BYD is a global manufacturing company based in Shenzhen, China and is essentially a ‘green energy’ company who have grown to become the world’s largest manufacturer of rechargeable electric storage.
Country Manager Forklifts, UK & Ireland at BYD Europe
The company also manufactures electric vehicles including cars, taxis and electric buses and in 2010 commenced the manufacture of forklift trucks. In 2014 they opened a dedicated forklift truck manufacturing plant in Shoaguan, Guangdong Province.
The forklift division commenced trading in Europe in 2015, initially in Germany and Benelux, coming to the UK & Ireland in 2016. Gary Winter, Country Manager Forklifts, UK & Ireland at BYD Europe, spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.
WLN – What are your best-known products and services?
BYD initially offered a small range of electric counterbalanced trucks covering 5 capacities, a ride-on powered pallet truck and a pedestrian stacker. The counterbalanced range has since increased to 7 capacities. Our USP is that we only offer equipment powered by Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries.
This enables our dealers to engage with customers who are interested in reducing their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over the life of the truck as the technology provides savings opportunities in many areas such as fuel, maintenance, infrastructure and operational longevity.
WLN – Which market sectors and countries are your customers in?
We believe the product will suit most if not all applications, however to date, most of our success has been in Packaging, Transport & Logistics, Automotive, Food Manufacturing and Beverages. We currently operate in The U.K. & Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. We plan to open in France and Italy in early 2018.
WLN – Which ones are growing fastest?
The U.K. & Ireland along with Spain and Portugal are our most active territories with the others not far behind.
WLN – Who are your major customers and what do you do for them?
Currently our biggest customer is a large packaging manufacturer who have in excess of 50 trucks. We are now developing a larger capacity truck primarily for their requirements and when this becomes available in 2018, we hope to double the size of their fleet in very quick time.
The main thing we do for them is to reduce their TCO.
This is achieved by eliminating unnecessary costs such as expensive fossil fuels, energy waste, battery maintenance, time spent changing and topping batteries, handling equipment and expensive real estate for dedicated battery rooms. The cost of all these aspects can easily be quantified and eliminated by utilising our Lithium Iron Phosphate technology.
WLN – How do your products benefit your customers’ businesses?
As well as eliminating many unnecessary costs, we are also able to provide a great deal of flexibility to a customer’s operation.
Batteries no longer need to be fully charged and discharged, the BYD battery and charger allow for opportunity charging enabling the customer to take advantage of coffee breaks, mealtimes and shift changes to top the charge levels up.
The user only requires sufficient charge in the battery to complete the work cycle until the next break, when the truck can be charged again.
Dependent on battery and charger selection, we have the capability to charge a battery from 80% discharged to full in just over 1 hour. However, there is no requirement to ever recharge the battery up to 100%, unlike lead acid batteries.
The elimination of all battery maintenance also ensures there are no end of contract debates regarding the return condition. The industry leading 8-year, 10,000 hour warranty provides additional peace of mind, with the customer knowing that in the unlikely event of a problem during this period, the battery will be replaced free of charge.
Furthermore, many users are looking to move away from expensive and polluting fossil fueled equipment, particularly in outdoor applications. We are able to compete in this area as of all of our counterbalanced trucks feature fully sealed AC drive motors with an IP67 rating, totally enclosed underchassis and modular cab design, so this is a true indoor and outdoor truck.
WLN – Why should customers choose you as their main supplier in your area?
We believe it’s the most intelligent choice for the reasons we have outlined previously. We can provide the lowest TCO by; – Reducing energy and fuel costs
– Eliminating battery maintenance
– Saving time with unnecessary battery changing
– Removing the requirement for expensive battery handing systems
– Re-allocation of real estate to provide revenue generating space
– One battery for life
WLN – What’s business been like in the past year? How have conditions changed over this period and how have you reacted?
Although we only launched in 2015, sales are thriving.
We expect to announce a couple of exciting sales landmarks in early 2018, so we will save the details of those until a later date!
But so far, the signs are excellent… The main condition that has changed for us only really affects the U.K.
As we bring product in from Europe, (we import via Rotterdam) we have had to contend with adverse currency conditions following the Brexit vote, it has therefore become even more important for our dealers to engage with prospects who are open to realising the long term advantages rather than focusing on acquisition price alone. As BYD manufactures the truck, battery and charger we believe we are ideally placed to offer the most cost effective solution, minimizing the customers Total Cost of Ownership.
WLN – What were the business highlights for you in the last 12 months?
Undoubtedly, our biggest highlight so far was being awarded the International Forklift of the Year (IFOY) in 2016, the first Chinese manufacturer to be awarded the honour. This came amid strong competition from a number of well-established European brands, however the judging panel recognised the benefits the BYD product brings and of course we can only applaud their decision!
WLN – What’s been your most outstanding recent project?
We are still working on it, so it would be crazy for us to tell you right now! Suffice to say, we are getting close to a couple of major breakthroughs in the UK & Ireland and this will only enhance our ability to promote the concept to even more prospects in 2018 and beyond.
WLN – How have you fine-tuned your offering in the last 12 months and why?
As we focus on TCO, we have had to develop sophisticated tools that enable us to select the optimum battery and charger combination based on the customer’s application, together with the ability to quantify the savings a customer can make by choosing BYD.
We simply ask that the customer provides details of their operational activity on a shift by shift basis and advise basic information regarding their operational costs (electricity, diesel or LPG costs, etc.).
We are then able to project the savings we can offer over the life of the truck or any fixed term contract and tailor the offer to meet the customer’s precise requirements.
WLN – What recent enhancements have you made in customer service?
The main achievement has been the finalisation of the dealer network in the U.K. and Ireland.
We now have 11 exclusive dealers covering the two countries, all are well established well-known companies within their specific region and have been trained to a high level both in terms of sales and product support.
WLN – What new products have you brought out?
We recently launched a pedestrian powered pallet truck to complement the ride-on truck already in the range. This has sold extremely well and is incredibly competitive for such a high quality product. In the coming months we will announce further new products including;
– Larger capacity counterbalanced trucks
– ‘Chariot-style’ ride-on powered pallet trucks
– Reach trucks
– Low-level order pickers
– Small and large tow tractors
All of these machines will feature our industry leading Lithium Iron-Phosphate battery technology.
WLN – What factors do you see affecting your business in the coming year? How will you turn these into opportunities?
It is clear the market is moving more to electric powered trucks in preference to fossil fuels, the opportunity for BYD will be enhanced by the new products we have coming and this will open new possibilities for both us and our customers. It is clear Lithium powered equipment is becoming more established and accepted and we believe we have a significant advantage over the competition as we manufacture the truck, battery and charger.
WLN – Are you planning to branch into any new areas, target new customers and take on more people?
Of course!
With new products being launched shortly, we are now able to approach a wider range of customers and applications. This can only increase the opportunities available and we fully expect to see our sales increase dramatically in the future.
WLN – Are you investing in new premises and extra staff? What about staff development and training?
Now we are firmly established in Europe, it is clear that more resources will be required going forward.
Plans are in place to employ additional staff in the coming months in areas such as After Sales and dealer support.
We rely on the expertise of our dealers to both make the sales and support the customer throughout the life of the truck. It is imperative therefore that we provide them with all the necessary back up to guarantee their success.
WLN – Are you involved in any major trade shows or other industry events over the next year?
We will be at CeMat 2018 and plans are also in place to submit one of our new products for inclusion in the IFOY award. We are also looking at taking space at IMHX in 2019 and we have just agreed to exhibit at IntraLogisteX in February 2018.
WLN – What big news from BYD can our readers look forward to seeing in Warehouse & Logistics News in 2018?
We think the next big innovation will be the introduction of our larger capacity trucks, which will feature industry leading battery capacities.
This will enable us to compete more in outdoor applications and to offer an effective & affordable alternative to diesel and LPG in this sector.
WLN – And finally, if you had to sum up your company in a tweet what would it be?
BYD – For a full range of MHE powered exclusively by Lithium Iron Phosphate technology!
Reduce you Total Cost of Ownership and help save the planet!
#BYD
#Chargingforward
BYD (UK) CO. LTD
07398 150963
Comments are closed.