Caljan Rite-Hite (pronounced Cal-Yan), established over 40 years ago, is the worldwide market leader in providing safe logistics solutions for loading and unloading loose-loaded goods. The company has designed, manufactured and installed more than 20,000 loading and unloading solutions in parcel distribution centres, airports, warehouses and storage facilities around the world.
Caljan Rite-Hite continues to develop new business areas. On 1st January 2008, LogComp GmbH in Germany became an integral part of the group. This acquisition extended Caljan Rite-Hite’s comprehensive programme of telescopic conveyors and parcel registration units to include a wide range of belt curve conveyors and labelling systems. Caljan Rite-Hite’s current product portfolio comprises telescopic belt conveyors, telescopic roller loaders, van loaders, belt curve conveyors, parcel registration equipment, vehicle restraints and other dock equipment such as fans, doors, seals and shelters. Its customers include system integrators, parcel carriers, postal services, mail order companies and warehouse and distribution centres.
Most recently Caljan Rite-Hite has again marked its commitment to safe and ergonomic working conditions with the introduction of Vaculex ParceLift, a lifting aid that enables an operator to empty a container quickly without the risk of muscle strains, and with the official endorsement of its ManRider operator platform, both options that can be fitted onto Caljan Rite-Hite telescopic boom conveyors. Caljan Rite-Hite Ltd Managing Director Mark Baugh spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.
WLN – When did you join the business? When did you become MD of Caljan Rite-Hite? To what extent do you get involved with individual customers?
I joined Caljan Rite-Hite as Managing Director in July last year. Since then I have been recruiting a new management team and actively updating our processes, procedures and systems so unfortunately my involvement with customers has been less than I would have wanted. Now that we have a new management team in place and the final necessary changes are almost complete, that will change.
WLN – What changes have there been in the management team?
Dave Greenwood [Service Manager], with his 20 years’ experience at Habasit, has brought a higher level of professionalism and management to the service and installation functions. Recently joining us from Vanderlande, Mark Waldron [Project Manager] has collated over 20 years’ commercial experience in project management and is extremely customer focused. Gary Sanderson [Financial Controller] has joined from a position as FD with Plc experience to assist us with future acquisitions and internal cost control, and Sanjay Ghei [National Business Development Manager] brings much needed stability and focus.
WLN – That is quite a change to the management team. Why have you done it?
It is fair to say that Caljan Rite-Hite, as market leader, had grown complacent and lost some direction. Our products have been, and still are, best in class, but we could not match that level of quality with our own internal management of sales and projects.
WLN – How does the management team dovetail into the Caljan Rite-Hite organisation?
Everyone in the UK management team is based here in the UK. Our HQ in Denmark actively seeks our opinions and ideas, and we work seamlessly as a single organisation. It really is unusual for a parent company to embrace the ideas and opinions of the subsidiaries with such enthusiasm. Forgive the cliché, but it really does feel like an extended family.
WLN – Where and when was Caljan Rite-Hite founded, and who by?
The Rite-Hite Group is a family-owned business, established in the USA by Arthur K. White in 1965. Caljan was founded in Aarhus, Denmark in 1963 by two engineers named Calundan and Jansen, hence the name Caljan. In 2001 the Rite-Hite Group bought Caljan and Caljan changed its name to Caljan Rite-Hite.
WLN – How big is the Rite-Hite Group?
The Rite-Hite Group is a recognised world leader in the manufacture and sale of loading dock and industrial door safety products. It has its HQ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA and employs more than 1,600 employees within seven corporations, at 100 locations throughout the world. Caljan Rite-Hite is one of these corporations, representing 25% of the group.
WLN – Where is the Caljan Rite-Hite business located?
Caljan Rite-Hite’s head office and Western Europe production centre is in Aarhus, Denmark. We have sales and support centres in Benelux, France, Germany, the USA and UK, and production facilities in Denmark, the USA and Latvia. Our worldwide presence, through our own companies and a network of distributors, reflects the organisation that we see in many of our international customers.
WLN – What is the history of the UK subsidiary?
Caljan started in the UK in 1989 and acquired the failing Linpic-Sovex business in 1996, and in doing so gained solutions experience.
WLN – How many of the original staff from the acquisition remain?
75% of our support team members are the actual engineers that designed and built the older equipment and have continually supported these machines for over 20 years. Caljan has not sold the company, the Sovex name nor the design rights and patents on old products. We hold literally hundreds of thousands of pounds in stock to support our earlier Sovex customers.
WLN – Where is your UK office? What operations do you carry out here in the UK?
Our UK office is in the East Midlands, Bingham in Nottinghamshire to be exact and we run our UK sales and support functions from there. Our service network covers the whole of the UK.
WLN – Do you see your operations changing in this financial climate?
We are totally committed to a strategic presence in the UK, backed by a strong financial parent company. We will support our customers old and new, and though we would not become a second-hand equipment seller, we do refurbish machines for our customers and I am expecting this to be more commonplace as purse strings tighten.
WLN – So your premises are not just office space?
No, we use floor-space to refurbish the older, old-design Sovex machines. We also have an emergency stock of telescopic boom conveyors that are ready to be installed the same day, if one of our customers has the need for a quick replacement while we repair/renew the damaged equipment.
WLN – How else can you assist your clients in this climate?
From past experience, we will probably see investment in replacing worn equipment being postponed. Here we can assist in one of two ways. Firstly, our support team is available 24/7 to provide reactive support and we can refurbish and/or maintain the older equipment to get the maximum use out of the rest of its working life; and secondly, we can arrange leasing for new equipment.
WLN – Are you an accredited leasing company?
No, we would never offer such services directly, as we simply do not have the required experience in such an industry. We use a leasing partner that ensures that all financial agreements are completed correctly to comply with current legislation and with the best financial rates available to the client. We concentrate on our core business and bring in professional partners when the need arises.
WLN – What do you mean by the term ‘safe logistics solutions’?
We have always been totally committed to ensuring that our manufactured products and installed solutions meet and exceed safety regulations, though in the current circumstances the term can also be applied to Caljan Rite-Hite being financially secure and safe from point of order to implementation.
WLN – How important is safety to your solutions?
It’s central to everything that we do. We focus on safety, quality and service in all aspects of our work, from design, construction, production, sales, project implementation and service. Safety doesn’t need to cost a lot, provided it is taken into account during the design phase.
WLN – What kinds of loose-loaded goods can your equipment handle?
How long is a piece of string? Our standard products can handle all packaged goods, be they in sacks, cartons, totes or other commonly used containers. We also have over 40 years’ experience in dealing with the non-standard applications that our customers sometimes need.
WLN – How do you stand apart from other vendors of this kind of equipment?
We produce top quality products designed from experience gained through our longevity in the market; they are not clones or copies. All our component materials comply with well-known European standards and come from European suppliers, and their pedigree is without doubt.
Our reputation for quality is well-deserved. Some of our customers have Caljan Rite-Hite telescopic conveyors that are 20 or 30 years old. I visited a customer recently that had a machine that was installed 23 years ago, and it was still in daily use.
As market leader, we must innovate, paving the way for new standards within our industry. In 2004 we were the first manufacturer of telescopic belt and roller boom conveyors to introduce a range of products designed with a view to safety, our SAFETRACK range. Every product in this range is tested to ensure that it complies with all relevant safety regulations. As far as we know we are the only vendor that ensures H&S compliance by verifying with an external Notified Body. Self-certification can be acceptable, but you should always find out the qualification of the checking authority. We believe it always pays to check the checker, so we do so.
WLN – Is the LogComp business now fully integrated with Caljan Rite-Hite?
The Log-Comp business was fully integrated in 2008. Caljan CurveTrack belt conveyors are now sold throughout our organisation and we are currently rolling out a range of automatic labelling systems characterised by superb quality, intelligent design and a prodigious level of manufacturing engineering.
The Log-Comp acquisition provided products that fitted perfectly with our strategic position of supplying first-class products for integration into logistic solutions and systems.
WLN – Are there any plans for any more acquisitions?
As a financially secure company, Caljan Rite-Hite is able to explore acquisitions should a new product or service with the correct attributes be found. We are continually on the lookout for business opportunities that will give our customers added value.
WLN – How are you organised to sell your products to your UK customers?
Within Caljan Rite-Hite there are two main product areas, namely the dock products such as vehicle restraints, dock levellers, doors, shelters; and the solutions products such as van loaders, telescopic boom conveyors, data registration and pre-sort modules. Each product area has a National Sales Manager who is backed up by the front-office sales team, which ensures multiple-product projects are completed seamlessly.
WLN – Your customers cover a wide range of industries. Which are your biggest sectors?
Our business sector proportions vary annually and are highly dependent on our relationships with the integrators and larger end-users. However, as a list of examples, we have international agreements with major parcel carriers; national agreements with mail-order companies, manufacturing companies, retailers and so on; we are also a preferred supplier to several of the major integrators of automated materials handling equipment.
WLN – Talking specifically about warehousing and logistics operations, what are your latest products?
The Revolution Fan provides a ROI from as little as six months, given the energy savings that it delivers. This concept has been consistently proven in the US and will take the warehousing industry by storm here in the UK. The Caljan Rite-Hite belt-curve has an extremely well documented pedigree, with a patented design that makes it by far the easiest belt curve to maintain. It is the only belt curve with common running parts and it has the fastest belt change on the market: just what you need in a high volume, low downtime environment.
WLN – How are your forward orders in the UK holding up?
Our forward orders continue to be healthy. We are seeing signs of a slowdown in enquiries compared with 2008 but not what I would have expected given the well-reported and documented UK recession.
WLN – Besides the global and local economy, what other factors do you see affecting demand for your products?
Customers’ health and safety considerations are behind the purchase of many of our products. For example, emptying containers is a strenuous task that is made significantly easier when a telescopic boom conveyor is installed. Long-term, it is not only work conditions that are improved by doing so: capacity can actually increase. Despite the current economic situation, employers still want to provide an optimal work environment by installing, for example, belt conveyors, lifting aids and vehicle restraints so that accidents are prevented.
Two of our products that have a proven history but have not yet been released in the UK, the Revolution Fan and the FastTrax Door, have energy saving at the heart of their design concept. We all need to be more environmentally conscious, and these two products really do have a direct energy saving effect.
WLN – Finally, where do you see Caljan Rite-Hite going from here?
If you consider the individual strengths of our new management team, you will note that we have all the skills that are needed to grow the UK subsidiary both organically and, if the opportunity expresses itself, by acquisition. Combined, the team can easily manage double figure growth both in terms of head-count and revenue without the need for further managerial expansion. We have plans in place to do just that.
Caljan Rite-Hite Ltd UK enquiries: o1949 838 850 www.caljanritehite.co.uk
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