Economic Enthusiasm

There have been countless emails, press releases and events all dedicated to the questions surrounding the recovery. So, Editor Chad Elmore and I went out looking for the answers.

We traveled to Canada for a four-day work trip to see original equipment manufacturers, component manufacturers and suppliers. Along with us were our October State of the Industry questions, which this year focus around what companies did during the recession and how they are preparing for the eventual return to normalcy.

The positive attitudes and feedback were a welcomed change from the doom-and-gloom attitudes of yesteryear. Engineering firms and equipment manufacturers actually had time to focus on design. There was time to think, time to be adventurous and take design risks, time to test theories and technologies, and time for blank-slate design that had become virtually extinct due to high output demand.

2011 looks to be a great year for innovative product releases, especially at AEM’s upcoming ConExpo-Con/Agg & IFPE 2011 show in Las Vegas, NV, March 22 to 26.

ConExpo counterpart bC India, set for February 8 to 11 of 2011 in Mumbai, expanded its exhibition area once, and is again sold out. November’s bauma China event has also needed exhibition space expansion due to high demand and has added an extra 10,000 meters of outdoor exhibition space. The high level of registration for both shows reflects positive economic development in the construction and other heavy-duty industrial equipment markets.

The NFPA held its annual Industry and Economic Outlook Conference for members, August 16 through 18 in Wheeling, IL. The event offered its attendees, including myself, presentations on micro and macroeconomic topics, fluid power market forecasts, and also featured three special case study examples of how suppliers and distributors are adding value to the supply chain through technological advancements and creative partnerships.

One of the NFPA’s conference speakers, Frank Manfredi of Manfredi & Associates, Inc., who spoke on the construction and mining machinery markets, has partnered with OEM Off-Highway magazine. For the past 26 years, he has—and will continue to publish a monthly newsletter, Machinery Outlook, which provides readers with in-depth reports on the construction, mining, agricultural and material handling machinery markets.

Manfredi will write a monthly column for OEM focusing on market trends, strategic moves among competitors, forecasts of off-highway product markets and topical issues.

We at OEM are happy to welcome Frank to the team and look forward to working with him. This partnership will only further enhance the magazine content we provide to you every day online at oemoffhighway.com, in our print and digital magazine formats, through our e-newsletters and with our social networks.

Look for Frank’s first contribution in our upcoming October State of the Industry issue!