the dot.com implosion of the late 90s and the recession that followed the events of Sept. 11, 2001. "The good news is that what goes down has always gone back up to new heights," explained Brian McNamara, executive chairman of MHIA. "That is what happened to our industry beginning in late 2003 and is expected to last through 2008." As an example, McNamara cited the Material Handling Equipment Manufacturing (MHEM) Forecast as a proxy for the overall industry. According to that survey, total U.S. consumption of equipment grew by 24.9% in 2005 over 2004. Going forward, the MHEM Forecast is predicting overall consumption to grow by 12.5 to 13.5% in 2006, continuing with overall growth of 7 to 8.5% in 2007. The slowdown in growth, Nofsinger said, was part of the normal business cycle. "Today, there is an abundance of profits available for investment in capital expenditures," Nofsinger said. "As that money is invested, there will be less free funds available and so the cycle will temporarily wane." The growth of the industry has been matched by the growth of new programs and events at MHIA. "In late 2000, we responded to the need to reposition MHIA activities as well as support tools surrounding industry events," said George Prest, MHIA vice chairman. Prest said recognition led to the introduction of an IT Village at ProMat 2001 to highlight the growing importance of information technology in the supply chain; organizing the show floor at the ProMat and NA shows into solutions centers; the addition of executive forums and short, highly-focused and complimentary seminars held on the show floor; and the RFID Knowledge Center. Finally, MHIA has made a major commitment to use the power of Internet technologies to reach its members and show attendees. Going forward, MHIA expects to continue to expand its services and events to meet the needs of the growing materials handling industry.
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