NEW MEMBERS - We are delighted to welcome the following companies into FMCEC membership: TRELLEBORG INDUSTRIAL AVS and TRUFLO AIR MOVEMENT LTD.

Truflo Air Movement Ltd is a long established manufacturer of diesel engine cooling fans from 300mm to 2,800mm diameter for the off highway industry.
The company, based in Tipton, West Midlands, is a major supplier to many significant producers of mobile and stationary equipment throughout the world, export is over 70% of sales. Truflo hold approvals from major OEMs and are QS 9000 and ISO 9001 registered. The company was acquired by Concentric plc in 1997 and since that time over £2 million has been invested in state of the art manufacturing and test equipment which includes an AMCA 210 wind tunnel and AMCA 300 reverberant noise chamber. Truflo specialise in designing fans for specific applications and are acknowledged experts in noise reduction. In October 2000 "Truflo America" was set up, a joint venture company to produce fans and "air side packages" for the North American market. The new company is based in a new 24,000 sqft factory in Anderson, Indiana.

Contact: Bob James or Karl Steele Tel: +44 (0)121 557 4101 - Fax: +44 (0)121 557 4108
E-mail: info@truflo-airmovement.com
- Web Site: www.truflo-airmovement.com

Kobelco is the corporate trademark used by Kobe Steel Ltd on a number of products and in the names of a number of group companies.
Behind the Kobelco mark is Kobe Steel Ltd’s commitment to excellence and quality. They have numerous companies in Asia, the Americas and Europe.

Kobelco Construction Machinery (Europe) is the European Head Office and is based in Almere, Holland. In September 1997 they set up a UK office in Farnborough, Hampshire. The objectives were for the UK operation to put in place a dealer network within Scotland, England and Wales, to import machines and parts directly into the UK from Japan and give total product support to customers via the dealer network. During 1999 three dealers were appointed, Kobex (Scotland), Killoran Plant (North West England) and R&S Equipment (South East England). The appointment of further dealers for the East Coast and South West England is expected shortly. Kobelco imports into the UK and distributes to its dealers their full range of mini and standard excavators, totalling over 16 models ranging from 0.9 ton to 48 ton. Having offices in Farnborough enabled Kobelco to focus specifically on the UK, so that the demands of this very challenging market can be met quickly and effectively.

Kobelco’s reputation begins with its machines, and being in the UK will strengthen that reputation with dealers after sales support, constant monitoring of progress, meeting the demands of the market, but most importantly giving total customer satisfaction.

KAB Seating specialise in the manufacture and supply of comfortable, practical work seats for various types of vehicles. Their world leader status comes from many years of experience within seat design, development and production. They supply seating to the construction, commercial, agricultural, industrial, mining, bus/coach and mobility sectors.

KAB Seating has developed a worldwide distribution network - with subsidiaries in Australia, Belgium, North America and Sweden and a sales/support office in France. KAB Seating products are exported worldwide and are fitted as original equipment by many major manufacturers, such as Caterpillar and Komatsu. They aim to provide total comfort and total control throughout their range of seats and offer a solution for most types of seating problems. The company is quality certified to ISO 9001 - committed to providing a quality product and continually improving this product as new innovation takes place and new technology develops. KAB Seating are at the leading edge of technological design and development and aim to provide a solution with seating which will help prevent back pain and other related pain arising from being seated. KAB Seating has extensive testing facilities and uses other national bodies to ensure that their seating complies with current legislation.

The new GKD instruments are complete weighing systems with built-in sensors. Each system calculates to a high accuracy the weight information of the payloads carried by air suspension Artics (tractor units and trailers) and Rigids.

Henry Cooch & Son Ltd are pleased to announce yet another lighting tower to add to their extensive range of mobile floodlighting units. It was decided to make this a 12m unit for two reasons: At 12m the light output is spread over a wider area and is a floodlight, not beams of light and at 12m this is the only machine that complies with the recommendations of BS 5489 for motorway and dual carriageway lighting for discharge lamps. By having 4 x 1,000w wide angle metal halide fittings at 12m gives more than four times the effective light of tungsten halogen lamps. Also, the glare factor obtained at lesser heights is greatly reduced - thus avoiding complaints from motorists and site personnel.

KHL Group, publisher of Construction Europe, International Cranes, Access International and other construction-related magazines, also has a specialist book publishing division. Books produced in the last three years include 500 Years of Earthmoving, The History of Cranes, The History of Road Building Equipment, The Top 10 Construction Achievements of the 20th Century and Machinery in Miniature, all part of The Classic Construction Series. In 2000, KHL Books produced a new series, Construction History Makers, specialising in the personalities who have influenced today's construction industry. The first two subjects were Alf Sparrow (A Lifting Legend) and Fil Filipov (Filosophies). KHL is now looking for new subjects and plan to publish at least one new Construction History Makers book in 2001.

For more details please contact Peter Watkinson at watkinson@khl.com - Tel: +44 (0)1892 784088. To browse these books and many others please visit our online Web Site: www.khl-bookshop.com  or E-mail: bookshop@khl.com.

The MEi range of Load Indication Systems will retain their well-known logo and be grown as a leading brand of on-board weighing and safe-load indicator equipment after the company has been re-named in January.

NE Technology Ltd, who are part of the Saint-Gobain Group, acquired MEi in December 1999, retaining the MEi brand name for the Load Indication Products. The company will now be re-named Saint-Gobain Crystals and Detectors UK Ltd from the start of 2001, as part of a strategy to raise the profile of the French-owned group in the UK. Saint-Gobain are owners of well-known UK names such as Solaglass and Jewson, the Builders Merchant, and manufacture the glass for more than half the cars in Europe.

Garry McCann, the company’s MD said, "We have great faith in MEi and the potential of on-board load monitoring systems. In an ever more competitive world, the ability to weigh while the load is being handled can offer enormous benefits. It is the mission of MEi to enable users to maximise the benefits which can be gained by combining the two operations of weighing and handling. Further, we recognise the negative aspects of machine overloading and we are keen to work with our customers to offer solutions in this vital area of safety at work".

Whilst MEi is now part of a larger family, the Load Indication Team remains as before with Chris Taylor as Sales and Marketing Manager for MEi products and Kevin Ennis providing a link to MEi’s country-wide field service team. The company has two factories - one in Reading and the other in Burnham on Crouch. MEi remains at Burnham.

Gill Barker has recently taken up the reins as the overall Sales Manager at both sites, with responsibility for both Radiation Measurement and Load Indication Products.

Contact: Chris Taylor : Tel: +44 (0)1621 783282 - Fax: +44 (0)1621 783132

We wish Milsco Manufacturing Co every success in their new premises:

Harrington Way
Bermuda Park Industrial Estate
Nuneaton
Warwickshire CV10 7SH

Tel: +44 (0)24 7637 5400 - Fax: +44 (0)24 7637 5401
E-mail: milscoltd@aol.com - Web Site: www.milsco.com

Liftmaster are keen to undertake further manufacturing/engineering contracts. At their factory in Northern Ireland, they already manufacture block lifting equipment, scissor lifts and trailers to name a few. If any member is looking to sub-contract, contact: Kieran Dynes

Tel/Fax: +44 (0)28 3885 1414 - E-mail: kierandynes@btconnect.com

Agreement has been reached with affiliate member Robert Brown of RB Research for the supply of summary market statistics. These overview figures will be made available to FMCEC members free of charge. This is a response to component supplier requests for more data. This supplements Off-highway Research’s regular reports to the FMCEC gatherings - such as December’s BAUMA Exhibitors’ Briefing Meeting.