example, we have expanded production to address global manufacturing resilience.” There are also myriad customer trends to
address. “The first thing we try to do is understand the customer pain points,” he adds. “We work with our dealer partners to find out how to address them.”
Decarbonisation and labour are two of the
most prominent challenges for Hyster clients. The former is about customer readiness. “The technology is advancing at different rates in different areas. Our goal is to design our product to be at the right level of customisation to meet those differing customer needs. “The way I see it, the customers are on a spectrum of readiness for zero emissions solutions. Our job is to understand where they are on that spectrum and develop the right solutions for them.” For labour shortages, it is about product familiarity. “The ‘know one, know all’ philosophy, for example, means an operator can step into a diesel truck or the electric equivalent and it is the same environment. What they touch and feel, the performance levels and lifting speeds – it is the same ‘office’.
“Another part of that labour challenge
is maintenance. We look at how we can limit that learning curve from diesel to electric. For example, a lot of the major components
on the diesel trucks are carried over to electric. That means the maintenance professionals can just focus on learning about the high- voltage architecture.”
Half a decade
Hirani will mark five years with Hyster in February, and it has been a busy half-decade. Recently, the company launched an expanded range of lithium-powered forklift trucks, and is testing a hydrogen fuel cell-powered (HFC) ReachStacker and a electric empty container handler. The J10-18XD forklift series, powered by
integrated lithium-ion batteries recently won an Archies Award for best new product – the Archies are organised by the UK’s Material Handling Association (MHA). The Hyster HFC-powered ReachStacker was also recognised as a transformative product in the 2025 BIG Innovation Awards. The machine is part of a pilot programme at the Port of Valencia, Spain and is the first ReachStacker application in Europe using fuel cell technologies for container handling equipment in real operating conditions. This summer, Hyster unveiled an electric empty container handler, which at the time of going to press was still in the test phase before going into production. “I am proud of each of these projects in different ways,” he says. “For example, the
J10-18XD represents a completely new way of introducing an electric offering to the market. The ReachStacker pilot has helped us to understand the wider scope of the application much better. With diesel we didn’t need to think about the refuelling infrastructure because it is already so well established. But when it comes to hydrogen, that is creating opportunities for us to think both inside and outside the fence of the port.”
Future fuels When it comes to which fuel type will win out, he believes it depends on the customer’s position. “There are customers who are ready to support hydrogen and those who are interested but not ready yet. And those for whom hydrogen will not be the right solution. At the moment there are specific areas of the world, hubs and hot spots where we are working with the customer to try and understand what we can do that will work for them.
“Lithium-ion powered machines may present other challenges for customers. With just one truck operations only need a to plug in that machine having a small affect on grid capacity. But with a fleet of machines, that might overload the grid. Different industries are also moving at different rates, so we have to design machines to keep the same level of productivity, whether it is diesel, electric or hydrogen.”
www.hoistmagazine.com | December 2025 | xiii
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