BITA - Lifting against the odds
October 10th 2007

Industrial trucks – lift trucks, pallet trucks, telescopic handlers and the like – are the linchpin in modern logistics and materials handling. Such an important product category needs strong support, and receives it from BITA, the British Industrial Truck Association. BITA’s Vice President Tim Waples reveals why the Association is such an indispensable ally for a whole host of companies.

Lifting against the odds

BITA currently represents 82 members drawn from the ranks of industrial truck manufacturers, their suppliers and service providers, and associated media (including Handling & Storage Solutions). Collectively BITA members manufacture and distribute over 90% of all new forklifts procured each year in the UK, employ 7,000 people directly, and enjoy a combined annual turnover of £1.3bn. But these are businesses that work very hard for their money, continually facing downward price pressure from customers, rising levels of technical and safety regulation, and deepening scrutiny of environmental and operational performance. BITA’s role is to understand these pressures and support its members as they face up to myriad operational challenges.

There are two groups of BITA membership, appropriate to different kinds of companies. The Truck Suppliers Group (TSG) comprises UK truck manufacturers and importers, while the Components & Services Group (CSG) embraces companies who are suppliers to the manufacturers.

Lifting goods, raising sales

BITA as a Trade Association cannot and does not get involved in Company commercial matters, but it can provide a forum within which all players can boost awareness of their products. The IMHX (Inspiring Materials Handling eXcellence) show, co-owned by BITA, has become the industry-leading showcase for thousands of products and services from all sectors of the logistics, materials handling and storage industries. The 2007 event, held at the NEC in March, encompassed over 340 exhibitors and 18,491 visitors; the 2010 event is already over 30% sold. And since BITA is co-owner of the show, its members receive a significant discount on exhibition bookings. (See www.imhxonline.com)

Sales are as much about measurement as performance, of course, and BITA is the sole provider of UK industrial truck sales statistics. These are contributed by – and only made available to – BITA members. BITA thus holds a unique repository of information on the current state and historical trends of the UK fork-lift market.

Every month, members of BITA's Truck Suppliers Group (TSG) report in detail (and in confidence) how many industrial truck orders they have received and delivered in the UK. Aggregated monthly and year-to-date figures are then made available on a confidential basis to all contributing TSG members.

Members of BITA's Components & Services Group also receive a monthly statistical overview, with the option to purchase more detailed information as required.

Working hard, playing safe

It’s impossible to overstress the importance of safety in connection with industrial trucks. Like all powerful tools they are potentially very dangerous if not operated correctly. Last year, for example, there were more than 2,000 reportable incidents, including seven deaths (source: HSE) relating to industrial truck operations. All employees are legally entitled to work in safe conditions and heavy fines are levied on employers who do not take all possible precautions to ensure this. The most obvious safety precaution – which, again, is a legal requirement under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, and the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 – is ensuring that all fork-lift users are properly trained in the correct and safe use of the vehicle they are operating.

BITA supports training programmes with four pocket-sized safety booklets, designed for continual reference, which are available for purchase via the BITA website. These include Operator’s Safety Codes for Powered Industrial Trucks and Rough Terrain Lift Trucks, plus Dos & Don'ts for Users of Industrial and Rough Terrain Lift Trucks, and Stability Awareness, which identifies the most common causes of ‘tipover’ and how it can be avoided. They are available to anyone and at reduced cost to BITA members.

Maintaining quality

While operator training is undeniably important, effective and regular maintenance is equally vital. This has been underlined in recent years with the requirement for all forklift trucks to receive an annual safety inspection known as a Thorough Examination. This is distinct from routine maintenance procedures, and is a legal requirement of the user that applies to every forklift truck in service, including hired trucks.

Until recently there was no quality scheme for engineers conducting Thorough Examinations, leaving operators unsure as to the quality of the Examination and thus the safety of their truck. BITA recognised a need to make good this omission and joined forces with the Fork Lift Truck Association (FLTA). Trading as Consolidated Fork Truck Services Ltd (CFTS), BITA and the FLTA have now provided a scheme of national accreditation for Thorough Examination inspections that serves as a hallmark of quality and safety for this most crucial aspect of safe working. (See www.thoroughexamination.org)

The right connections

While training and maintenance are vital ‘bolt-on’ elements of safe working, the fork lift industry also engages at national and international levels with organisations that set technical and legislative standards.

As a recent example, BITA worked closely with BSi and end users to create PAS90, a ‘Publicly Available Specification’ that outlines the basic requirements of safe working practice for industrial truck service engineers working on-site, clarifying an area that was previously confused with a proliferation of passport schemes.

BITA also represents its members at CEN, the European Committee for Standardisation; CENELEC, the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation; ISO, the International Standards Organisation; and IEC, the International Electrotechnical Commission. BITA is an active participant in FEM, the European Federation of Materials Handling and Storage Equipment, and maintains close liaison with the UK Government’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and Department for Transport. It’s not hard to imagine the sheer weight of information generated collectively by these organisations – much more than any BITA member could hope to assimilate on its own. But BITA has a technical structure in place managed by its Technical Policy Committee (TPC), which serves as a two-way conduit between BITA members and the organisations affecting how industrial trucks are made and used. In one direction, the TPC ensures that the voices of BITA members are heard at the highest levels; in the other, it filters a vast flow of complex, dense proclamations into easily digestible chunks.BITA also has the expert knowledge of many individuals, and a consultant (John Tredray). Together they help keep member companies abreast of developments but not swamped in detail, and serve as an on-demand repository of advice and guidance.

The social dimension

The final benefit of BITA membership is, of course, social. BITA provides a neutral umbrella under which colleagues and competitors alike can share their triumphs and tribulations away from the office and factory floor. There are two key annual events in the BITA calendar: the BITA Ball (usually in May, following the BITA AGM) and the BITA Golf Day (typically a September event). In era of huge change and challenges for materials handling, BITA offers a reassuring fixed point of information, support, guidance and perspective for the whole industry.

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