Hyster Forklift

Hyster is globally accepted as an industry leader in the lift truck manufacturing business. However, it began as a manufacturer of lifting equipment and winches. Most of its production was concentrated in the Pacific Northwest and dealt primarily with the timber and logging industry. A couple years after the first forklift trucks were invented Hyster became synonymous with quality manufacturing. Over the last 80 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 mature into the international participant it is at the moment.

The thirty years between 1940's and the 1960's saw a large evolution in the number of products existing under the Hyster brand name. In 1946, Hyster opened a plant in Danville, Illinois that was exclusively devoted to bulk producing trucks. This allowed Hyster to drive its costs down and, at the same time, offer a better quality product at industry aggressive 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.

Between the late fifties through the 1960's, Hyster continued to expand into new markets. They started building container handlers in the US in 1959 to satisfy the ever expanding demand for transportation goods. In 1966, Hyster developed a method for allowing a lift truck to go both forward and backwards using the same pedal. This pedal was referred to as the Monotrol pedal, which revolutionized the industry. Later on in the decade Hyster opened a R&D centre in Oregon that was focused on enhancing the design and functionality of lift trucks. The centre is still one of the world's best testing facilities in the materials handling industry.

In the 1960's Hyster experienced rapid expansion. Much of the business was shifting towards mass production. To keep up with the times Hyster was inclined to concentrate on the evolution of these mass markets. As a result, in 1970, the XL design philosophy was born. The XL design philosophy allowed Hyster to offer greater quality at a more reasonable price. A further expansion in production capabilities was necessitated by the demand in Europe for Internal Combustion Engine Trucks. To fill this gap, a plant in Craigavon, Ireland was opened in 1980. Through the eighties Hyster continued to concentrate on developing industry leading lift trucks. The Hyster brand name was known throughout the globe for its commitment towards quality. This attention to quality brought a lot of suitors for the enterprise. In 1989, a large multinational corporation based in Ohio called NACCO Industries bought Hyster and began an aggressive expansion plan. NACCO quickly replaced the XL philosophy with a more driver oriented lift truck that concentrated on operator comfort, which is identified as the XM generation of forklifts.

The shift in supply change management to a much more just-in-time focused structure has meant that Hyster has had to constantly make investments in new technologies. Acquisitions and investments were made in the US, Italy, Netherlands, and many other places throughout the world. All of these investments have made Hyster a world leader in the forklift market. In 2009, Hyster celebrated its 80th anniversary as an industry leader of materials handling equipment, which consists of over 300 various styles of lift trucks.

Click to Download the pdf