Resolving a crisis

28 January 2013

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As another challenging year comes to a close, 2012 seems to have shaped up fairly well for the overhead lifting industry. With some companies reporting record profits and others a stronger than expected rebound, even while sales fell, finally the fallout from the global financial crisis is somehow starting to look less worrisome. Having said that no-one is expecting 2013 to be much easier. Although capacity utilisation for many manufacturers is still heading towards the magical 80 per cent figure, a leisurely pace has slowed to a crawl, and now the 80 per cent figure is expected nearer 2015 than many expected.


However looking at the global picture, with new construction project starts mushrooming ahead of the 2022 World Cup and massive investment in infrastructure in the Southeast of Asia, many have already resolved or acted to position themselves early for the coming year. Here at Hoist Magazine we have a few New Year's resolutions of our own. At the beginning of the year we will be conducting a reader survey to find out what you, our readers, find of most value in the magazine.

Our content has changed significantly over the last decade, so we want to be sure that we are still focusing on the concerns that keep our readers most animated. A link to the survey will be included in our twice-monthly newsletter, and we welcome all feedback on what you like, what you don't, and anything you would like to see in the magazine that we don't already have.

In addition, we will be broadening our distribution efforts for the magazine. As I've stated a number of times in these pages our duty to our readers is two-fold; to give the clearest and best representation of the industry and its participants to the end-users in several sectors, and to provide a platform for inter-industry discussion and information transfer. The latter will be accomplished next year through distribution at a number of trade events aimed at sectors from rail and mining, to warehouses and offshore. Our distribution efforts will be focused on each special report featured in the magazine, with each sector covered paired with an industry trade show packed with the potential customers you want to reach. Details of our upcoming features for 2013 are available in our media pack online.

In the same vein, the technical pieces in the magazine are predominantly aimed at these end-users, support personnel and site engineers who may have the responsibility for operations but not the day-to-day experience of lifting equipment. In this endeavour we welcome contributions of readers of the magazine with expertise in particular aspects of the industry.

Kevin Walsh