US MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT SHIPMENTS WILL REACH NEARLY $20 BILLION IN 2004.
Shipments of materials handling equipment in the United States will increase nearly 5 percent annually to $20 billion in the year 2004. Growth will be fueled by continued economic expansion and strength in key end-use markets, such as the aerospace and electronics industries, which are expanding and modernizing their production facilities. Increasing computerization of all industrial operations, including materials handling, will also benefit demand. These and other trends are presented in Materials Handling Equipment, a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industrial marketresearch firm.
The rapid growth in e-commerce will also positively impact demand, as Internet retailers continue to proliferate. Traditional companies are finding it necessary to augment their marketing efforts with e-commerce options such as commercial web sites. Both e-commerce and traditional companies increasingly need to integrate their production, warehousing, marketing and order fulfillment systems in order to keep pace with the inherent immediate nature of e-commerce. This necessitates materials handling and shipping systems which are tied in to the order taking system, and a materials handling system which can move much faster than was previously the norm.
Foreign trade plays an important role in the US materials handling equipment industry, providing new market opportunities as well as competitive pressures. Imports accounted for over 20 percent of US demand in 1999. Exports are nearly as important, accounting for over 18 percent of 1999 shipments. Clearly, the materials handling industry is becoming increasingly global, with a variety of both domestic and foreign companies competing, particularly in geographic markets as large as the US.
Industrial trucks and automated systems, particularly robots, will experience the strongest growth, expanding in excess of six percent per annum through 2004. Hoists, cranes and monorails and conveying equipment, as more mature markets, will record slower rates of growth. The increasing tendency toward full integration of materials handling systems with other company systems, such as procurement, manufacturing management and shipping and receiving operations, will boost demand for all materials handling equipment.
The trade and distribution sector, particularly delivery services, will experience the fastest growth due to expanding uses and increasing construction of warehousing and distribution facilities. The construction market will record the slowest rates of growth, based on an expected slowdown in construction activity from the rapid pace set between 1994 and 1999.
Materials Handling Equipment (published 9/2000, 289 pages) is available for $3,500 from The Freedonia Group, Inc., 767 Beta Drive, Cleveland, OH 44143-2326. For further details, please contact Corinne Gangloff by phone 440.684.9600, fax 646.0484 or e-mail pr@freedoniagroup.com. Full text is also available online through commercial database companies and the www.freedoniagroup.com Web site.
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT SHIPMENTS (million US dollars)
% Annual Growth Item 1989 1999 2004 99/89 04/99 Materials 8795 15305 19880 5.7 5.4 Handling Equipment Shipments Conveying 3720 5916 7400 4.7 4.6 Equipment Industrial 2778 5351 7185 6.8 6.1 Trucks & Lifts Automated 1333 2466 3310 6.3 6.1 Systems & Robots Hoists, Cranes 964 1572 1985 5.0 4.8 & Monorails
Freedonia Group, Inc. (Cleveland, OH)
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| Comment: | US MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT SHIPMENTS WILL REACH NEARLY $20 BILLION IN 2004. |
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| Publication: | Research Studies - Freedonia Group |
| Geographic Code: | 1USA |
| Date: | Oct 13, 2000 |
| Words: | 513 |
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