On Wednesday and Thursday of last week, the Lift and Access Showcase & Symposium took place in Davenport, Fla., as more than 400 total exhibitors and attendees gathered to look at the newest offerings from manufacturers of aerial lifts, telehandlers, light towers, and companies that provide related supplies and services.
The 2012 Showcase & Symposium set many “firsts” in the event’s seven year history. This was the first edition of the Showcase held on the East Coast. It was the first on which Maximum Capacity Media (publisher of Lift and Access) partnered with Rental Equipment Register and Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers to present the event. And it was the first Showcase ever co-located with a Ritchie Bros. auction.
Though the event broke new ground in many areas this year, it retained the same effective format used throughout its history, combining walk-around demonstrations of selected product categories with hands-on displays of a broad range of equipment, displays of supporting components and services, and an educational panel discussion.
Classes of equipment featured in walk-around demonstrations included boom lifts longer than 100 ft., telehandlers with capacities of 12,000 lbs. or more, rough-terrain scissor lifts, and light towers. Participating boom lifts included Genie’s S-125, JLG’s 1500SJ, and Haulotte’s HA100JRT. Telehandlers demonstrated in walk-around presentations included JCB’s 510-56, JLG’s G12-55A, Skyjack’s ZB 20044, and Xtreme’s XR3034. RT scissor lifts featured in walk-arounds included Genie’s GS-2669 RT, Haulotte's Compact 2668RT, JLG’s 260MRT, MEC’s Crossover 2659 ERT, Snorkel’s S-2770 RT, and Skyjack’s 6826 RT.
In addition to the classes of equipment shown in the walk-around demonstrations, more than 30 manufacturers displayed equipment and capabilities in their outdoor exhibits, which gave attendees the opportunity to see and operate the machinery.
One of the brand new models displayed at the 2012 Showcase was Haulotte’s HB67RTJ boom lift, which Haulotte rolled out to the North American market at the event. The new 67-ft. boom lift is the latest Haulotte product being manufactured in Ohio.
Genie rolled out the production version of its GTH-844 telehandler, a clean-sheet remake of a long-standing model with 8,000-lb. capacity. The new GTH-844 will go into production within the next few weeks.
New to the U.S. market were Merlo’s Panoramic P40.17 and P25.6 telehandlers, now being distributed in the United States by Applied Machinery Sales, Pineville, N.C.
The vendor pavilion housed exhibits from more than 25 component, supply, and service providers whose offerings ranged from diesel engines, hydraulic generators, tires, and specialty components, to fall-protection, electronic controls, battery additives, and interactive operator-training programs.
Wednesday afternoon concluded with a lively panel discussion about the coming effects of Tier 4 Final diesel emission requirements. The discussion was moderated by Tudor Van Hampton, deputy editor of Engineering News Record. The distinguished panelists included Andy Agoos, principal at Agoos Consulting; Brad Allen, vice president of product management and engineering for Genie Industries; Chris Giorgianni, vice president of product, JCB North America; Curt Hinkelman, senior vice president, sales, for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers; Frank Manfredi, president of Manfredi & Associates, Inc.; and Joe Mastanduno, product marketing manager, engines and drivelines for John Deere Construction & Forestry Division.
All day Thursday, Ritchie Bros. held one of the country’s largest equipment auctions on the adjoining section of its grounds, selling approximately 2,000 pieces of equipment.
Guy Ramsey, president of show organizer Maximum Capacity Media, said, "We were very pleased with the quality of those that attended. Key management and executives from nine of the top 10 rental companies in North America were all on hand to see products in our unique environment.”
“Overall attendance wasn't what we had expected for the Showcase and attendance for the Ritchie Bros. auction was down, as well. I am not sure if it is sign of the times, they believe that there is a lot of trepidation in the market in advance of the elections and that likely contributed to the soft numbers,” Ramsey added.
Reviews of equipment featured in walk-around presentations will appear in the March-April 2013 edition of Lift and Access.
Lift & Access is part of the Catalyst Communications Network publication family.
