Year in Review: Top materials handling news in 2016

Mergers, acquisitions and partnerships

Dematic acquired by KION Group
$2.1 billion deal creates a unique combination of traditional and automated materials handling solutions.

Honeywell to acquire Intelligrated for $1.5 billion
Deal marks the second acquisition of a leading systems integration firm in the past two weeks.

JDA announces $570 million equity investment from Blackstone and New Mountain Capital
Investment to support research and development, including SaaS-based supply chain and omni-channel retail solutions.

FORTE and Power Automation Systems rebranded under Swisslog WDS
Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions acquired Forte in April 2015 and PAS in April 2016.

KION brand Egemin Automation acquires Retrotech
Acquisition to strengthen expertise in fast-growing market for automated warehouse systems in North America.

Swisslog acquires PAS
Swisslog Warehouse and Distribution Solutions, a leading provider of best-in-class intralogistics solutions, has announced the acquisition of Power Automation Systems (PAS), the world-wide market leader in pallet shuttle AS/RS.

Hyster-Yale Group and Balyo sign agreement to market lift truck robotics
Balyo specializes in autonomous driving forklifts based on standard trucks that navigate without external infrastructure.

Fluke announces acquisition of eMaint Enterprises
Provider of electronic test tools and software acquires SaaS CMMS developer.

Heico Companies acquires Ancra Systems automatic truck loading and unloading systems.

Duravant acquires Arpac
Engineered equipment provider expands secondary packaging equipment and integration capabilities in North America.

Box On Demand partners with Sealed Air
Partnership to create right-sized packages for combinations of SKUs.

Research and markets

Industrial Truck Association announces record-breaking 2015 North American lift truck sales
ITA data reports highest lift truck sales since 2006.

New report highlights the opportunities and risks in the ongoing digital transformation
IDC releases predictions that suggest manufacturers slow to adapt will not survive, but leaders will also face a new set of challenges.

US Manufacturing still No. 1 in a competitive market
Oxford Economics report indicates factors that strengthen U.S. manufacturing despite headwinds.

North American robotics continues record growth
RIA reports the market set new records for the first nine months of 2016.

MAPI report explores productivity dynamics in U.S. manufacturing
Statistical evidence highlights impact of capital investment and educated labor on productivity performance.

Collaborative robot report predicts ‘phenomenal’ growth
Cobots designed for material handling process represent the most prevalent application of collaborative robots.

CEMA reports August booked orders nearly doubled compared to August 2015
Orders up 110.9%, including a 173.0% boost for unit handling equipment when compared to July.

In other news

Modex: Can you spell CMMS, or why the industry needs another acronym
Materials handling solutions are only as good as the maintenance plans that keep them running. CMMS can play an important role.

Industry celebrates National Manufacturing Day
Fourth annual Manufacturing Day is a grassroots effort by U.S. manufacturers to improve the public perception of manufacturing in America by coordinating awareness-raising activities at a variety of locations across the country.

National Forklift Safety Day: June 14, 2016
National Forklift Safety Day, sponsored by the Industrial Truck Association, serves as a focal point for manufacturers to highlight the safe use of forklifts and the importance of operator training. This special day provides an opportunity for the industry to educate customers, the public, and government officials about safe forklift operation.

Hurricane Matthew response calls for industry assistance
American Logistics Aid Network to coordinate recovery in Haiti and U.S. East Coast with help from supply chain organizations.

MHI announces details for ProMat 2017
Keynotes on sustainability, Industry 4.0 and speaker Magic Johnson highlight upcoming ProMat Conference.