Offering one-stop industrial equipment shop

Staying one step ahead of the competition in a province where warehousing and new developments have seen an extensive slowdown remains one of the challenges of doing business in the Western Cape. This is according to Frikkie Human, general manager of the Western Cape region for Toyota Forklift, who says being able to retain its position as a market leader is a key objective for 2009. “The worldwide economic downturn has definitely played a role as we are seeing older and wellestablished businesses having to close down. These are not easy times to be operating in.” The company, which was recently accredited by the Engineering Council of South Africa to do loadtesting on lifting tackle and forklifts, is however determined to ride out the storm. “With our new accreditation, we can now offer our customers a one-stop industrial equipment shop with services ranging from training, load-testing, service and maintenance to purchasing and rentals of machines as well as quality parts,” says Human. While the Western Cape is important to the company, Human says it is imperative for Toyota Forklift to maintain its presence in the whole of southern Africa. But, he says, supplying services to the harbour and shipping industry in Cape Town as well as the mining and fruit industries of the Western and Northern Cape is an important business focus.