Modest but pleasing recovery from the depths of 2009
November 15th 2010

When the materials handling market gets tough, the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA) helps its member companies keep going. James Clark, Secretary General of BITA (right), reviews how BITA’s engagement with key industry issues will affect lift truck manufacturers and users over the next 12 months.

The headline for my article in last year’s HSD Guide, ‘BITA holds faith for happier times’, reflected everyone’s optimism that by now, the economic situation would have stabilised. At the time of writing this year, the verdict is still mixed. On the one hand we have the Office of NationaI Statistics telling us that the British economy grew more strongly in the second quarter of 2010 than at any time since 2001. On the other hand we have the Markit PMI Output Index indicating that the second-quarter GDP surge could be a zenith in the recovery cycle, rather than the foothill of a higher peak— for now at least.

Some commentators believe this is the natural consequence of inventory rebuilding ending before a recovery in consumption comes through. I, however, draw reassurance from the evidence of our official BITA UK lift-truck sales statistics, which showed that over the first 6 months of 2010, annualised orders grew by 10%.

From a market low in December 2009, at which point order intake for forklift trucks was 45% lower than the peak business levels enjoyed during 2007, we have seen a pleasing if modest recovery with two consecutive quarters in which order levels have increased. In the year to the end of June 2010, orders for 19,400 new forklifts were placed with BITA members, a ten percent increase since the end of 2009.

This tallies with the analysis of our own annual Economic Forecast, an exclusive benefit for BITA members prepared by the respected consultancy Oxford Economics. Released at our AGM in May 2010, it projected that shipments of counterbalance trucks would increase by 1.8% to 8,500 and shipments of Warehouse trucks were expected to increase by 6.8% to 8,900 in 2010, compared with the same period in 2009. Orders of Counterbalance trucks were expected to increase by 15.3% to 9,800, while orders of Warehouse trucks were expected to increase by 7.8% to 9,766.

Looking forward to IMHX 2010

Economic and market trends will doubtless be debated from 16-19 November 2010 at IMHX, the UK’s premier event for the logistics, materials handling and storage industries which is owned jointly by BITA and Quartz Publishing & Exhibitions. At the time of going to press 91% of the space had been sold, over 14,000 square metres had been allocated and a total of 312 exhibitors had confirmed— clearly within reach of equalling the 350 exhibitors at the 2007 event.

We feel this vindicates the decision made to move the timing of IMHX 2010, traditionally a spring show, to an autumn/winter slot, based on the expectation that the business climate would have started to improve.

For BITA, IMHX is a very important opportunity to highlight the continuing importance of safety in the materials handling industry. Our big innovation this year has been the creation of the Design 4 Safety Awards, to be presented on the first morning of IMHX. Our aim is to recognise the immense efforts made by our members and indeed all IMHX exhibitors to ‘design in’ innovative safety features.

However we will also use IMHX to reinforce the parallel importance of ‘managing in’ safety through the adoption of best-practice in all workplaces where lift trucks are used. BITA offers a series of pocketsized safety booklets, whose contents provide practical day-to-day advice and serve as a valuable aide-mémoire for lift-truck users who adopt a continuous ‘on-the-job’ approach to Operator Training. There are four separate publications addressing every facet of the lift-truck market. All are continually updated to reflect evolution in products, applications and legislation. More details of all booklets are available on the BITA website where they are also available to purchase, with a 20 per cent discount for BITA members.

CE marking: disregard at your peril!

While maintaining our vigilance over safety in the year ahead, our mission of ‘Lifting Industry Standards’ will see us also focused closely on the issue of CE marking, which in turn has a very strong bearing on safety.

BITA has always played a strong role in helping industrial truck manufacturers (and users) navigate their way through complex European regulations. A key issue of the moment is the new Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC, effective from December 2009 and enacted in UK law under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008. This is one of the most significant pieces of legislation for the industry in recent years. It affects manufacturers, suppliers and users of all types of materials handling equipment. Moreover, it applies to most equipment already in use, not just modern equipment that has been recently acquired.

The Directive has two fundamental purposes: first and foremost to ensure product safety; second to maintain the competitiveness of European companies, by establishing a level playing field that adheres to free trade principles, whilst also ensuring consistent safety standards and user protection.

This matters because often equipment offered for sale on the global market, and imported into the EU for the first time, is relatively unique or predates EU standards. Even with new equipment sourced from overseas, compliance with EU safety standards can’t always be taken for granted.

The most important fact, which all truck owners and users must comprehend, is that CE marking does not merely raise questions of best practice. It is also a matter of law that extends to users as well as truck suppliers. In the UK, The Machinery Directive is enacted under the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008, whose Part 6, Enforcement, defines non-compliance with CE marking requirements and spells out the consequences. Penalties include fines and/or imprisonment. So this is clearly an issue that no forklift buyer or user can afford to duck!

BITA provides its own expert guidance for owners and operators, distilled into its Guidance Notes GN28 and GN66, respectively revised and developed in 2009. These contain the information needed to achieve compliance with the Machinery Directive as part of ongoing best practice in safety and maintenance. GN66 includes guidance on how to report when an industrial truck is found to lack CE markings.

Technical policy

BITA’s Technical Policy Committee (TPC) establishes and promotes BITA’s technical policies while also alerting manufacturers and users to the requirements and consequences of new standards adopted at national, European and global levels. BITA works in partnership with a whole host of organisations and regulatory bodies in the fields of standard-setting and regulation, including the British Standards Institution, the European Committee for Standardisation, the International Standards Organisation, the Health & Safety Executive and the International Electrotechnical Commission.

Additionally through its membership of the British Materials Handling Federation, BITA plays a key role in the Federation Européenne de la Manutention, European manufacturers' association of materials handling, lifting and storage equipment.

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