ProMat going global

By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/1/2007

One look at the nametags distributed at the registration desk last month made it clear ProMat is becoming an increasingly international trade show. According to the Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA, www.mhia.org), which sponsors the show, ProMat hosted attendees from 100 different companies. Exhibitors represented 21 countries.

The growing international presence at the show is an illustration of the increasingly global nature of the economy, says Hal Vandiver, MHIA executive vice president.

ProMat remains a North American show, with 95% percent of attendees coming from the United States, Canada and Mexico. The majority of the remaining attendees, says Vandiver, traveled to ProMat from China, India and Brazil.

Materials handling and logistics professionals from those emerging countries come to ProMat as a learning experience, Vandiver says. They also come in response to a strong promotional push from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which uses its consulates around the world to publicize select trade shows and then sends international trade experts to those shows to connect U.S. companies with foreign buyers.

Ninety percent of ProMat exhibitors are North American companies. Of the remaining 10%, most exhibiting companies are based in China, Germany and the United Kingdom. According to MHIA records, 22 ProMat booths were occupied by Chinese companies, many of them first-time exhibitors.

These Chinese companies manufacture a range of basic materials handling equipment, including pallets, rack, hoists and lift trucks, as well as equipment components such as bearings, pulleys and casters.

Jerry Hu, president of Hytsu Material Handling ( www.hytsu.com) in Shanghai, says his company attended ProMat to increase brand awareness among American lift truck users and dealers. He and other Chinese exhibitors say they appreciated the specialized audience at ProMat 2007 and plan to exhibit again in 2009.