The International Materials Handling Exhibition (IMHX 2013) delighted visitors, exhibitors and organisers alike when it took place at Birmingham’s NEC last month. The UK’s leading intralogistics exhibition featured impressively designed stands, thousands of innovative exhibits, informative seminars, a variety of entertainment and plenty of serious business.
IMHX’s co-organiser, the British Industrial Truck Association (BITA), was delighted with the exhibition. James Clark, BITA Secretary General, told WLN: “Many BITA members said they enjoyed many serious and positive discussions over the show’s four days. Visitors were upbeat about business prospects and are ready to re-invest. It was a real bonus to see so many young apprentices – they are our industry’s future.”
Sponsored by BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, IMHX 2013 was opened by world land speed record breaker, Richard Noble OBE, Project Director for the record-attempting vehicle, Bloodhound SSC. The 14m-long, jet- and rocket-powered car was displayed throughout IMHX in the Skills & Apprenticeships Zone and Richard gave a fascinating presentation about the car, due to attempt to pass the 1000mph mark in South Africa later this year.
A sponsor of Bloodhound is IMHX exhibitor, Linde, which has been helping the Bloodhound team load and unload the show car as it travels around the UK. Attracting a world-renowned engineer of Richard’s calibre complemented the intralogistics industry’s current focus on attracting fresh blood. The Skills & Apprenticeships Zone also featured one of the vehicles entering the BITA Academy apprenticeship training facility’s ‘Enduro Challenge’ engineering competition for schools. The challenge, taking place later this year, invites secondary school teams to design, build and race an electrically powered vehicle.
IMHX also provided a packed seminar programme to help companies improve their materials handling. The IMHX Logistics Excellence Conference featured presentations by industry experts, while the IMHX Logistics Case Study Conference sessions outlined best practice from blue-chip companies. In addition, the Automated Material Handling Systems Association (AMHSA) offered an insight into logistics automation with its ‘Meet the Expert’ presentations in the AMHSA Pavilion. A brand-new feature at IMHX was the UKWA 3PL Zone, hosted by the United Kingdom Warehousing Association.
As ever, exhibitors provided a wealth of competitions, hospitality and entertainment to make IMHX a fantastic experience. Battery specialist GNB gave away tickets every day to a Porsche Carrera race meeting, with a Porsche GT3 Cup Car – sponsored by GNB’s parent, Exide – on their stand and Jonas Gelzinis, its 24-year-old driver, on hand. Visitors to racking and storage specialist APEX Linvar’s stand could win an iPad; logistics software supplier AEB offered an iPod shuffle; and logistics systems supplier SSI Schaefer raffled tickets to the DTM German Touring Cars racing at Brands Hatch.
LPG supplier Calor Gas offered the chance to drive remote-controlled forklifts through obstacles to win on-the-spot prizes. Meanwhile energy specialist Hoppecke invited visitors to participate in the Extra Mile challenge using a state-of-the-art Wattbike training bike, with contestants’ names added to a ‘Top Gear’-style leader board. Forklift suppliers provided plenty of entertainment too. While Linde staged an aerial acrobatic display to launch its new reach truck, Toyota let visitors try its new forklift simulator and Briggs Equipment challenged visitors to a Scalextric contest.
A host of forklifts debuted at IMHX. Toyota previewed its latest products, released later this year, including the new Traigo80 electric forklift and Lithium Ion warehouse range. Linde unveiled its new reach trucks with capacities from 1.4-2.0 tonnes and lift heights to 13m. Crown displayed its nine latest products and QuickPick Remote, its new low-level order picker.
Combilift chose IMHX to introduce its new Combi-WR Walkie Reach, its first pedestrian truck and the only pedestrian reach stacker working in 2m aisles. Combilift also showcased its new C4000E multi-directional electric forklift for indoor and outdoor operation. Yale showed its ‘V’ series electric counterbalance forklifts here for the first time, while Doosan unveiled the 1.4t and 1.6t capacity reach trucks in its new 7-series.
Translift Bendi used IMHX to launch the world’s first articulated order picking truck, the Bendi Order Picker, combining man-up order picking with conventional stacking in 1.6m aisles. Jungheinrich premièred its new reach truck, the ETV 318, with capacities to 1.8t and lift heights to 11.5m. Danish truck manufacturer Logitrans showed several models including its new Twin Stacker, which handles two pallets at a time. Also debuting at IMHX were French brand Manitou, whose forklifts are now available here; CESAB, exhibiting for the first time at IMHX with its European-manufactured counterbalance, reach, powered pallet and hand pallet trucks; and HC Forklifts UK, established to distribute Chinese manufacturer Hangcha’s HC forklift range through a nationwide dealer network. Other new products ranged from Cooper Specialised Handling’s gigantic, world-first hybrid reach stacker, which towered over their stand to the considerably smaller Tinytag data loggers, monitoring goods in storage or transit, from Gemini Data Loggers.
The diversity of products on display at the NEC was overwhelming. Racking and storage systems supplier Link 51 exhibited its AutoSat automated shuttle racking solution for the first time, an alternative to drive-in and other live storage systems. EnerSys showed visitors a new model in its Hawker XFC Lithium-Ion battery range while GNB revealed its high-power, lead-acid battery TENSOR. Automated solutions included automatic guided vehicles from Egemin Automation and Design 4 Safety competition category winner, OCME.
As well as its new Series 50 industrial sectional door, Hörmann showcased its Light Grille pedestrian safety solution, using light beams to monitor door opening, which won a Design 4 Safety category award. Other innovative products at IMHX included BITO’s sprinkler-friendly shelves; Goplasticpallets.com’s new HyRack pallet; Plastic Extruders’ anti-slip and anti-fatigue floor coverings; and B&B Attachments’s Conveyer Belt Forks.
IMHX’s international dimension was prominent. Highlights from overseas exhibitors included Cheetah, a high-speed mini-load storage and retrieval machine from European Conveyor Systems and German partner Gebhardt Fördertechnik. Finnish robotics specialist Cimcorp demonstrated its new 3D Shuttle solution for automatic storage and retrieval of totes for order fulfilment. Dutch sortation specialist DistriSort’s stand featured a working split tray sorter while German exhibitor Dürkopp shared a stand with its Austrian parent, KNAPP, to promote its new pocket sorter system that carries hanging garments and flat goods together. Also representing Austria was battery charging specialist Fronius, unveiling its new Selectiva chargers featuring the Ri charging process, which adjusts the charging phases to make each charging cycle unique and boost energy efficiency and battery life.
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