Think Scandinavian businesses and pretty soon you’ll see a famous flat pack furniture store or a boxy car company, but a quick look at the origins of some the MHE’s big boys reveals a fascinating link.
Atlet, Konecranes, SMV, BT Rolatruc, Hiab, Cargotec, Kalmar, Svetruck – all have geographical links to the Peninsula.
For someone who probably got on and did a little too much at times, Margaret Thatcher, was nothing if not determined.
“Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end,” said the former Iron Lady. “It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it’s when you’ve had everything to do, and you’ve done it.”
Atlet equipment is well know for its durability and high build-quality. Now the Swedish firm is making stress the enemy…
The new generation Tergo reach trucks focus on how to minimise operator fatigue and stress and are designed to be the most ergonomic trucks on the market.
For years, there have been announcements about trials of forklift trucks powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Concerns about the supply infrastructure for hydrogen fuel cells and safety questions over the refuelling process saw the early tide of forklift trials slow to a trickle. That’s no longer the case and some key fuel cell announcements have been made in the past few months – on both sides of the Atlantic.
When John L. Grove retired after spending many years building the family crane manufacturing company into an industry leader, he and his wife set out on a cross-country trip.
From that fateful trip emerged JLG Industries, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer of mobile aerial work platforms and specialized material handling equipment.
In the European Industrial Truck Survey 2009, 250 senior business people were asked to identify the critical factors which affect their forklift purchasing decisions. Surprisingly, price came only third on the buyers’ list.
1. Wembley Stadium
FA owned ‘venue of legends’. Over ran by 5 years, true cost estimated at £975m.
2. Sydney Opera House Danish designed, performing arts centre and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cost 15 times more than expected, opened 10 years late.
3. Suez Canal Expensive shortcut. 20 times more costly than expected, took 10 years to build.
4. Concorde Supersonic passenger jet. Cost £1.3bn to develop (£48m for every year in service), 12 times more than expected. At it’s peak, made over £5m a week for BA.
5. The Big Dig Tunnel
The most expensive highway project in the U.S, a megaproject that re-routed the main highway through the heart Boston, into a 3.5-mile tunnel. Plagued by escalating costs, design flaws, substandard materials, leaks, criminal arrests, and four deaths. Scheduled to be completed in 1998 at an estimated cost of $2.8 billion, the project was not completed, until December 2007, at a cost of over $14.6 billion. The Boston Globe estimated that the project will ultimately cost $22 billion, including interest, and that it will not be paid off until 2038.
From magnificent mountains to sandy beaches, there are many outstanding natural features that give California its identity.
Unfortunately, some of the heaviest traffic congestion and worst air pollution in the world is also one of these trademarks. In 1967, California’s Legislature combined two Department of Health departments to form the Air Resources Board (ARB). Since then the board has been instrumental in setting the clean air agenda, championing emissions targets that were soon adopted across the globe.
Now the state has a new target in its sights – efficiency standards for battery chargers. The new regulations require big changes for some electric lift truck users in California and might also forecast a worldwide model for efficient forklift battery charging. By the time the regulations are fully phased in, they could save California an estimated $300 million in annual electricity costs. Any industrial chargers that do not meet the regulation’s requirements for power conversion, power required to charge, no-battery draw, and overall efficiency will have to go.
Thankfully, high-frequency technologies such as IGBT or MOSFET are smaller, quieter, and much more efficient due to intelligent switching systems. The efficiency of such systems is much greater, leading to improved charging and extended battery life.
Forklift manufacturer Komatsu has received “Prime Status” – the highest rating for corporate responsibility, as defined by oekom research AG, one of the world’s leading rating agencies. The oekom Corporate Rating is based on the world’s most comprehensive set of criteria for the ethical assessment of companies – the “Frankfurt-Hohenheim Guidelines”.
It assesses companies’ responsibility towards social sustainability, society and culture, and the natural environment, awarding Prime Status to those companies which are among the leaders in their industry.
Best known for his adage, “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion” former 1950s civil servant, C. Northcote Parkinson, has passed into business folklore as a wry observer of corporate culture. So much so that the law has even gone global, as Mikhail Gorbachev observed in 1986, when Alessandro Natta complained about a swelling bureaucracy in Italy, “Parkinson’s Law works everywhere”.
