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.