Opinion BITA Evolve and add value
The new President of BITA, David Rowell of NACCO Materials Handling Group, shares hopes, aspirations and reflections for his forthcoming two years of office.
After 40 years in this industry and 10 years on the management team,
it’s a great honour for me to serve as BITA President and give something back. The principal challenges on my watch will arise from new legislation and competition from the emerging markets. Thankfully, our industry has demonstrated great resilience in the face of immense challenges over the past few years.
According to official BITA statistics we have now recovered over 50% of the business lost in the recession. Our most recent Economic Forecast, unveiled at our AGM on 11th May, provided strong evidence the industry will continue growing through the rest of the year and 2013.
People now feel more optimistic about the future, but we must keep adding value for our customers. BITA is no exception to this business rule and has already demonstrated an exceptional track record in
our initiative to counteract the ‘brain drain’ of retiring lift- truck engineers by attracting and training top quality young engineers to our dedicated apprentice scheme. There are already 108 apprenticeships in place, with another 29 planned for later this year, demonstrating significant progress towards our annual target of 200. Whatever we do next, it’s important to find the right balance between new initiatives that respond to fresh challenges and the work we are already doing today. I would rather see us developing one big idea that helps 100 members, than trying out 10 different ideas, with only limited appeal. The perfect example of this is CFTS, a company that sets the industry standard for mandatory Thorough Examination annual safety checks, and maintains a directory of companies accredited to provide this service to customers. Since it was created in 2001 it has qualified over 300 service providers — 24 new companies have
“It’s important to find the right balance between new initiatives that respond to fresh challenges and the work we are already doing today”
developing meaningful initiatives that provide tangible benefits for members.
ADDRESSING THE ‘BRAIN DRAIN’
The most outstanding development in the past year has undoubtedly been the BITA Academy at City of Bristol College. This fulfilled
18 June 2012 Storage Handling Distribution
already joined in 2012. CFTS is a joint venture between BITA and the Fork Lift Truck Association, which demonstrates how much benefit can be derived from meaningful collaboration
TECHNICAL ISSUES As a BITA Board member I also sit on the FEM IT-MC, which gives the UK a voice at the
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highest level of our industry and allows us to have some influence upon future technical and trade issues. It is probably in the Technical Policy area that BITA makes its most significant contribution. We have our own panel of industry experts, largely volunteers from member companies and without their hard work and experience we might never have agreed ISO3691. This standard was vital to the introduction of the 2006 Machinery Directive. Increasingly BITA serves as a rallying point for our industry. In 2010 we demonstrated courage by risking going ahead with IMHX in the face of a hostile economy and in doing so, sent out a strong signal to custo mers that we had confidence in the future of our industry. This brave stance has been fully validated by the outstanding prospects for success at IMHX 2013, which will be the first show in many years to include full representation from our industry. For me, BITA’s mission of “lifting industry standards” is no longer only about technical and safety standards, but it is about working closely with other people who share our objectives. We can deliver increased members’ value, by continuing to produce sustainable initiatives that stand the test of time — as we have done throughout the past 10 years. Here’s to another two years working in a great industry. I wish you all success and look forward to your continuing support! n
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