11.12.2008

MEC puts Booms on hold

California based aerial lift manufacturer MEC has delayed the production start up for its M40T and M46TJ booms until late 2009.
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The MEC M40T unveiled in February 2008 at the ARA

The company says that “during field evaluation and endurance testing we determined that changes needed to be implemented to ensure that the new products continue the MEC tradition of industry leading reliability.”

Production start up is now scheduled during the third quarter 2009, almost a year later than originally planned.

The company goes on to say “We have worked on this development
project for some time now with a considerable amount of capital investment, and are committed to developing and manufacturing the best boom products on
the market.”

Vertikal Comment

MEC is wise not to start building this product until it is absolutely certain, it will only have one chance at a successful boom launch.

While design issues are the started reason it will also be considering the fact that its well established competitors already have hundreds of such machines in stock and are ready to deal. The last thing the market needs right now is a new 40/46ft boom lift making it very hard to get a new product off the ground.

Far better to wait and concentrate its efforts on the products it is already known for, that will be tough enough without trying to fight its way into one of the most mature and well served sectors in the aerial lift market.