Not only has the Korean manufacturer restructured its own business, appointed a news dealer in Southampton and bought into one of the UK’s biggest dealers, Genesis, it’s also unveiled its ‘Forklift of the Future’…
Then there’s the biggest deal of the year…which saw Doosan become the supplier of choice for leading international construction materials giant Saint-Gobain.
The scale of the agreement, over two years in the making, will see the company supply over 2,000 counterbalance trucks which will operate at over 200 of Saint-Gobain’s sites across the UK.
The deal came about when national supplier Rushlift secured the UK’s single largest supply level agreement with the Saint-Gobain group. The scale of the agreement, over two years in the making and worth around £100m over the next 10 years,
Doosan’s UK general sales manager, Paul Watson believes the new partnership brings further credence to the Doosan brand.
Said Paul: “Our innovative forklift technology has consistently proven itself as both competitive and reliable. The decision by Saint-Gobain to enter this partnership is affirmation of the quality of our products and indeed the quality to which we work. It confirms market confidence in our brand and is a significant step for us in further strengthening our position in the UK forklift market.”
Doosan is delighted to announce the formation of a new affiliate company, Doosan Industrial Vehicle Co., Ltd.
The new business will oversee all Doosan’s global forklift activities and focus on pushing Doosan onto the next level, as it continues to make great strides in the materials handling market. Doosan Corporation will take a majority stake in the new company, with Standard Chartered Private Equity chosen as the preferred financial investor.
The move effectively separates the forklift business from the construction, marine engine and machine tools operations and comes as the company looks to focus closely on recent successes in forklifts, including an increased marketshare, a growing distributor network and the expansion of the product range.
Tim Waples, Doosan’s UK director and general manager, welcomed the decision to give the forklift business greater prominence. Said Tim: “We are maturing as a forklift business, particularly in the UK. Our recent investments, in our dealer network, parts centre, IT systems and dealer support facilities are all part of a wider commitment to our growing customer base. As a serious player in this market, our focus has become even stronger and our UK operation should take great pride in their contribution to this development.”
Doosan is delighted to announce the appointment of Geolift /Fortis as the official regional distributor of Doosan forklifts for Southampton.
This is the first dealer ever to be awarded the territory which was formerly an open area. Geolift and Fortis are working in partnership, with Craig George at Geolift overseeing service, whilst David Scammell at Fortis is heading up sales.
Paul Watson, “Our growth has been in no small part to the efforts of our distributor network and as time progresses, we have been fortunate to be in a position to be very selective about the people we work with and to consider carefully how they support and represent our brand.”
We have been very impressed with the success and ambition of the Geolift / Fortis set up, in particular the excellent service business for which Geolift has rightly developed.”
Doosan has taken its first steps into direct sales by acquiring a majority stake in one of its top performing dealers, Genesis Forklift Trucks Ltd.
The move signals the Korean company’s intention to build on recent investments in both expanding its product range and establishing its UK parts distribution centre.
Genesis’ sales director, Paul Brierley explained that financial security and belonging to a large organisation were key incentives, whilst being able to offer modern hire equipment also proved an attraction.
“We’re delighted with the move. It not only secures our company’s future with stability and financial backing, but we are now able to add the latest Doosan equipment to our hire fleet to help satisfy our customers’ ever-increasing demand for short term hire.”
Paul also believes Doosan’s investments will allow them to tackle larger fleet and regional customers with direct support from one of the world’s most exciting and pro-active manufacturers.
Said Paul: “Our skill sets are a perfect compliment to Doosan’s. The tie up enables our companies to push onto the next level, as well as work collaboratively to provide our customers with the reassurance and confidence of belonging to a larger group.”
Doosan unveiled the Intelligent Concept Forklift
An ingeniously designed product with a host of radical design technology, the ICF aims to push the boundaries of materials handling, whilst sticking to the Doosan belief of simple, powerful products with great performance.
Created by the award winning technologists at the Doosan Institute of Technology Industrial Design Centre, the ICF is, according to the design team, “Innovation that embodies efficiency & intelligence.”
Like its predecessor, the concept Construction Equipment models the CX and CL, it is intended to provide a dynamic combination of maximum usability and operation providing features that are efficient, environmentally friendly and safe.
Being electrically powered the ICF is able to reduce emissions, excess noise and fuel costs, meeting all future international environmental standards guidelines. The highly efficient rechargeable battery enables faster recharging, providing an increased work time and productivity.
Director of Doosan Infracore Forklifts, Kun H Lee remarked on how building in new technology with proven components now, will shape and secure Doosan’s future in the industry:
“I think that the company that is the most successful is the one that is prepared to use durable technology when needed and innovate whenever possible. And this is really where Doosan construction benefited massively from the design of the CX concept excavator, where it won the Reddot design award 2009. The same theme went into the design of the CF, and hopefully we will see it reap the same benefits.”
As an exciting glimpse of what the future holds for forklifts, and to see how Doosan are working towards opening up a multitude of new technologies for its customers, the ICF will undoubtedly make other manufacturers take note.
