TCM America, Inc. has announced that it is consolidating U.S. manufacturing, parts and distribution activities in South Carolina and discontinuing related operations in its New Jersey and Texas sites.

The division's parts shipping operation in Houston was idled last month, and it is expected that TCM will implement a Houston layoff involving about 20 staff by the end of March. The New Jersey site which employs about 15 people, expects to cease operations on March 31 and begin relocation of the principal office and other activities to Columbia, South Carolina in April.

Last year, TCM was ranked No. 10 on Modern's list of Top 20 industrial lift truck suppliers, with $733 million total revenue in 2008. In 2008, TCM ranked No. 7 on Modern's list, with $1.3 billion in total revenue in 2007.
In a letter to TCM America dealer principals in the U.S. dated February 19, company president Kaihei Nishioka said the165,000-square-foot factory forklift factory in Columbia, S.C. will temporarily suspend production starting in April. He added, "Let me stress that as the economy and our business become stronger, production in South Carolina will be restarted."

Nishioka's letter to TCM dealers also said, "Please do your best to increase sales, and let us try harder together to expand our business."
Nishioka attributed the need for changes to "current business conditions and a slow economy" and expressed confidence in TCM's ability to supply dealers with equipment without delays.

The TCM facility in Columbia, S.C. has an inventory of about 600 forklifts. In the event that an order for a forklift with a particular specification is not in its inventory, the machine will be produced in the company's Shig manufacturing plant in Chokoji-cho, Japan without any impact on delivery time, Nishioka said in his letter.
The TCM moves comes just weeks after Komatsu Forklift announced its decision to discontinue the sale of the Tusk brand of lift trucks as of July 31, 2010. Last year, Komatsu was ranked No. 8 on Modern's list of top lift truck suppliers, reporting $1.15 billion in worldwide sales in 2008.

But, all companies, even the top ones, are being affected by this bad economy. The downslide was steeper than expected in the lift truck market. In Modern's Materials Handling Industry Outlook feature last March, then-president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA), Stan Simpson, said he hoped that 2009 would be a year of adjustment rather than recession. Unfortunately, Jeff Rufener, current ITA president and vice president of marketing for Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America tells Modern that wasn't the case and he was surprised by the pace and depth of the downturn. "We've had recessions in the past, but I didn't think it would be possible to fluctuate more than 35%. Last year surpassed that figure and we ended up being down about 40% from where we were in 2008," Rufener said.

On a positive note, Simpson reported that new factory orders are up 21% for the first month of 2010 compared to the same time last year.

REEVES ENGINEERING says it has developed an automated pallet handling system for a metal producer's warehouse, allowing it to operate on a single-shift basis and alleviate the need for forklift transfer.

According to Reeves Engineering, the metal manufacturer will use the automation pallet handling system, dubbed 'slot car' pallet trolley system, to collect metal products from production and packaging stations and transport them to warehouse and dispatch areas in one seamless operation.

The slot car pallet trolley system collects loaded pallets up to 1700kg, delivers them to warehouse areas and dispatches more pallets for new loads.

The newly loaded pallets are retrieved from pallet stations aligned along the trolley system's path within the factory and returned through a wall opening to the warehouse area, where they are transferred to lateral conveyors for temporary storage.

Reeves Engineering claims the transfer to these lateral conveyors is actuated by scissor lifts within the trolleys which are activated by pairs of Firestone Airstroke air spring actuators.

As the incoming full pallets are dispatched left and right on the lateral conveyors for temporary storage, an automated pallet dispenser reloads empty pallets onto the trolleys to be sent down the line for loading.

The automated twin stack dispenser, actuated by another Airstroke-actuated scissor-lift, accommodates 25 pallets on each side, separating export and local delivery pallets where required.

CLARK Material Handling Company recognizes its top performing dealers in both trucks and parts on an annual basis. The "Dealers of Excellence" are the "best of the best" performing CLARK dealers and represent the top 8% of the dealer group. The "Dealers of Distinction" are in the top 15% of the dealer group and have achieved great success in servicing CLARK customers in their respective areas of responsibility.

"2009 was another successful year for CLARK and our dealer organization," stated Dennis Lawrence, CLARK's President & CEO. "We at CLARK are extremely proud of the spirit of partnership and family between CLARK and our dealers and we look forward to continued growth in 2010." With over 70 dealers and 175 locations to service our customers, CLARK is proud to recognize the following dealers:
"Dealer of Excellence"
Infiniti Handling Systems - Middletown, NY
Tri-Lift NC, Inc. - Greensboro, NC
Material Handling, Inc. - Dalton, GA
Burke Handling Systems, Inc - Jackson, MS
Jefferds Corporation - Charleston, WV
W.E. Johnson Equipment Company - Miami, FL

"Dealer of Distinction"
Homestead Materials Handling Company - Roanoke, VA
K-Lift Service Company, Inc. - Salinas, CA
Gray Lift, Inc. - Fresno, CA
G&W Equipment, Inc. - Charlotte, NC

About CLARK Material Handling Company

CLARK Material Handling Company has been an industry leader since its production of the first gasoline-powered material handling truck in 1917. CLARK is privately owned by the Young An Company of South Korea, and is present in 102 global markets, including the support of 550 dealer locations. A full range of I.C. and Electric trucks for diverse applications are available in the CLARK product line. In 2008, CLARK ranked #1 "Best in Value" on Modern Material Handling magazine's consumer survey.

For more information about any CLARK products, please visit www.clarkmhc.com or contact your local authorized CLARK dealer.

Hyundai Forklifts Australia has added four new models 110D-7E, 130D-7E, 140D-7E and 160D-7E to its range.

The forklifts have load capacities between 11t and 16t which is an improvement on its previous range of maximum 8t capacity.

According to Hyundai Forklifts, the forklift models have a Cummins diesel engine, the QSB6.7, which provides 119kW of power. This six-cylinder engine is said to meet Tier III emission standards and can take the truck up to a speed of 35km/h.

Hyundai says the driver can use a switch to select one of two driving modes, the 'STP' mode, where the truck saves fuel during light work and in 'Power' mode where full power is available for heavy loads or work on difficult terrain.