With its headquarters in Belgium and a UK office and warehouse in Coventry, TVH has made its name since 1969 as Europe’s leading independent expert in replacement parts for material handling and industrial vehicles. Up to the end of 2010 TVH’s business was called TVH Forklift Parts NV, denoting its previous focus. Renamed TVH Parts NV, its scope has now widened to include access equipment and aerial work platforms within the unique TVH ‘All Makes’ program, working at the highest level of quality to meet customers’ needs. TVH’s aerial work platforms expertise complements their depth of knowledge in forklift truck parts and was recently highlighted by their involvement in the Vertikal Days event at Haydock Park in May.
In a UK industrial equipment marketplace led by OEMs and distributors, the TVH team is forthright about being pure parts, accessories and machines specialists. TVH do not offer servicing, repair or rental in the UK market, as outside of Benelux countries they are a parts/machine-only company. TVH’s USP in the UK is that it offers just that, a ‘Quick Source’ of supply. In today’s rapid environment you need expertise in getting the right part number every time to get your critical equipment up and running again.
In addition to new parts TVH also offers a Sevcon authorized service exchange and repair service.
Warehouse & Logistics News spoke to Andy Davis, National Accounts Manager for Aerial Work Platforms at TVH UK & Ireland.
Warehouse & Logistics News – Andy, in this interview we’re focusing on TVH’s access equipment and aerial work platforms business. First of all, what does your role involve as National Accounts Manager for Aerial Work Platforms?
I work closely with Bruno Malfait and the rest of the team in Waregem, Belgium and Coventry on the UK part of the business. I also liaise with TVH’s Regional Sales Managers in the UK and Ireland and visit customers with them on a regular basis, briefing them on our new parts service within the access equipment side of the company.
WLN – Do you go to see major clients?
Yes, I travel to clients all over the UK and Ireland.
WLN – Where are you based?
I’m based at home in Bristol, but our main UK office is in Coventry.
WLN – What happens in the Coventry office?
Coventry is home to our UK warehouse, which is almost 5,000 square feet and over 20 feet high. We hold stock lines in over 500 locations, and by using a sophisticated computer stock program we can ensure both picking efficiency and speedy order shipping. Our dedicated UK sales office houses personnel with the ability to process orders via telephone, fax, email and face to face at our sales counter. We also have technical staff able to assist with parts identification, all designed to provide a speedy and efficient service to our valued customers.
WLN – What were you doing before this? Have you always been involved with aerial work platforms?
I have been involved with aerial platforms for most of my career. I worked on the manufacturing side for over 20 years, and had my own company called Davis Access Platforms. TVH bought the parts side in February 2012 and integrated it into the business in April 2012.
WLN – Looking at the overall operation, how is TVH doing?
With a workforce of almost 4,000 people and subsidiaries on all continents, TVH is the ambitious worldwide market leader in replacement parts and accessories for material handling and industrial vehicles, second-hand lift trucks, second-hand aerial platforms and internal handling equipment and also new machines for the Belgian market.
WLN – How big a part of TVH’s business is Aerial Work Platforms now?
TVH’s aerial work platforms business in the UK has grown by 40%-50% every year since the integration. Following on from the initial success of this part of the business since it was incorporated with TVH, we have opened up further markets for TVH to supply parts in the rest of Europe. Aerial Work Platforms is seen as a key development area for TVH, going forward.
WLN – How many different makes of aerial platform do you supply and provide parts for?
TVH offers a range of makes, among which are Aichi, Dino Lift, Grove, Manitou, Genie, JLG, Haulotte and many other brands. For Genie, JLG and Haulotte we also have a specific parts catalogue. Each parts catalogue contains a selection of battery products, electrical and hydraulic parts, motors, filters, hardware and numerous accessories, which are all available from stock. TVH has a total of 33,000 stock items and has a database containing more than 520,000 known article numbers just for aerial work platforms. TVH consistently carries the largest stock of parts for aerial work platforms in Europe.
In addition to new parts, TVH also offers a service exchange and repair service. Our electronics department, based in Belgium, is one of the fastest growing departments of TVH with more than 50 technicians who recondition over 25,000 electronic parts every year.
TVH is now sole authorised reseller for the Sevcon MOS90 controller used in so many aerial work platforms. We are also excited to announce that TVH Group has recently completed the successful acquisition of selected assets and the activities of the company Equipment Parts Wholesale, LLC (EPW), a supplier of parts and supplies for aerial lift equipment, based in Fresno, California.
WLN – How do you (Andy) fit into TVH’s overall operation?
My part of the business, Aerial Work Platforms, is seen as a key development area for TVH going forward, both here and elsewhere.
WLN – Looking at the overall operation here, how is TVH as a whole doing in the UK?
We continually expand our product range by listening to our customers’ requirements and are constantly looking for new partnerships, not only in the UK but worldwide, to make sure the customer will find absolutely everything he needs at TVH.
WLN – Have TVH moved into any other new business areas in the past few months?
New areas are continually being explored. A massively growing market is Ports and Harbours, where TVH are providing their expertise in material handling, providing spare parts to container handling customers worldwide. In addition, we have recently expanded into the Plant and Telehandler market, which will become very important for us in the future.
WLN – With all the OEMs and distributors doing business already, why should people buy replacement parts from TVH?
They should do so because we are truly a one-stop shop for all the customer’s needs in the access market. With our vast experience and parts stock holding, and our fantastic parts delivery service we offer our customers the best possible service and value for money. Along with all this we have MyTotalSource, our webshop for parts and accessories, where you can send offers and place orders online and 24/7. For every reference customers can see immediately the price, lead time, stock, pictures and technical features. The fast delivery and huge stock are also extra benefits to buy from TVH.
WLN – What sets TVH apart from the rest as an independent parts supplier?
Quite simply, no one else offers the same outstanding service that we do! Our computer-controlled stock management, professionally trained specialists and comprehensive online offer result in a quick, result-oriented solution. We have our own production workshop, strict quality controls, international contacts and a dynamic team who guarantee quality and ensure favorable pricing.
WLN – How quickly can you supply access equipment parts to UK customers?
Generally we can supply them the next day. We show a wide range of the items in our catalogue in Coventry, but not all items in this catalogue are stock items in TVH UK. These are the fastest moving non-defined parts and as such both the stock level held and the range are continually changing to meet market demands. The Coventry-stocked items are shipped on a 2-3 day carrier service to a lot of areas in the UK. Depending on stock levels and the weight and type of goods, an airfreight with next day delivery can be selected from Belgian stock. Road deliveries from Belgium are also a possibility.
WLN – Do you offer training for customers’ access equipment engineers in how to fit your parts?
We run a training programme for access equipment engineers in Waregem, Belgium and several locations in the UK. These courses can also be run at customers’ premises if required. At present we only offer Genie technical training, but we are working on introducing more courses shortly.
WLN – What happened at the recent Vertikal Days at Haydock Park?
Vertikal Days is the UK and Ireland’s fastest growing Lifting and Access event. It’s purely about Lifting & Access. In addition to the exhibitors there were a wide range of meetings, seminars and workshops during the event, many of them on site in the Market Place.
WLN – So how did the Vertikal Days event go for you?
It was a fantastic show for us, with lots of visitors coming onto the stand, and many wanting to open accounts with us. We also had a raffle on the stand for a Genie technical training course and a TVH scissor lift.
WLN – Any plans to promote at any more trade shows?
Yes, we’ll be at plenty more. Our schedule of big exhibitions for 2014 included Interclean (Amsterdam) CeMAT (Hannover) TOC Europe (London) and APEX (Amsterdam). Going forward, we will be present at and CeMAT (Russia). We are also looking at more Access shows, including Platformer’s Days in Germany on 12 and 13 September.
WLN – Finally, where do you see TVH’s access equipment and aerial platforms business going from here?
It’s building all the time, and it can only grow further, like the rest of our business, driven by our innovative approach in how we deal with our growing customer base and how we service their business.
TVH UK
Tel: 024 7658 5000
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