Hi! Thanks for the question.
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1. What are the issues within the "materials handling" market today in
the US?
a. “Elevators and Moving Stairways peaked in 2001 growing 11.7%, the
only segment to exhibit growth that year. In 2002, the segment
declined an estimated 8.5% to close at almost $2.0 Billion or 12.0% of
MHEM.”
b. “Conveyors and Conveying Equipment peaked at $6.9 Billion in 2000,
declining 8.2% in 2001 and declining an estimated 30.0% in 2002 to end
the year at $4.4 Billion. This segment declined as a percent of total
MHEM from a high of 38.2% in 1997 to 27.4% in 2002 which represents a
significant market shift.”
c. “Overhead Traveling Cranes, Hoists, and Monorail Systems peaked at
$4.9 Billion in 2000 declining 8.2% in 2001 and growing an estimated
1.0% in 2002 to close at $4.5 Billion for the year.”
d. “Industrial Trucks, Tractors, Mobile Straddle Carriers and Stacker
Machinery, which now represents the largest component of MHEM, peaked
in market value at $6.2 Billion in 1998. The segment declined 11.7% in
2001 and grew an estimated 0.3% in 2002 ending the year at almost $5.2
Billion.”
“Material Handling Industry of America Economic Series”
February 2003
http://www.mhia.org/pdfs/Brief_0203.PDF
e. “AN IMPORTANT TREND AFFECTING the material handling industry is
customer demand for an increasing variety of products, delivered more
frequently, and in smaller quantities. Moreover, consumers change
their minds more often, making it difficult to dedicate and customize
infrastructure to a particular product.”
“Material Handling & Logistics solutions help satisfy customer demand
for a wider selection of products”
http://www.mhia.org/articles/article_visibleImpulse_3_10_03.cfm
f. “Many leading firms are moving to strengthen their competitive edge
by utilizing material handling and logistics solutions to control
their operations. With current economic conditions, it is now more
critical than ever.”
“The future leaders in manufacturing, materials management, service
operations, distribution, third party logistics, and management
consulting may very well be coming out of these programs.”
“Business Turns to Material Handling & Logistics”
http://www.mhia.org/articles/article_MBA.cfm
------------
2. What are the issues within the "materials handling" market today in
Europe?
a. “Most companies in this market maintain on-going programmes of R
and D in order to remain competitive in their own fields of
operation."
b. “In recent years, designers were forced to become significantly
more concerned with the user-friendliness of their operator interfaces
and stations.”
c. “The study found there is a need for improved space utilisation.”
"’The paramount factor under consideration when a manufacturer decides
to purchase a new automated storage and retrieval system (AS/R) is the
issue of improved space utilisation,’ explains Mr McNally.”
d. “However, the market is being hit by high labour costs and land
prices, coupled with high operating standards and stringent
environmental laws in Europe.”
e. “The overall maturity of the AMH market is also forecast to have a
negative impact on market growth, with some product saturation.”
“Europe to continue to lead in automated handling”
http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/fro/fro125.html
Summary:
We can see that while the European market is more concerned with
technological advances in materials handling, their US counterparts
are leaning towards improvisation of current standards mainly due to
the recent slow down in the global economy.
-----------
3. Who are the major players?
2001 figures: Top 20 Materials Handling Companies in the World
1. Mannesmann Dematic
2. Siemens Production and Logistics Systems
3. FKI plc
4. Daifuku Co., Ltd.
5. Columbus McKinnon Corp.
6. Murata Machinery Ltd.
7. Swisslog
8. Dexion Group Ltd.
9. Vanderlande Industries, B.V.
10. Lockheed Martin Corp.
11. Durr
12. Jervis B. Webb Co.
13. GKN, plc Ltd.
14. Kardex Remstar Intl. Group
15. Eisenmann
16. Tomkins Industries
17. HK Systems, Inc. .
18. Beumer GmbH
19. Hytrol Conveyor Co., Inc.
19. Sandvik, AB (tied for 19th place)
The link where the list came from has sales figures plus the country
of origin of the companies mentioned above.
“Modern Materials Handling: The world's top 20 systems suppliers”
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m3137/3_56/72704904/p3/article.jhtml?term=Hytrol
2002 figures: Top 20 Materials Handling Companies in the World
1. Siemens Dematic
2. FKI plc
3. Daifuku Co., Ltd.
4. Schaefer Holding International
5. Columbus McKinnon Corp.
6. Swisslog .
7. Murata Machinery Ltd.
8. Dexion Group Ltd.
9. Vanderlande Industries, B.V.
10. Jervis B. Webb Co.
11. Durr 11 Stuttgart, Germany $320 million Acco Systems, Inc. -
Warren, Mich.
12. Lockheed Martin Corp.
13. Kardex-Remstar Intl.
14. (tie) HK Systems, Inc.
14. (tie) Tomkins Industries
16. The Brambles Group
17. Eisenmann
18. Knapp Logistik Automation GmbH
19. Beumer Mashinenfabrik
20. Sandvik, AB 19 (tie)
The link where the list came from has sales figures plus the country
of origin of the companies mentioned above. The Modern Materials
Handling Online website makes such lists. In order to access the link
you must register first. You will be prompted to register once you
click on the link. Registration is quick and easy. After doing that
you will be immediately taken to the specific article.
“The world's top 20 systems suppliers”
http://www.manufacturing.net/mmh/index.asp?layout=articleWebzine&articleId=CA198671&stt=001
If you don’t want to bother with registration, you may want to read
the following article which references the publication of The Modern
Materials Handling Online website. It just cites some of them though
and doesn’t contain the detailed list.
“The world's top 20 systems suppliers”
http://www.knapp.com/news/mmh2002.htm
Other links you might be interested to check out are the following:
Case Studies
http://www.mhia.org/et/et_case_studies.cfm
Material Handling Classics
http://www.mhia.org/bs/Perspectives_Classics_Categories.cfm?catid=55
Perspectives on Material Handling
http://www.mhia.org/bs/Perspectives_Classics_Categories.cfm?catid=54
Search terms used:
"materials handling" industry europe “major players”
I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this
answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if
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Regards,
Easterangel-ga
Google Answers Researcher |
