The TVH look-up service is a dedicated department within the company that specialises in looking up parts and accessories.
Imagine you’re looking for a specific part for a particular machine and cannot find it in the TVH online shop.
It is less than ideal, but far from the end of your search. Because there is another way: through the TVH look-up service.
The department has three main activities:
- Responding to customer requests, either by looking up which specific part customers need or by providing technical support (e.g. explaining a fault code)
- Expanding TVH’s parts range
- Further elevating the technical expertise within the company.
• Market and machine expertise
TVH supplies parts and accessories for all types of material handling, construction, agricultural and industrial equipment. These machines differ in fundamental ways, and specialists are essential to provide the best support for all of them.
For this reason, the look-up service is divided into several specialist teams. For construction equipment, for example, there is a dedicated team for small earthmovers, one for mobile elevating work platforms and one for telehandlers.
Similarly, there are separate teams for industrial machines specialised in container handling equipment, cleaning equipment, etc.
• Make and model expertise
As the roots of TVH lie in material handling, it is naturally the market in which the business has accumulated the most knowledge.
This is why it boasts several look-up teams for material handling, each specialising in a selection of makes.
But this distinction is not only reserved for material handling. Within each of the dedicated look-up teams, each member has their make(s) in which they specialise to ensure optimal knowledge.
• Product expertise
Finally, TVH also has several in-house product specialists. These colleagues have specialised knowledge of specific (complicated) machine components, such as hydraulics, engine parts, electrical components, etc.
All around the world
In addition to the specialised divisions mentioned above, TVH’s look-up service also consists of several teams across the world.
To accommodate time zones, look-up teams are based in Australia, India, the Middle East, South Africa, the UK, the US, and many other countries where TVH is active.
However, the most prominent teams within the look-up service operate from TVH’s headquarters in Belgium. This is because the colleagues within those teams focus on looking up parts and strive to expand the company’s technical expertise.
How does it work?
But what happens when you need assistance in finding a specific part?
It all starts with submitting your request. This can be done through the online shop via the “Research Request” function.
As well as explaining what part you need, you should mention the make, model and serial number of the machine you need the part for. These machine details are always required, but additional information might also be helpful.
For example, if you’re looking for a new chain for a forklift, it’s good to know more about the type of mast. Or if you need engine components for a mobile elevating work platform, knowing what engine the machine has can provide vital information for TVH to look up parts faster.
After your sales representative has received your request, they enter it into the look-up service system. This system allows requests to be automatically processed according to TVH priority guidelines.
Requests are delivered to the correct specialised look-up team in the most fitting region, meaning all requests can be dealt with as soon as possible.
When processing a request, the look-up service first checks that all received information is correct. Next, it ensures that the machine in question is one for which TVH supplies parts.
Once these factors are validated, the team locates the required part and researches whether TVH can supply it. If the answer is yes, it prepares a purchase quote to send to you.
Department in continuous development
As equipment becomes more complex over time, the look-up service makes every effort to keep up with the latest developments.
These innovations bring new techniques and machine components that the look-up service must be aware of.
However, the look-up service focuses on more than just new machines. Not only is the range of available equipment constantly expanding, but older machines also tend to be kept in service for a longer period of time.
Therefore, the look-up service maintains an overview of a range of equipment over a broad timeline. This is why all information is structurally collected in a digital database.
This database is also needed to share the expertise between all look-up teams that are operating around the world.
TVH’s look-up service in figures
In 2024, the look-up service processed over 2.8 million request lines.
The look-up service can assist in finding parts suitable for more than 2500 makes of material handling, construction, agricultural and industrial equipment.
More than 250 colleagues are active within the look-up service worldwide.
About TVH
Parts specialist TVH is a global player in the field of spare parts and accessories for lift trucks, industrial vehicles, construction and agricultural machinery.
The company has its headquarters in Waregem, Belgium. Furthermore, there is a regional main office located in Kansas (US) serving the American market.
In total, TVH operates from 90 branches across all continents. With a database of over 50,000,000 item numbers, of which more than 1,120,000 different references are in stock, TVH — as a one-stop shop — supplies to customers from over 180 countries. TVH was founded in 1969 and employs more than 5,000 people worldwide.