58 | Feature: Combilift
SUMMARY
■ Combilift produced more units in 2020 than in 2019
■ January saw a record number of UK orders
■ The Aisle Master Order Picker has been launched
■ It can function as an order picker and a stock replenisher
COMBILIFT CONFIDENCE
Combilift has survived and thrived during the pandemic thanks, in part, to the rise in ecommerce. Sally Spencer reports
The combination of a pandemic and preparations for Brexit has resulted in many a business casualty but at Combilift they make them tough – and that’s not just the trucks. While the company has undoubtedly had a challenging year, it has still forged ahead, achieving a record number of sales to the UK in January and launching a new forklift to cater for the sudden accelerated growth in the ecommerce market (ttjonline, February 3). Speaking at an online press conference in early February, managing director Martin McVicar outlined how, despite a three-week shutdown during April 2020, the company had recovered lost production and that revenue and output were slightly up on 2019. “It’s not where we hoped it would be but
it’s pretty reasonable,” said Mr McVicar, adding that the company produced 6,830 units in 2020, as against 6,750 units in 2019. This performance is particularly laudable when seen in the context of the overall sales of forklifts in the UK – Combilift’s largest export market – in 2020, which were 25% down on 2019.
“The British Industrial Truck Association
and World Industrial Trucks Statistics show that sales of new forklift trucks to the UK shrank quite considerably in 2020,” said Mr McVicar. “We ended up with a 7% decrease in sales to the UK market [down from 1,667 units in 2019 to 1,549 in 2020] but at least we were above the average.”
This year has started well, with the Above: The AME-OP has a step-through operator compartment TTJ | March/April 2021 |
www.ttjonline.com
aforementioned record-breaking 226 orders from the UK in January and judging from the order book and opportunities that are in the pipeline, Mr McVicar is very confident the company will see significant growth in business with the UK during 2021. The drivers of this growth have included clients’ preparations for Brexit and Covid-19 coping mechanisms – such as switching to ecommerce – and Combilift has been proactive in tapping in to this new demand. The UK’s decision to leave the EU “was not the outcome Combilift would have preferred” but its status as the company’s number one export market – around 100 shipments a day – encouraged it to put procedures in place to allow it to deal with any disruption. So Brexit management has been on Combilift’s radar for the last four years and particularly over the last few months as images of warehouses with stockpiled product became prevalent. Companies stockpiled prior to Brexit to create a buffer but it has continued post-Brexit as they try to mitigate disruptions with supply chains and logistics. Combilift knew that if it could supply its products seamlessly to the UK, there was a good opportunity for it to capture demand, so it decided to ship all its trucks and spare parts to UK dealers Delivery Duty Paid (DDP). “We take care of all the customs clearance and any documentation needed, so our UK customers’ trucks arrive the same today as they did in December 2020,” said Mr McVicar. “The only difference they may notice is that we have registered to process UK VAT and for a number of companies we do invoice VAT but the client can claim it back.”
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