Shipmaker Harland & Wolff (builder of the Titanic), iconic sports car producer DeLorean and defence company Short Brothers are the big household company names to come out of Belfast.
There’s another modern manufacturing success story in the city (although DeLorean’s success is a questionable) and that’s forklift producer Hyster.
It’s 35th anniversary event for its Northern Ireland factory was no small affair.
Event guest speaker at the Craigavon plant in March was none other than Northern Ireland first minister Arlene Foster and journalists from all over Europe (including TTJ) were flown in to learn about the company’s progress in recent decades and join a celebration at Stormont. News and developments shared included a new forklift and acquisitions.
First Minister Arlene Foster described the Hyster factory as a reference centre for other Northern Ireland companies.
“What we have proved in Northern Ireland is you can manufacture and export products successfully and all over the world,” she said.
“As First Minister of Northern Ireland, this does make me very proud of this manufacturing heritage.”
She joined the Hyster senior management team in planting a new tree symbolically near the original oak tree on the Craigavon production site.
In 2012, UK prime minister David Cameron, visited the plant and used the visit to announce that the G8 summit was coming to NI the following year.
Timber industry roots
This US-based US$2.6bn turnover global company has 5,500 employees worldwide, making forklifts for a wide range of applications, including builders’ merchants and timber merchants.
Founded in Portland, Oregon in 1929 at the time of the Great Depression, Hyster brand manager Kate Pointeau said a character was instilled in the company in its early days to overcome challenges.
Its origins are in the timber sector as a manufacturer of lifting machines used in the logging industry of the US Pacific Northwest.
The name originated from the call of the loggers who would shout “hoister!” when a log was ready to be raised.
The Craigavon site is now the largest volume forklift plant remaining in the UK, with the large majority of trucks being exported to Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. About 60,000 sales have been recorded to date in the growing UK market.
The factory was opened in April 1981, at a cost of £25m.
The highly automated factory was equipped with the latest robot systems and numerically controlled cutting and milling machines.
Starting with 22,000m2 of manufacturing space, the facility has grown to over 41,300m2 and employs hundreds.
Thousands of diesel, LPG and battery powered forklifts are manufactured each year in Craigavon.
At the start, only one type of truck was produced – the Hyster H40-60 XL (2-3 tonnes capacity) forklift.
“Reliable, tough, affordable forklift trucks – that was our remit in the factory back in the 1980’s,” said Alan Little, vice president, manufacturing & logistics EMEA.
“These are design principles still built into all Hyster products today.”
“In 1981, it took 10 days to produce a forklift truck here – today, that’s down to four days from raw material to shipping, with increased flexibility to rapidly increase capacity to meet demand, despite producing a wide variety of truck models and configuration & logistics EMEA.”
In the first 20 months of production, about 3,000 H40-60 XL were made and it became Britain’s No1 export truck.
The company soon started to build further models at the factory.
This included the launch of the 1.25 to 1.75 tonnes series’ S25, 30, 35 XL (cushion tyres) and H25, 30, 30 XL (pneumatic tyres) featuring power steering and fully automatic transmission as standard.
Factory expansion
Within 10 years after the opening, the Craigavon factory had built more than 50,000 forklifts which led to further substantial investment in 1991 to expand the plant, almost doubling the workforce.
In 1995, Demand Flow Technology (DFT) was introduced at the factory which is used in all the group’s manufacturing operations globally today. The pioneering system provides the capability to produce any model, any day, based on customer demand.
The processes utilise a flexible workforce and allow product volume and mix to be adjusted based on actual sales, maximising manufacturing and financial assets by eliminating waste. Quality checks at each manufacturing stage form an integral part of the assembly process.
The early 90s saw the launch of the XM series, incorporating new technologies, with the H2.00 – 3.20XM series designed to make light work of even the heaviest workload.
“There was a fully isolated operator compartment to minimise vibrations, excellent visibility through the mast and remarkably low noise levels,” said product launch manager David Rowell.
The 2000s saw a wider customer choice of specifications and energy efficiency come to the fore.
In 2003 a further major investment programme was initiated to establish the plant as a world-class manufacturing centre.
The Hyster Fortens series was then brought on to the production line – which has been the ‘flagship’ of the brand for the last decade, offering a wide range of choices to customers.
The range of internal combustion (IC) trucks provides an option to suit any application, with everything from the compact H1.6-2.0FTS to the H4.0 -5.5FT being produced at Craigavon for Europe.
The Fortens range’s customisation options gave special configurations to match specific application needs, including those with attachment usage in the paper, manufacturing and construction industry.
In 2009, Craigavon became a mixed plant for manufacturing both IC and battery products, with a major change to the layout of the plant to accommodate production of both lines.
The introduction of the XN and XNT series’ of electric forklifts in 2008 cemented Hyster’s reputation as a producer of low energy consumption trucks, with reduced maintenance requirements, minimised operating costs and zero emissions.
The company was also an early adopter of LED light systems and Powershift transmission.
In total, over 140 models are now in the Hyster portfolio, with more than 400,000 trucks manufactured since 1981. Advances have been made in software too.
The Hyster Tracker wireless asset manager allows usage tracking and for fleet maintenance.
An ID card (swipe card) reader controls who is capable of using the truck, with the system giving better visibility of equipment and personnel and able to control operator behaviour – in theory no more mystery mishaps and damage in the warehouse – as well as visibility on operational costs.
Meanwhile, the Hyster anniversary event saw the European production launch of the latest truck – the XT, a cost-effective forklift aimed at indoor and outdoor applications in logistics, distribution and manufacturing.
The range gives Hyster access to more market operators and more choice for options.
The Hyster H2.0–3.0XT series, available in diesel, LPG or dual fuel engines, sees engines all fully isolated from the frame and axle, preventing direct transmission of noise, and keeping noise exposure to a minimum. Options for customising allow customers to configure trucks to site specifics, with options for traction speed control, rear drive handle, light kits, blue spotlight, a side-shifting fork positioner and telemetry systems.
Continuous change
“There have been significant investments over the years to maintain a philosophy of high volume, low cost, high quality and on time delivery,” added Alan Little.
A continuous change philosophy has been important, he said, citing a well known quote: “The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
“We have developed a clear understanding of how the choice of forklift can significantly affect the overall performance and cost of an operation,” added David Rowell.
Recently, the company has acquired a 50.4% stake in Bolzoni, an Italian producer of forklift attachments, while the group has also bought Speedshield, a make of telemetric monitoring devices.
Awards include a Queen’s Award for Export in 1989 and the 2015 Arena Network Platinum environment award.
And furthering its reputation for taking on challenges, Hyster has just developed a 154t capacity for a forklift customer in the Middle East.
