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Combilift inaugurates new global HQ aiming mass customisation

 Monday, April 30, 2018

Combilift-Master-logo-optCombilift, an innovative and acknowledged material handling solutions providers, has opened its all new 46500 sq m purpose built factory at Monoghan, Ireland. Established by Martin McVicar, MD and Robert in Mofett, Technical Director in 1998, Combilift has been succesfully operating as a privately held and fully capitalised company. Built at a cost of €50 million, the Global Headquarters and new manufacturing facility will allow Combilift to double production.

 

Martin McVicar, Managing Director, Combilift, attributes the company’s impressive growth to mass customisation. “Mass customisation is the new frontier for both the customer and the manufacturer. Increasingly customers are expecting products to be tailored to meet their needs. Forklift producers that offer customised products generally produce low volume, but Combilift is setting the benchmark by offering the mass production of tailored products, resulting in a strategic advantage for our customers. Traditional forklift manufacturers focus on high volume mass production of the same products. We evolve with our clients, producing new products each year.”

 

combiliftddhCombilift offers a free logistic and warehouse design service. Combi-Connect allows the customer to see the benefit a Combilift product will bring to their business. “Our engineers proactively design, plan and produce solutions in collaboration with our customers by offering material flow analysis and 3D animations. We work with customers to produce warehouse designs to visualise the capacity potential as well as the optimum flow of materials on their site.” says McVicar.

 

The Combilift approach is one of listening to its global network of customers. “We work closely with our customers and dealers to identify solutions that best match their individual specific needs. Combilift invests 7% of its annual turnover (revenue) in Research and Development (R & D) to enhance its customisation capability. We are intensifying the collaboration with our customers in the warehouse and material handling sectors. The intention is to maximise return on revenue (ROI).”

 

 
Combilift’s product portfolio has expanded way beyond its first multidirectional Combilift, with innovative product development and customisation being a cornerstone of the company’s ethos according to McVicar. “As a company, Combilift has always focused on a number of niche market segments and has a proven track record of launching one to two new products annually. In the first 10 years Combilift concentrated on the long load material handling sector. The Combilift multi-directional forklift revolutionised the handling of long materials as it allowed customers to handle long products in less space more safely. Between 2008 and 2018 Combilift diversified its product ranged by developing a number of innovative space saving warehouse and heavy load handling products; the Aisle Master articulated truck and the Straddle Carrier (Combi-SC) respectively. Combilift entered the pedestrian forklift market with the introduction a number of unique products (Combi-WR and Combi-CS) in the last 5 years, which benefit from its patented multi-positional operator tiller arm technology.

 
Combilift sees a growing demand for pedestrian trucks, driven by safety concerns where customers and/or employees are in the vicinity of operating forklifts according to McVicar. “It is Combilift’s intention to significantly expand its pedestrian forklift range as can be seen with the launch of the high liftcapacity Combilift Powered Pallet Truck (Combi-PPT).”

 

The new 46,500 sq. m purpose–built factory is set on a 100-acre site with room for expansion. With 11 acres of roof space, it is one of the largest manufacturing operations under one single roof in the Republic of Ireland.

 

Incorporating the latest manufacturing processes with a focus on sustainability, the new factory will enable Combilift to double its output in a single shift across all production lines. Four 90 metre moving assembly lines produce a finished truck every 15 minutes.

 

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