Don't trust 'glasshouse' dealers, says Samuk chief
July 1st 2008 Ever felt like you're just another angry customer waiting in a telephone queue?
By putting your money and trust in 'glasshouse' dealers with fancy showrooms
and sharp suits, you're missing out on the top-level service of smaller, local
firms. So says Sir Neville Bowman-Shaw, chairman of Samuk Lift Trucks
Samuk is the exclusive UK importer of
Hangcha fork lifts, the biggest
Chinese manufacturer of lift trucks
that bases itself on high quality,
competitively-priced vehicles. Samuk retails
them through a 60-strong network of locallyowned,
independent dealers: small firms
which take a pride in their level of service.
"Our dealers are totally reliant for their
business on local companies," says Sir
Neville, "So they need to provide
consistently top-quality service in order to
retain their customers."
The message is simple: small,
independent dealers may not have shiny
glass showrooms but to them, every
customer is important and is treated as
such. They are the ones who will answer
the phone at three in the morning (a real
person, not a recorded message!) and be
with you half an hour later to sort out the
problem. They understand that businesses
are running a 24-hour shift and can't afford
to wait twelve hours (or often longer) for
repairs. As a customer, you are an asset,
not an inconvenience. Says Sir Neville,
"Where would you rather your money went
– into refurbishing their workshop, or
providing a consistently reliable service to
your business?"
Samuk's lift trucks are made in China by
Hangcha. The company manufactured
Nissan fork lift trucks for eight years, a good
grounding which left its engineers well
versed both in computer-aided design and
manufacturing techniques and its quality and
test procedures. This has helped Hangcha to
leapfrog its competitors to become the
biggest lift truck manufacturer in China. It's
now making the third generation of trucks to
Samuk's own specification.
Quality, says Sir Neville, is paramount:
"The Chinese enjoy making things to
international standards. Hangcha has a
modern, well-funded factory, built in 2005,
producing around 40,000 counterbalance
and reach trucks annually and a new one
to be completed in 2008 with twice the
capacity. Quality and components are on a
par with major Western manufacturers,
making their trucks reliable, economic and
consequently very popular."
Models up to 10 tonne at 600mm load
centre are laptop free for service and
adjustment and free of unnecessary parts.
The philosophy of Keep It Simple Stupid
(KISS) has not been forgotten. It still
surprises me how many complicated
trucks are bought without consulting the
service manager.
Hangcha's new models have capacities
ranging from one to 20 tonnes, featuring
proven power units including Cummins and
Yanmar diesel and Nissan LPG engines.
Electric-powered trucks have 80-volt Curtis
DC and AC systems, while power pallet
trucks have 24-volt Curtis DC/AC
controllers. "The Samuk HC line is aimed at
80% of the market," says Sir Neville
Bowman-Shaw. "Lift trucks are Hangcha's
only core product and customers are
always pleasantly surprised, if not amazed,
by how user-friendly they are."
New and updated products are planned
as part of an aggressive development
programme, with the aim of combining
quality and performance without being
unnecessarily complicated. Great attention
is paid to keeping the maintenance
requirements of Samuk's trucks to a
minimum, with all trucks designed to
operate for 10,000 hours – a typical five-year
rental contract – between major overhauls.
Hangcha is going to be a big player in
the international lift truck market supported
by the Samuk dealer chain offering
competitively-priced trucks – not the
lowest. These dealers are locally owned
and dependent on their local customers
on 24/7 availability if required.
They know their customers and, more
importantly, their fleet and can identify the
correct part number first time – available
overnight by Samuk courier. Knowing each
other makes it easy to identify
emergencies before routine service. More articles from Samuk Lift Trucks Limited: | 
