Newsline - April 2001
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ANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERS

THE FEDERATION OF MANUFACTURERS OF CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT & CRANES

(FMCEC)

ANNUAL REPORT TO MEMBERS
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 5 MARCH 2001

President's Summary:
Your organisation, so long known as the Federation of Manufacturers of Construction Equipment and Cranes (FMCEC) will go forward into the new year with new purpose as the Construction Equipment Association (CEA).

Our Articles of Association are being radically updated for the first time since our organisation was founded in 1941. Your response to our survey work has helped us clarify the objectives for the organisation as we move forward. We have also recognised that these are avenues for us to provide additional services for our supplier membership. The Promoting Performance competitiveness conference (held on 5 March) is the first tangible example and hopefully that can be extended to a broader assistance programme linking with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Our close relationship with the DTI is evidenced by the Sectoral Competitiveness Analysis for our industry which they sponsored and Competitiveness Minister Alan Johnson MP's keynote speech at the conference.

During the past year our membership increased to nearly 100 with the addition of 17 new members. We welcome those new members, confident that they will come to appreciate fully the benefits of membership. Financially we are strong, generating a surplus in the current year. Again membership subscription increases can be held to less than inflation although costs have increased. The financial strength of our organisation allows us to support a special programme from the Committee for European Construction Equipment (CECE) in conjunction with the adoption of new software to improve reporting of sales statistics for our industry.

A traditional strength of the FMCEC in export promotion and assistance continued this year with sponsored groups at the SMOPyC (Spain, February), Intermat (Paris, May) and CTC (Beijing, November) shows. In addition there was an FMCEC presence at IVT Expo (Germany, June), IranConMin (Iran, June) and For Arch (Prague, October). The Export Marketing Group (EMG) has provided updates on changing market conditions and opportunities throughout the year.

The General Technical Committee has been hard at work in understanding and influencing pending legislation throughout the European Community. This year, visibility and vibration were focuses of discussion. They are already looking beyond Tier 2 Emissions to arrive at a joint industry position on Tier 3 guidelines. The increasing problem of Plant Theft in some countries may prompt European-wide guidelines in the future. Finally there remains a need for a European Roading Directive. Manufacturers incur significant extra cost meeting specific and in some cases conflicting national standards. Your FMCEC organisation firmly supports development of a European Roading Directive.

Unfortunately we have not been as effective as I would have hoped on the question of non-compliant imports to the United Kingdom. The Enterprise Directorate-General (DG-ENTR) of the European Commission has acted and in the Netherlands the government has responded and the problem reduced. Unfortunately Customs and Excise here in the UK have not enforced the Machinery Directive on machines entering the UK in spite of documented evidence on non-compliance. As I leave the Presidency of our organisation I wish to thank all of those who have helped me so much during the past year and past four years that I have been a member of the Council. I leave the Council, FMCEC/CEA, and the United Kingdom with many new friends. I look forward to renewing those acquaintances in the future.

Robert Sutton - President, FMCEC

Technical:
European Directives continued to drive the General Technical Committee agenda during year 2000. The latest is the Directive on noise of outdoor equipment that was adopted in July and comes into operation at the beginning of 2002. It will impact by way of noise limits for some 20 categories of outdoor equipment, including much construction equipment, and by labelling requirements for some 40 other categories. We have successfully represented members’ views through the long process of negotiations and will continue to do so, particularly in regard to how details, such as the conformity assessment schedules, are written into Commission guidelines, currently being drafted.

Another proposal reached the stage of Council agreement in November and is likely to be adopted during 2001. This is the Physical Agents (Vibration) Directive which sets hand-arm and whole-body vibration exposure limit values for workers. The long campaign to remove the whole-body limit value was not successful but transition periods have been won. Assessments by employers will have to be made on the basis of manufacturers’ information. We are seeking to influence the next stage of the process of adoption by lobbying the European Parliament with a view to at least holding the present position without it becoming even more severe on industry.

There are three other proposals that saw the light of day at the end of the year and will be taxing the FMCEC (CEA) during 2001. These are a re-cast Machinery Directive offering some potentially unpleasant conformity assessment changes, a workplace Physical Agents (Noise) Directive setting exposure limits for noise (akin to the above mentioned Vibration Directive) and an amendment to the Engine Exhaust Emissions Directive that will require significant design changes to accommodate bigger cooling systems.

Good relations have continued with government departments. The DTI’s Action Single Market has been helpful with advice on the year of construction issue where success has been achieved in requiring Germany to follow the Directive requirements. The DTI has also advised on the Noise of Outdoor Equipment Directive and the HSE on the Physical Agents Directives. The HSE has required enhanced visibility requirements for construction equipment but has agreed to FMCEC (CEA) led proposals to analyse visibility characteristics before setting the requirements. The HSE has not been so helpful in regard to enforcing compliance to EU rules of much unmarked construction equipment arriving in the UK from outside the EU. FMCEC (CEA) actions on this issue are to be reinforced during 2001.

Tim Faithfull - Director of Member Services

Bill Osborne - Technical Officer

 

Exports and Exhibitions:
At any one time, members of the Export Marketing Group (EMG) are spread across the world. This mitigates against large gatherings of the Group but several useful meetings were held in the year. Guest experts included speakers on defence exports, the ECGD, Brazil and Mexico. At the invitation of Trade Partners UK, Export Manager Pam Hyde visited Mexico in October to research the construction equipment sector. Initiatives were also pursued in respect of Kosovo, Turkey and Vietnam and other markets. In all, Secretariat members attended over 20 overseas trade related meetings, seminars and conferences during the year. Discussions with the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) may also lead to co-operation on outward trade missions. 

The overseas exhibition programme continued to expand. 14 British companies joined us, for the first time, as part of an official Group at SMOPyC, in Zaragoza. Disappointingly, Trade Partners UK (the administrators of the government funded Support for Exhibitions and Seminars Abroad (SESA) scheme) have withdrawn funding for the 2002 event. Our main exhibition project was the organisation of the British Group of 53 companies at Intermat, in Paris. Eight companies exhibited with SESA support for the first time. There were over 200,000 visitors. New territory for us was the information stand we took at CTC China (Beijing), in November. Through our links with Building Exhibitions Management (for the construction products sector) we also took information stands at events in Tehran and Prague. We also arranged a, financially unsupported, group of British exhibitors at IVT Expo, a components show in Hamburg. 

The operation of the SESA scheme remains under review. Our Chief Executive sits on the committee of the Sponsors’ Forum, the body that deals directly with Trade Partners UK on matters of policy. In 2001/2002 we have another full programme planned featuring shows in Germany, Turkey, Brazil, Singapore and the USA. The first in the programme is the triennial Bauma exhibition in Munich (April 2001). Here a record size British Group is confirmed. 

Pam Hyde - Export Manager 

Joanna Oliver - Exhibitions Manager

 

Communications:
The format and circulation of our magazine, Newsline, was extended during the year - with a minimum print run of 1,000 copies. Our CD ROM Business Tracker was updated and re-issued in spring 2000 by our partners at IDEA Ltd. In addition to our direct mail list, the CD also featured in our exhibition programme including a number of overseas catalogue shows. The "Members Only" part of our web site (www.fmcec.org.uk) was also initiated. Updating and developing the web site remains a priority - this appears to be one of our projects that can never be finished. There is always room for improvement as techniques and design develop.

More specialist communication took the form of regular issues of our Technical Bulletin and Export Bulletin. Most regular circulars are now issued to committee members via e-mail and this is a trend that seems likely to continue. We are working on ways to further enhance this process.

Relations with the trade press (many of which are press affiliate members) continued to be very positive. A number of articles were commissioned for publication and general press coverage of FMCEC activities was improved. However, a more structured format for press relations is a priority in 2001. 

Kim Fitzpatrick - Editor,  Newsline 

Strategic Issues:
Following the 1999 Member Survey, the FMCEC Council set out a list of key areas to be progressed. Some will come to fruition with the change of title to the Construction Equipment Association and a number of organisational changes.

The conclusion of the 2000 AGM was that members supported the idea of the FMCEC establishing a higher profile. In line with this we have been in regular contact with more companies than ever before (see communications above). LM Marketing & Research aided us with a recruitment campaign that has seen a significant increase in membership. We will look for further progress in 2001.

Relations with our sponsoring government department (the DTI) have been good. We held regular meetings with officials from the Automotive Directorate and were also granted a face-to-face interview with the Minister for Competitiveness (Alan Johnson MP). Also in pursuance of our campaign against non-compliant imports of machinery in the UK, the Council met with a number of European Commission officials, in Brussels, in June. This was the first Council meeting ever held overseas.

Council placed a high priority in developing a positive interface with complementary trade associations. We participated in an Engineering Employers Federation led lobby on last autumn's Green Budget. We also developed a co-operation plan on overseas exhibitions with the building products, fluid power and mining machinery sectors. Members of the Secretariat team also had a number of bilateral meetings with other associations and business support providers.

The Promoting Performance initiative has been planned to provide a focus for competitiveness issues in our activities. We have been encouraged by the success of the SMMT Industry Forum in the automotive sector in providing programmes to address quality, cost and delivery issues. In addition, we will be using the Promoting Performance campaign to address some of the challenges to our organisation posed by the new sector analysis prepared by Off-Highway Research at the behest of the DTI.

Rob Oliver - Chief Executive 

Conclusion:
In conclusion, we would like to thank the Officers, Members of the Council, Committee Chairmen and all other participants in the work of the FMCEC over the last year. Re-named and renewed as an Association we look forward to further serving the UK construction equipment sector - it's a great industry to be in! 

The Secretariat Team

March 2001