A combination of factors will come together in 2018 that will result in strong investor appetite for logistics real estate, according to CBRE.

In the quest to increase productivity in material handling and manufacturing environments and be more responsive to the changing interests and expectations of the consumer, companies are increasingly embracing new technology.

It looks like global forklift sales for 2017 will remain in the six-digit range. While final figures for the year are not yet available, there were persistent reports of growth of more than 15 percent for much of the year.

The growth of e-commerce around peak shopping season is no longer a new story, and this year was no exception. But 2017’s peak season did raise some eyebrows for getting off to an unusually early start, with sales from Nov. 1 to Nov. 22 up 17.9 percent, year-over-year, according to Internet Retailer’s report on the peak shopping season.

Logistics companies went on a hiring spree in November to handle the holiday surge in online shopping, adding thousands of jobs picking items off shelves in warehouses and delivering packages to customers’ homes.

Challenge: In late 2015, a well-known craft brewery opened a second location with a 250,000-barrel capacity. From the opening, this new location encountered logistical challenges with its packaging and distribution and had distinct needs for its keg line, which was located in a small and tight space. The client looked to Hyster to recommend solutions to streamline the operation.

In the world of material handling, the notion of "driverless-ness" has been around for 60 years since the first automated guided vehicle (AGV) appeared in a grocery warehouse. High-tech warehouse operations are already used to the sight of AGVs performing tasks such as the vertical storage and retrieval of pallets and the loading and unloading of pallets onto outbound trailers.

Hyster-Yale Group, Inc. has acquired the telematics installation and distribution businesses in the U.S. and U.K. of Speedshield Technology, Pty Ltd.