Big show

There is no denying the ‘big-show' credentials of Samoter. Held every three years in Verona, Italy, it manages to be both a showcase for Italian manufacturers in their domestic market and also an event that attracts a fair number of international visitors – around 10% of the 95000 registered visitors in 2005).

This year's event – taking place the week before Conexpo-Con/Agg – will again have arpound 1000 exhibitors, although the turnout from the access community will probably not equal that of the annual Italian show, SAIE. For example, JLG, Haulotte Group, UpRight and Skyjack – to name just four big players – were not on the exhibitor list provided by the organisers in early January.

You will see many of the big Italian manufacturers – including Airo Tigieffe and Iteco – and Genie Industries will be there, but it is as a telehandler event that Samoter will probably make the biggest impression, with exhibitors in this sector including Merlo, Dieci, Faresin, Manitou, Komatsu and Caterpillar.

It is also worth remembering that Italian telehandler specialist Merlo has entered the access sector with its hybrid telehandler-articulated boom machines: Samoter will provide the perfect opportunity to see what progress the company has made towards a full launch date.

There are also several conference events that wll be of interest to AI readers. One of these is the ‘Rental Day', a conference being organised in cooperation with Assodimi (the Italian distributors and rental association), the European Rental Association and International Rental News/KHL Group. The centerpiece of this will be a round-table panel discussion at 3.00pm on Friday 7 March, looking at how the speed of rental development can be increased; at the differences between the Italian rental market and its European neighbours; and the differences between the European and US rental markets (see panel).

The second theme is a ‘Hoisting Day' being held in cooperation with AISEM (the Italian Hoisting, Lifting and Handling Equipment Association) and the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF). The aim of this conference, which is being held at 2.30pm on Wednesday 5 March, is to highlight some of the high-risk areas and the benefits of investing in training and equipment maintenance (see panel).

KHL Group, publisher of Access International, exhibits with its Italian partner, Mediapoint & Exhibitions. We look forward to seeing you at the show.