A manufacturer of gear motors and frequency inverters is partnering with Toyota Material Handling Australia to improve the operational efficiencies of its Australian business.
Drive technology and automation specialist SEW-Eurodrive has a warehouse footprint across Australia that services a variety of clients.
Specialising in modular, customised solutions and helping move and control machinery in various applications, the company currently uses a fleet of more than 30 Toyota forklifts, walkie stackers, and pallet movers to assist with its operations.
The brand is valued highly by SEW-Eurodrive National Procurement Manager Fred Pizzicara, who has been with the company for nearly three decades and has more than 20 years of experience with Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) products.
Starting with Toyota walkie stackers, the business has been transitioning from multiple material handling providers to exclusively TMHA, with a goal of standardising its fleet to a single provider in the next one to two years.
Based at the Melbourne premises, Fred said that SEW-Eurodrive stood to gain from a standardised material handling fleet, with benefits to operational efficiency and servicing, coupled with Toyota’s I_Site telematics fleet management system.
“That’s the endgame, to have a fleet that is serviced by Toyota and, where required, have the I_Site program in place,” he said.
He said that with a fleet spanning Australia’s major cities, having I_Site available to track equipment usage and accidents had been valuable.
TMHA has a long history with fleet management systems, allowing customers to track and manage the usage of their machines.
“For at least 15 to 18 years, Toyota always had a system you could jump on to see what’s happening with the units and their hours,” Fred said.
“I think their visibility was always ahead of everyone else. Our Q-compliance team has access to I_Site, and I have access to it.
“If one of the operators has an accident, it goes into limp mode and someone has to contact us so we can check it first to make sure it’s not severe; and if it’s something simple, we just enter our code and move it on.”
Fred said Toyota forklifts were chosen for multiple advantages, from durability and compatibility to servicing.
“I think their after service is better — they’ve got some programs that come with the machines that are not offered by other companies,” he said.
“I find Toyota forklifts to be more robust and able to handle a little bit more. And because we deal with European skids in a lot of our assembly facilities, the Toyota unit is a lot more user-friendly for what we do.”
Fred and his team have formed a strong relationship with TMHA Major Account Manager Leigh Odermatt, who has worked with SEW-Eurodrive for years on their transition to Toyota equipment.
“Leigh has been a help in both arranging new orders and answering questions and also putting together a national service agreement for SEW-Eurodrive, which will see all equipment serviced under the same account,” Fred said.
“We’ve always had a good relationship — I throw a lot of things at him and he’s always onto it.
“He’s the one who’s helping with the national service agreement, which is not easy because there are plants across Australia.
“We’re about to sign off on the national service agreement for all the current units that we have around the country, so everything is under the one banner.”
Fred said the breadth of TMHA’s service network, along with the knowledge of its technicians, was a key reason for any business, big or small, to choose Toyota forklifts.
“The servicing has been good. We have regular guys who come, and they know the place,” he said.
“I’m extremely happy. For me, it’s more about the happiness of the staff using it.
“We’ve standardised here in Melbourne on a few models, but in other plants, I asked if Toyota could send out some rentals so they could get a feel for them. So far I’ve had no bad feedback, so everyone has loved what they’ve played around with.
“I think having less downtime is what all businesses try to achieve, and having reliable machinery that can do the job is important. I think Toyota and SEW are a great partnership and hopefully it keeps growing as we grow.”
For more information, freecall Toyota Material Handling Australia on 1800 425 438 or visit online at www.toyotamaterialhandling.com.au
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