Hyster Forklift

Hyster Forklift Training Guelph - Hyster is globally accepted as an industry leader in the forklift manufacturing business. However, it started as a manufacturer of lifting machines and winches. Most of its production was concentrated in the northwest United States and dealt mostly with the wood and logging industry. A couple years after the first forklift trucks were invented Hyster became synonymous with quality manufacturing. Over the previous eighty years Hyster has continued to get bigger and grow its product line. The growth of its products coupled with its wish to stay service oriented has allowed Hyster to develop into the global participant it is now.

The 30 years between 1940's and the 1960's saw a large evolution in the amount of products offered under the Hyster brand name. In 1946, Hyster opened a plant in Danville, Illinois that was entirely devoted to bulk producing trucks. This allowed Hyster to drive its expenses down and, simultaneously, offer a better quality product at industry competitive rates. In 1952, Hyster began its first foray in to the international production market through opening its first plant in the Netherlands. The Netherlands plant was originally designed to produce two products: Hyster 40" and the Karry Kranes.

Hyster, along with the whole forklift industry, continued to spread out into different product lines throughout the 1950's and 60's. They began constructing container handlers in the US in 1959 to meet with the ever expanding demand for transportation goods. In 1966, Hyster developed a process for enabling a lift truck to go both ahead and backwards using the same pedal. This pedal was called the Monotrol pedal, which revolutionized the industry. Later in the decade Hyster opened a R and D centre in Oregon that was concentrated on enhancing the design and functionality of forklifts. The centre is still one of the world's best testing facilities in the materials handling industry.

As demand for materials handling equipment continued to expand rapidly through the sixties, Hyster considered it necessary to reorient its focus towards these new mass markets. Consequently, in 1970, the XL design philosophy was born. The XL design philosophy allowed Hyster to afford superior quality at a more reasonable price. A further expansion in production capabilities was necessitated by the need in Europe for Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles. To fill this gap, a plant in Craigavon, Ireland was opened in 1980. Through the 80's Hyster continued to concentrate on developing industry leading lift trucks. The Hyster company name was known throughout the globe for its dedication towards quality. This attention to quality brought numerous suitors for the company. In 1989, a large multinational company based in Ohio called NACCO Industries purchased Hyster and began an aggressive expansion plan. NACCO swiftly replaced the XL philosophy with a more driver oriented forklift that concentrated on operator comfort, which is known as the XM generation of forklifts.

The shift in supply change management to a much more just-in-time focused arrangement has meant that Hyster has had to constantly invest in new technologies. Acquisitions and investments were made in the US, Italy, Netherlands, and countless other places throughout the world. All of these investments have made Hyster a global leader in the forklift market. In 2009, Hyster celebrated its 80th anniversary as an industry leader of materials handling equipment, which comprises more than 300 different models of forklift trucks.

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