Material Handling Equipment Industry Boosted by Higher Global Demand

Enterprise Resource Planning
Courtesy David Herrera via Wikimedia Commons

Sales of material handling equipment is expected to grow steadily in the coming years thanks to increased demand from developing economics and a resurgence in global manufacturing, according to a new report from a leading industry watchdog.

As many countries ramp up their industrialization, logistics and materials handling processes are increasingly being outsourced to Asia-Pacific, Latin American and Eastern European countries. These regions are now becoming the epicenter of a resurgence in the material handling industry, according to report, entitled “Material Handling Equipment: A Global Strategic Business Report” was compiled by Global Industry Analysts Inc. (GIA), a leading publisher of market research.

Companies today are looking for performance optimization and improved information flow in manufacturing and warehousing environments. This, in turn, is driving the adoption of such technologies as voice recognition systems, data capture, radio frequency identification (RFID) devices and machine to machine (M2M) communications.

Reducing Energy Costs a Priority

Manufacturers also are seeking to reduce their operating costs, so energy-efficient equipment and advanced products such as Automated Guided Vehicles, automated conveyors and electric lift trucks are becoming more commonly used.

Some of these advances have resulted in improvements in efficiency while reducing labor costs. For example, there has a surge in the use of automated lift trucks, unmanned programmable vehicles that are used to perform repetitive or long-haul materials transportation tasks. ALTs can easily perform repetitive horizontal materials transportation tasks in factories, process industries and distribution centers.

Warehouses are also automating. Due to the rapid growth in e-commerce, Internet shopping and direct-to-customer services, trade and distribution operators are looking to increase return on investment by moving toward cost effective, intelligent systems which require less maintenance but give more speed. These include such things as sortation systems and 24-volt motorized roller (MDR) conveyors.

“E-retailing is also emerging as a disruptive force, changing dynamics of supply chain management and spurring the need for material handing equipment for transporting and sorting smaller packages,” the report stated.

Europe Leading the Pack

Europe represents the largest regional market globally. Growth there there is being fueled by healthy replacement demand and a move towards automation. Modernization of production processes in key end-use sectors also is growing.

In the Asian-Pacific region, the materials handling business is experiencing unprecedented growth as developing countries like China, India and Indonesia experience expansion in their Gross Domestic Product and an expansion of their manufacturing base.

The largest product market in the materials handling industry is industrial trucks and lift trucks, according to the report. In the coming years, AGVs and Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) also are expected to show strong growth.

“The segment’s robust performance is attributed primarily to the growing focus on enhancing productivity and the progressive ease of deployment and utilization of such equipment in factory and warehouse settings,” the report stated.

GIA publishes more than 1,500 full-scale research reports and analyzes more than 40,000 market and technology trends while monitoring more than 126,000 companies around the world. It has more than 9,500 clients in 27 countries and is recognized as one of the world’s leading m arket research firms.