What your peers are saying about the challenges, trends, and opportunities shaping the industry.
The 2026 MHEDA Business Scan offers an insider view into the challenges, trends, and opportunities shaping the material handling industry today. Captured during MHEDA’s Winter 2026 Board Meeting, this snapshot distills insights directly from industry leaders, providing a real-time snapshot of market dynamics, customer behavior, operational pressures, and workforce trends. By exploring how peers across Storage & Handling, Industrial Trucks, and Systems Integrators are navigating inventory, AI adoption, competitive pressures, and workforce constraints, this summary equips you to benchmark performance, anticipate challenges, and make informed strategic decisions throughout 2026.
Storage & Handling
- Pipeline strength, slower conversion: Quoting and pipeline activity remain healthy, but sales cycles are longer and decisions often stall before resurfacing.
- Permitting driving project changes: Permitting delays are common, with larger phased installs less frequent and municipal scrutiny influencing timelines and execution.
- Customers doing more diligence: Even “simple” projects take longer as customers validate needs and options before committing.
- Execution discipline and capability building: Companies are focusing on training, task management, accountability, and stronger project execution.
- Customer expectations shifting: Buyers expect faster quotes, clearer documentation, responsiveness, and consultative support, with more demand for transparency.
- Competitive pressure and selectivity: Margin pressures and competition are driving firms to prioritize consultative opportunities over transactional work.
Industrial Truck
- Business activity and demand: 2025 was slow with long sales cycles, but late Dec/Jan saw momentum, with February especially strong despite some timing delays.
- Inventory and pricing: New inventory elevated, used flatter; new prices stabilizing, used improving, especially in heavier classes; used activity rising to match resale needs.
- Rental utilization and market shifts: Rental pricing flat; pressure tied to utilization and competition; some shifts between rental and new orders as customers re-engage.
- Workforce constraints and ramp time: Recruiting remains challenging; on-boarding more complex, extending time-to-competency; retention in first two years is critical.
- Technology complexity and alternative power: Lithium-ion and other alternatives add complexity in performance, service capability, compliance, and accountability across OEMs, dealers, and suppliers.
- AI adoption and governance: AI use is expanding across roles, but gaps remain in governance, tool policies, confidentiality, and moving from pilot to strategy.
- Consolidation and competition: Private equity and consolidation drive margin and service pressure; lower-priced competitors add sustained market pressure.
Systems Integrators
- High quoting, delayed decisions: Quoting is strong, but longer decision cycles; once customers commit, they accelerate execution, compressing timelines.
- Rising expectations for full solutions: Customers expect broader support on complex projects, including permitting, controls/software, and overall accountability.
- Cost volatility and project risk: Tariffs, lead times, freight, labor, and material volatility continue to create margin and scheduling pressure.
- Competition and margin pressure: High competitive intensity, with firms “buying deals,” driving down margins and increasing execution risk.
- AI in tools and decision support: AI increasingly embedded in design, pricing, and analysis to support ROI, improve decisions, and boost productivity across roles.
- Workforce constraints and burnout: Labor shortages and burnout impact sustainability, especially where backlog and installation staffing create peaks and valleys.
