Association head expects double-digit growth for material handling
By DC Velocity Staff
Last year was a dismal one for the material handling industry, with certain sectors seeing sales fall by as much as 50 percent for some quarters. But starting in late 2009, the industry hit a floor and started to rebound, said John Nofsinger, CEO of the Material Handling Industry of America.
In an interview with DC Velocity, Nofsinger said that most sectors are seeing a growth of 10–12 percent over last year. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see that increase by a couple of percentage points,” he added.
Nofsinger predicts that growth will accelerate even more in 2011, with gains of more than 20 percent. Although that will still leave the industry short of 2007 sales levels, all sectors of the material handling industry are rebounding, he said.
One indication of the changes in fortune for the industry: Nofsinger said that pre-show research for this year’s NA2010 Show indicates that many attendees have projects to award and budgets for capital expenditures.
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