Expanding horizons
February 1st 2005 When a company claims to be moving into ‘whole new era’, press and public alike are generally sceptical. But Tony Mason, warehouse product manager for Hyster Europe, believes 2005 marks a new chapter in the company’s history. Brendan Coyne reports
By the end of this year, Hyster will have replaced its entire warehouse range since launching its European warehouse division in 1996.
Entering the market in 1998 with its original pedestrian-controlled stacker, Hyster today manufactures over 140 warehouse products. Adding four new “core products” later this year, the breadth of the equipment range is behind Mason’s assertion that the company is “moving into a new era.” “Hyster is now being recognised as a full line supplier as opposed to a company more synonymous with counterbalance trucks,” he says. “With the new products being developed both on the warehouse as well as the counterbalance side of the business, I would like to think that the industry will see us in a new light: we can now provide products to meet any requirements that are out there.” With companies increasingly looking to streamline supply chains, this is a logical step. But as Mason says, products alone don’t win customers: it’s the entire package.
The reason equipment is purchased in the first place is to allow companies to operate more efficiently and effectively: to reduce operating costs and increase productivity. Accordingly, while unit cost may still influence purchasing decisions, ‘whole life’ cost is also high on the customer’s agenda. “It’s the operational cost,” says Mason: “What the service provider will provide in terms of visibility of the operational costs of their fleet i.e. fleet management – and how they are going to work together to control, manage and reduce those costs.” To underline the importance of an integrated approach, Mason cites recent negotiations on a prospective contract.
“We’re very close to a major deal at the moment – and it hasn’t really been the product that we’ve been talking about.
Much as I hate to say it, the industry has reached a point where most trucks are not that dissimilar. It is the package that the manufacturer, together with its service provider, supplies to the customer which is the important thing – and how you manage that account, that fleet; how costs are managed. Because everyone is striving to reduce costs, everybody’s margins are being reduced – and it’s about working wisely.” Such a statement alludes to the importance of the partnership between Hyster and its retail, marketing and service provider, Barloworld. In the UK, the two have collaborated for half a century after joining forces in South Africa some 25 years earlier – over the decades developing a detailed understanding of their own requirements as well as the market’s.
Service Mason believes Barloworld too is entering a new era in terms of aftermarket service. He claims Barloworld’s forté, fleet management, is reaching a level that he feels has not previously existed in the market. “But that,” he says, “is obviously my own, biased opinion.” However, Barloworld marketing executive, Roger Massey, offers some examples as to how it is differentiating itself from competitors.
“With acquisition only accounting for about 20% of the overall cost of a materials handling fleet, customers are keen to talk to us about the whole operational cost,” says Massey. “So the agenda is now moving on – which is good for us because it means we have a chance to show what we can do for the customer by working with them to devise the lowest cost.
“From the perspective of streamlining the supply-chain, for example, we see our partnership with Hyster as a key selling point; Hyster has over 140 different truck models. We also have good relationships with specialist manufacturers who supply associated equipment – which means we can supply the equipment to fit practically any given application. So customers needn’t go to multiple suppliers. Alongside that we supply a wide range of services such as long term hire, short term hire, maintenance programs, battery programmes, tyres and driver training – backing up the product with service,” he says. “A lot of our competitors can’t offer that over such a spectrum – typically supplying just lift trucks and not associated equipment.” However, Massey says even some of its major customers aren’t fully aware of the extent of its product range or the scope of its services – a problem it aims to redress.
“We occasionally get pigeon-holed as merely distributors, but the fact is that “We can get pigeon-holed as merely distributors, but Barloworld has 24 branches and over 700 engineers in the UK – that’s probably the largest independent lift truck support operation in the country.” Barloworld has 24 branches and over 700 engineers in the UK – that’s probably the single largest independent lift truck support operation in the country. As for our service experience, we manage four and a half thousand lift trucks for the MOD – which is the largest materials handling fleet in Europe – and I think our fleet management capabilities were born out of that.” Meeting the stringent demands and rapid responses needed by such a contract, has lead the company to maximise its own efficiency – hence its recent £2m investment in mobile technology, working with SAP.
“ This effectively means that each of our 700 engineers will be equipped with a PDA that provides realtime access to their service diary – so they can see the fleet history, parts and technical data for various trucks,” explains Massey. “It gives them the ability to check the technical data on a particular truck and ensure they have the right part – or order parts online through us quickly and easily – and we see that as a way of maximising the first time fix ratio.
“We’re integrating that with a national service response centre based in Abingdon that will handle all the service calls received from customers, gather the essential data and then select the nearest and most appropriate engineer for the job – so the customer will always get the truck fixed in the fastest possible time.” In terms of preventative maintenance, the company also provides battery management services, and Massey claims its MACBAT system – which de-sulphates batteries, thereby extending their service life – is something the company is alone in offering in the UK market.
But while variables such as battery management and tyre wear can be controlled to a degree, truck operators are an unknown factor. Yet Barloworld has been working to reduce driver damage for quite some time.
“We’re one of the biggest providers of driver training in the UK, training around 6000 operatives and supervisors a year. We have six training schools and 30 instructors who train in-house or on-site. We also offer risk assessment and advice to companies as to how they can introduce incentive schemes – used successfully by our other customers – to reduce operator damage.” Massey believes the majority of Barloworld customers would agree that driver training “more than pays for itself” in terms of reduced damage, as well as fulfilling their own legal obligations in terms of staff health and safety.
The company also works closely with Davis Derby to provide access systems and driver monitoring equipment, that alongside security, increase accountability – encouraging drivers to be more responsible with their truck.
One of the Barloworld’s larger contracts is the Port of Tilbury, one of the biggest ports and terminal operations in the UK, to which it supplies about 130 units – from industrial cleaning machines through to 46 tonne Reach Stackers. It’s a strong example of what Barloworld and Hyster can now offer, and the continuous development of the warehouse equipment range should increasingly attract interest from the warehouse sector, as customers continue to drive down costs and shorten the supply chain.
In other words if the companies can replicate their successes in the lift truck sector, it should be, as Tony Mason says, “quite an exciting year.” More articles from Hyster Europe: | 
