MCFA, Jungheinrich ink North American
manufacturing and distribution agreement
Jungheinrich AG and Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc.
(MCFA) announced a joint North American agreement under
which MCFA will be the exclusive distributor of Jungheinrich’s
branded equipment across the continent starting in January. As
part of the deal, Jungheinrich will design products that will be
manufactured by MCFA.
In addition, Jungheinrich will offer some of its Class 1 product
line for sale under the Cat lift-truck brand and Class 3 products
under the Mitsubishi lift-truck brand, the companies said in a
joint statement.
The Cat lift-truck line, the companies said, will now focus on
sit-down Class 1, 4, and 5 counterbalanced models. The
Jungheinrich line will be offered for narrow-aisle Class 2 and 3
products as well as some select Class 1 models typically used in
warehousing and distribution applications, according to the
companies. The range of Mitsubishi forklift trucks offered
through North American dealers will not change.
“Sales of Jungheinrich products through the MCFA distribution
network open up wonderful opportunities to the Jungheinrich
brand in North America and strengthen our competitive position, with MCFA benefiting from our warehousing expertise in
exchange,” said Hans-Georg Frey, chairman of Jungheinrich’s
board of management, in a statement.
“Bringing Cat lift trucks and Jungheinrich products together
through one distribution network gives our customers the best
of both worlds,” said Jeff Rufener, MCFA’s vice president of marketing, in the statement. “Cat Lift Trucks and Jungheinrich are
global leaders in their product categories. Our customers can
now pick one or both of the brands to serve their needs, delivered and supported by MCFA dealers, the industry’s best distribution network.”
As part of the agreement, Jungheinrich will establish a design
center on MCFA’s campus in Houston. The Houston Design
Center will focus on development of a new range of warehouse
products designed for and manufactured in North America, and
will be staffed by Jungheinrich personnel, the companies said.
The current Jungheinrich sales and service operations will
cease effective Dec. 31, 2009. The Jungheinrich facility in
Richmond, Va., will close in 2010. ;
—M.S.
oversight
A report on the purchase of FKI Logistex by Intelligrated
that appeared in the July issue (“what the Intelligrated/FKI
deal means to you”) indicated that Jim McCarthy was president of Buschman when he co-founded Intelligrated with
Chris Cole in 2001. McCarthy had left his position at
Buschman in 2000. ;
go figure …
4. 1
The number of pieces of mail the U.S.
Postal Service delivers daily to each
address. That’s down from 5. 9 pieces
a day in 2000.
SOURCE: U.S. POSTAL SERVICE
short takes
Hyster is giving prospective lift-truck buyers an
opportunity to kick the tires of its sit-down lift
trucks as well as the trucks of competitors
Toyota, Crown, and Caterpillar. The lift-truck
maker will host “Invitation to Compare” events
in Charlotte, N.C.; Decatur, Ga.; City of Industry,
Calif.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Pittsburgh, Pa., in the
next several months. Details are available at
www.hyster.com. … C.H. Robinson Worldwide
has acquired Walker Logistics Overseas, an
international freight forwarder based in
London. … Freightscan, a provider of dimensioning systems, has opened a new office in
Costa Rica. … Reddworks Corp., a supplier of
warehouse management software, has
acquired SeayCo, an Atlanta-based provider of
warehouse control systems and sortation software. … FedEx Corp. is adding 92 hybrid-elec-tric trucks to its delivery fleet. The Fed-Ex hybrid-electric fleet, which now numbers 264 vehicles,
has logged more than 4 million miles of revenue service since being introduced in 2004. …
ID Label Inc. has signed a letter of intent to
purchase the assets of Universal Label
Technologies Inc., a supplier of rack bin labels,
pallet labels, and warehouse signs. … The
Global Logistics Network says that it has registered its 300th network member: Expolanka
Freight Ltd. of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Established in mid-2003, the Global Logistics
Network is an ISO 9001-certified organization
of independently owned and operated freight
forwarders, transportation intermediaries, and
other logistics service providers. … Freightliner
Custom Chassis Corp. has launched a program
to retrofit older walk-in vans with new hybrid-electric systems.
