TVH is a leading global specialist in spare parts and accessories for lift trucks, industrial vehicles, construction, and agricultural machinery. Headquartered in Waregem, Belgium, TVH also has a regional headquarters in Kansas, USA, to serve the US market. TVH has 90 branches on all continents and has a database of more than 47,000,000 part numbers, with more than 930,000 different references in stock. As a one-stop shop, TVH supplies customers in more than 180 countries.
Our local presence is key to our success. In the UK, we operate a local warehouse that guarantees fast and efficient service to our customers. In addition, our electronics department in Belgium, the largest in Europe, is the best-equipped service centre for repairing electronic parts for forklifts, mobile elevating work platforms and industrial vehicles. Founded in 1969, TVH employs more than 5,000 people worldwide.
Graham Hughes, External Sales Manager – Key Accounts at TVH spoke to Warehouse & Logistics News.
What does your role involve on a day-to-day basis?
My role is very diverse, involving constant communication with our customers to ensure their needs are met, monitoring trading activities and identifying new opportunities. I deal with various tasks such as account planning, conducting review meetings and analysing sales figures and trends. I also liaise closely with colleagues at both TVH UK and TVH Belgium.
How would you explain the TVH forklift parts culture?
The culture at TVH is centred around quality. We aim to provide the best price without compromising on quality, ensuring that every part matches the fit, form and function of an OEM part. Significant effort is invested in both product quality and the technical expertise of our people, leading to thorough product testing and leveraging the knowledge and expertise of our colleagues to support customers effectively.
How does this culture assist your clients’ requirements?
Our culture greatly benefits our customers by offering an extensive range of high-quality parts covering around 680 brands. Our deep understanding of the business ensures fast and accurate assistance, always providing the right solutions. With a database of 47,000,000 part numbers, backed up with a stock of 930,000 SKUs, we can supply quickly to a wide range of customers worldwide, including from our Kidderminster warehouse in the UK.
Do you have direct contact with customers, and get involved developing solutions?
I have direct contact with customers on a daily basis. We have developed multiple solutions, including an excellent service exchange and repair service for electronics, transmissions, pumps and engines, which deliver real cost savings.
Moreover, we offer integrations between our customers’ IT systems and TVH, reduced administrative burdens and duplication of effort.
Additionally, we provide technical training for customers at different knowledge levels and in different formats, both online and in person.
Tell us how TVH are growing in the UK
TVH is expanding its offering in the UK, particularly in parts for a growing number of machine brands, and diversifying into other markets such as agriculture, glass, powered access and small earthmoving.
What makes TVH unique in your industry?
What sets TVH apart in our industry is the wide range of brands available to our customers and our ability to supply parts by specifying part numbers or by searching by models and serial numbers, which is particularly beneficial for customers repairing multiple brands.
Moreover, our local presence on a global scale ensures that we can efficiently and effectively meet customer’s needs wherever they are. Our technical knowledge is both deep – demonstrating expertise in components within specific markets such as material handling – and broad, covering multiple markets and extensive experience with a variety of off-road machines.
What solutions do you offer customers?
Our parts range includes 47 million spare parts and accessories for material handling, industrial, construction and agricultural machinery, along with material handling equipment like hand pallet trucks and electric pallet trucks. We also offer hydraulic attachments for material handling equipment (MHE) and agricultural applications.
Fast delivery is ensured by partnering with local transport companies, shipping 95% of orders the same day, and we continuously improve our online shopping experience through our e-shop, available 24/7.
We provide comprehensive support through a global team, assisting customers in their own language.
What sectors do these clients work in?
Our customers work in various sectors, including warehousing/ material handling, construction, ports and harbours, agriculture and industry.
How can your solutions help?
Our solutions offer rapid delivery, reducing the need for customers to stock parts and positively impacting cash flow. Additionally, our e-shop simplifies obtaining information, ordering parts, and managing delivery.
How future-proof and flexible are your solutions?
We continually invest in making our systems future-proof, focusing on innovation across products, services, IT, logistical systems and our people.
What new services/solutions are you offering for 2024?
In 2024, we aim to improve and expand our offering to even better support our customers.
TVH University will continue to provide technical training, both digital and face-to-face, covering topics such as combustion engines, electrics/electronics, hydraulics and power electronics, which is given by highly qualified trainers who have years of practical experience.
We also focus on GemOne, our telematics solutions for all types of machinery, improving warehouse safety and efficiency with features such as automated safety checklists, incident reporting, access control, and real-time machine monitoring.
What do you see as the biggest opportunities in the coming year for TVH?
The greatest opportunities for TVH lie in continuously expanding and developing our product range to meet diverse customer needs.
Moreover, continuously improving the online shopping experience is crucial; making our e-shop even more intuitive and accessible, reinforcing our market relevance and customer satisfaction.
We also recognise that our business can only be successful if we are a trusted source of products and services, so we will continue to nurture our existing partnerships and build new ones.
Equally important is our focus on sustainability. We must take responsibility to address climate change. Ultimately, all of us at TVH strive to work in a responsible company that prioritises pressing environmental and social issues, while continuously improving our product offering and customer experience.
What are the biggest challenges facing TVH and your industry?
Like most multinational companies, conflict in different parts of the world poses challenges. These include cost, supply chain disruption and sanctions. Additionally, increasing regulations on sustainability, though necessary, pose significant challenges in terms of the time and effort required to comply.
Tell us about a recent project TVH were involved with.
Recent projects at TVH include the construction of a new goods building in Waregem and ongoing digital transformation initiatives. Our commitment to environmental sustainability drives investments in environmentally-friendly solutions, such as reducing plastic use, installing solar panels and utilising renewable energy sources.
Do you cover the whole of the UK?
Yes, we deliver throughout the whole of the UK and Ireland. With stock from our warehouses in Kidderminster and Belgium, we can deliver most ordered parts the next day.
TVH
+32 56 43 42 11
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