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Spider specialist Hinowa has launched a 23.2 m maximum working height spider, the LightLift 23.12. The 3000 kg machine is the Italian company's tallest ever, and it offers 11.4 m of maximum outreach as well.

Free transfer buses between MECC Maastricht and Brussels International Airport, Belgium, will be run by the organisers. Depending on traffic, the journey takes around 90 minutes.

Practical details on attending the APEX exhibition, including hotel booking, opening hours, conference times, etc.

The first day of the exhibition includes the free APEX Conference, starting at 9.30am, half an hour before the start of the exhibition. The conference venue can be found at the entrance of the exhibition hall.

GSR Spa uses APEX to launch a new range of 3.5 t GVW telescopic van mounted platforms, with the E140TJV fitted to a Ford Transit van making its debut in Maastricht.

Two of the bigger names in the aerial platform business, UpRight and Skyjack, are promising some interesting new machines at APEX, although are still keeping quiet about what exactly they will be.

Oil & Steel, one of many Italian manufacturers at APEX, will show its new Octopussy 2190, the latest tracked machine in its range.

One of the most important events at the APEX show will be the launch of a new International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) campaign to attract young people into the access industry.

US manufacturer Bil-Jax will no doubt attract extra interest from European buyers at APEX now that it is owned by Haulotte Group.

Lavendon Group said that demand in Europe for its aerial platforms had been maintained in the first six months of the year, with the exception of Spain where a softening of the market and signs of oversupply have led the company to reduce its fleet size. Demand in the UK was down marginally but still strong.

Roger Brown of Genie Industries, one of the company’s founders, said it was still too early to tell how severe and long the current downturn in the AWP market would be, but said the industry – and Genie – was better prepared for a slowdown than in the past.

Tree surgeons in Littlehampton, Sussex used a 17 m working height Ascendant access platform to repair damage from high winds that swept across the county in August. The machine was rented from Facelift GB Ltd, based in Hickstead, West Sussex.

MEC adds Gary Crook as director of new product development and Rob Hime has been appointed to its sales team.

Christoph Schneiderbauer, managing director of Palfinger Europe, is the latest speaker to be confirmed for the Europlatform conference in Maastricht, The Netherlands, on 16 September, the day before the APEX exhibition.

Three high rise Denver condos create interesting challenges for Spider.

Recently formed Indian access rental company OnRent Pvt Ltd is close to a merger with the access rental division of Madras Tools and Tackles Ltd (mtandt). Both companies are based in Chennai in southern India.

The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) is drafting a new standard for transport platforms in Europe. Its Transport Platform Working Group (TPWG) of the International Mast Climbing Work Platform Committee has elected a task force to lead the effort.

Germany’s Ruthmann will use the APEX exhibition in September for the official debut of its new STEIGER T 275, an extended version of the T 270 model, which has been on sale since 2003.

Tanfield Group’s US subsidiary Snorkel International is to lay off 125 workers at its plant in Elwood, Kansas. The lay-offs follow Tanfield’s announcement in early July of redundancies at its UK UpRight Powered Access and Smith Electric Vehicles (SEV) businesses.