A bellwether of a PMV show

In Febuary, Jim Owens - Caterpillar's head man, spoke about President Obama's stimulus package, in which Owens described his firm as a ‘bellwether' company.

I can't pretend that I, nor anybody else on this desk, knew what that meant, so we dusted off the dictionary and discovered that the term derived from the mediaeval practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (the ‘wether') The animal would then lead a flock of sheep wherever it wanted to go and it's movements could be anticipated by the ringing sound before it could be seen.

Most often nowadays, according to our book, the term is used for describing events in the stock market, with the bellwether company being the one that leads the rest of the industry, either up or down.

As such, Caterpillar finds itself in an unenviable situation of leading the US manufacturing industry down to where nobody else would want to follow. Perhaps it is unsurprising then, that Cat welcomed the president's stimulus package, even going as far to say that they hoped to recall laid off workers at some point.

What has this got to do with the Middle East? Well, plenty. As the world's key market for heavy machinery, the buying patterns here could be a ‘bellwether' for the wider industry. It might be too early to talk of a recovery, but the pulse of the market will be checked at the forthcoming PMV show, to be held in Dammam, KSA between 8-10th of March.

All of the leading companies will be represented, and conference topics will include how to survive the current situation and develop new products for the next decade.

Specialist firms will also be well represented, with various companies showing devices that can help their clients work more efficiently. Just about every nation on earth with an industrial base will be represented, including the US, all of Europe, Japan and, of course, China.

How will the world's money makers, analysts and forecasters view such an event? Well, we'll just have to see how it plays in Peoria.

Greg Whitaker is the editor of Plant Machinery Vehicles Middle East.

RELATED LINK: Saudi PMV show

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