Partnerships give business a lift

PARTNERSHIPS WITH its customers have helped grow Toyota Forklift SA in the Eastern Cape, according to regional director Kathy Hendricks. The Eastern Cape branch employs a combined workforce of 110 people, making it one of the largest materials handling suppliers in the region. The company has expanded from its branches in Port Elizabeth and East London to a new office in George and new depots to serve Queenstown and Mthatha, falling under its East London operation. “We also have four satellite workshops to maintain the larger fleet at Goodyear, Volkswagen, General Motors and PG Bison in Ugie (East London area),” she says. Included in the technology offered to the Eastern Cape is Toyota’s locally designed FMX2006, which is an onboard forklift management system. FMX2006t captures information via a GPRS data retrieval unit. This information can then be viewed using a variety of specialised reports. FMX ensures optimum fleet productivity, provisional driver behaviour and continuous equipment monitoring. This will result in increased safety levels, higher productivity and improved equipment performance, according to Hendricks. Technology is also being used to enhance safety. The new Toyota 8-Series forklift offers features such as Toyota’s System of Active Stability (SAS). An Operator Presence Switch (OPS) detects the presence of a driver, and should the driver fall or jump off the forklift at any time, the switch will automatically disengage the transmission, stop all hydraulic functions and sound an alarm. The range includes a tilt angle control which senses load weight and mast height will automatically override the operator's manual control to decrease the chance of spilling a load or tipping the forklift forward or backwards.