The company is focused on understanding its customer’s applications to enable it to provide solutions to meet constantly changing business needs.

MP-130511Yale – Products that deliver solutions

Today, Yale has one of the most comprehensive ranges of materials handling equipment in the market. Lifting capacities range from 1000 kilograms to 16000 kilograms with lift heights up to 17 metres.

Yale – Aftercare support

Customer aftercare support is a priority. A dedicated after sales support centre in Nijmegen, Holland, holds more than half a million parts in stock to ensure maximum uptime for customer’s materials handling equipment.

WLN – As the Warehouse Trucks category experts, how has the category been performing in the last 12 months? What are the major trends and developments?

We have seen moderate and steady growth within the warehouse trucks sector during this year. Interestingly warehouse products sales across the market are exceeding counterbalance trucks by the biggest margin since 2007, reflecting the improving strength of this sector. There is mounting optimism that this growth will continue into 2015 and beyond. Unit sales in our UK and European market have also increased this year, together with a corresponding growth in our sales revenues. So overall it’s been a challenging but successful 2014.

WLN – What are your core products and services: what are you best known for providing?

Yale is focused on developing and innovating, standard and premium products for warehouse applications. Historically we have been recognised as a counterbalance forklift truck manufacturer and we remain committed to developing both our warehouse and CB trucks offer to deliver customer focused solutions.

WLN – What developments or upgrades have you made to your core products and services in the last 12 months?

For a start our new MR reach truck is pretty special, pushing levels of productivity and dependability to new heights. It took 55,000 development hours to perfect its design and functions and it’s unlike anything else currently on the market. It features a new chassis, new mast design, new operator compartment and new control systems. With ever increasing lift heights being specified by 3PL companies and warehouse operators, the 2 tonne model has been designed to lift a 1.0 tonne load to a height of 12.5 metres.

Our new cold store MR truck offers a range of comfort and control features to keep drivers warm, well and happily productive.

Specified for use in cold stores down to –30°C, it is based on our new reach truck core design but with a range of special features and enhancements to allow for the harshest of chilled and frozen goods warehouses.

We have also added some ‘cool’ features including heated and fast demisting fine wire windscreens, a heated driver’s seat, steel grid to protect the polycarbonate overhead guard from accidental damage; and an intercom system that allows drivers to communicate with staff outside the truck without letting in any of the cold.

We have also launched a powerful, highly productive and ergonomically designed 4.0 to 5.0 tonne electric counterbalance truck the ERP 40-50 VM series, which has performance normally associated with ICE trucks and has been developed for arduous applications that require precision when handling heavy loads and is environmentally more acceptable in internal applications.

It has the latest advances in operator-centred technology, combined with powerful performance. It features full-suspension, fully adjustable seat, plus accurate, effortless steering control and precise manoeuvrability.

An important feature is its Stability Enhancement System which automatically maintains the truck’s stability by optimising the steer axle’s geometry which also reduces transmission shocks and vibrations to the operator. And YaleStop – an automatically activated parking brake which is applied when the truck stops – crucial on gradients and ramps.

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WLN – What makes you the ‘go to’ supplier in your area of expertise?

There are a number of important factors to what we offer. Firstly our relationship with Briggs Equipment as our principal partner. Briggs provides the market coverage and capacity and a service offer that is unrivalled. Briggs offers service and business support products, including a finance [BE Finance] scheme that is unique in this sector. It also provides leading service technologies and a highly responsive support resource puts them and Yale in a very strong and competitive position.

We also have a very broad product range, covering almost every aspect of the market. The design and functionality of these have all been meticulously thought-out to ensure that they meet the needs of our customers. In addition we strive for the highest quality of construction to ensure durability and reliability. Finally our expertise in providing tailored solutions that offer optimal performance and economy, designed around each customer ensures value and satisfaction.

WLN – Have you launched any new products and services in the past year? How are they performing?

The success of our products and strategy is evidenced by the growth in demand we are experiencing for our new reach truck series which continues to be a real success and drive increasing growth in sales we expect into next year.

WLN – Which industry sectors are your customers in?

We are active in all sectors but our market focus is in logistics, retail, food and beverages, automotive and chemical sectors. It’s where our products and service have greatest strength and resonate with customer needs.

WLN – Can you name some of your major customers and tell us about the work you do for them?

Yale trucks are used by a wide range of companies across many different sectors but typically they are companies such as Royal Mail which placed its trust in Yale products following a major long-term hire contract which will see Yale machines in operation at mail depots throughout the UK. It will involve a mix of electric, diesel and LPG counterbalance trucks, which will form part of a wider contract to procure around 600 FLTs and other materials handling equipment, which will form a key part the physical infrastructure of Royal Mail’s national logistical operations.

One of the UK’s largest DIY companies, Wickes has invested in Yale products following a complete renewal programme of its entire forklift truck fleet. This will see the entire Wickes fleet of around 400 replaced with the very latest Yale counter balance diesel trucks that help to drive the stock movements for more than 220 outlets and distribution centres across the UK  with an average of 1100 stock deliveries a week. The distribution centres also benefit from state-of-the-art Yale warehouse equipment.

Yale_electric-Counterbalance-range

WLN – Can you tell us about your latest major projects, and what they involve?

Certainly one of the most interesting, exciting and potentially game-changing projects this year is Yale’s involvement with the Honda fuel cell project. Our distribution partners, Briggs is part of the consortium which was launched early November which has the first World’s first 80 Volt hydrogen truck which combines a fuel cell with a lithium–ion battery. The truck operates inside the Honda factory in Swindon and has a fuel cell using hydrogen produced by solar power by an on-site converter. The Fuel cell effectively acts as an on-board charger for a compact lithium-ion battery which delivers the truck’s power. It means it can operate longer with just short refueling times. It is a big step forward in proving this technology. Now the challenge is to see how this can be effectively and widely commercialised.

WLN – Have you made any big moves recently in terms of investment in the business, recruitment and so on?

We have invested in a fairly intensive recruitment programme to support the current and future growth plans of the business. This has aligned to our recent investment in manufacturing facilities and capacity in our parts, service  and support operations.
Crucially, we continue to strive to have the best independent dealer network across our European market which provides an excellent product and service channel for our customers.

WLN – What was your company’s single biggest achievement in the last year?

There were a number of significant achievements in product development and business growth, but we are also pleased with the successful transfer to our new and larger Frimley – UK headquarters base. The larger premises incorporates our Engineering Concept Centre.

Colleagues from the UK based Engineering Concept Centre and our colleagues from EMEA headquarters are together under one roof. Having strong and close working relationships between colleagues is very important to ensure that customers and dealers receive a superior level of support.

WLN – What are your plans for 2015? Are you planning to bring out any more products or services, move into new markets or enter new countries?

Yes we will be launching new products in 2015 as we continuously seek to understand our customer’s demands and as we find better ways to help their businesses. As things change more rapidly it’s even more vital to draw closer to our customers. But we are also focused on business growth and increasing our market penetration by developing our network reach, capability and responsiveness across the UK and European market.

WLN – Are you exhibiting at any major trade shows this year?

We plan to showcase our latest range and new developments at LogiMat in Stuttgart in February.

WLN – What are your predictions for the industry in 2015?

Governmental forecasts and data suggest modest but sustained economic growth in 2015.  Also leading independent analysts are forecasting orders for both warehouse and counterbalance products continuing to rise over the next few years driven by evidence of a strengthening economy and growth in key sectors, many of which have significant demand for logistics, storage and transport. Our task is to ensure we are positioned to effectively support this growth and ensure that our products meet growing and changing customer demand.

WLN – What other headline news from your company can our readers look forward to reading about in Warehouse & Logistics News in 2015?

We will continue to have a steady flow of ideas and innovations during 2015. For now they, like all the nicest Christmas presents, will be wrapped and hidden away until it’s time to open.

Phone: 01635 265158

Web: www.yale.com

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