"Hosts must have a substantial fleet," says Andy Agoos, principal of Agoos Consulting, Orlando, Fla., and a co-founder of the organization. Although the event helped give Sany a high profile in the Western market, Sany Heavy Industry Co., the parent company of the firm that hosted last May's meeting, has seen less-than-exceptional sales in the North American market this year.
"Sany is making headway in the crane market here but nothing else," says Charles Yengst, president of equipment-market analyst firm, Yengst Associates, Wilton, Conn. North American excavator sales, which are Sany's bread-and-butter in other parts of the world, are miserable, he adds.