Hyster Forklift

Hyster is an industry leader in the materials handling industry that has been in business for over eighty years. However, it started as a producer of lifting machines as well as winches. Most of its production was concentrated in the northwest United States and dealt mostly with the lumber and logging industry. A couple years after the first forklift trucks were invented Hyster became synonymous with quality manufacturing. Over the previous 80 years Hyster has continued to get bigger and develop its product line. The expansion of its products coupled with its wish to stay service oriented has allowed Hyster to grow into the worldwide player it is in our day.

Through the three decades between the 1940's and 1960's, Hyster made considerable strides on its path to becoming the global leader in the forklift industry it is at the moment. In 1946, Hyster opened a plant in Illinois that was exclusively dedicated to bulk producing trucks. This allowed Hyster to drive its expenses down and, simultaneously, offer a better quality product at industry competitive prices. In 1952, Hyster began its first foray in to the international production market through opening its first plant in the Netherlands. The Netherlands plant was originally designed to produce two products: Hyster 40" and the Karry Kranes.

Hyster continued to aggressively expand its production operations all the way through the 1950's and 60's. They began building container handlers in the US in 1959 to satisfy the ever growing demand for transportation goods. In 1966, Hyster developed a process for allowing a lift truck to go both forward and backwards using the same pedal. This pedal was labeled the Monotrol pedal, which revolutionized the industry. Later on in the decade Hyster opened a research and development centre in Oregon that was focused on enhancing the design and performance of forklifts. The centre is still one of the world's greatest testing facilities in the materials handling industry.

In the 1960's Hyster experienced rapid expansion. Much of the manufacturing was shifting towards bulk manufacturing. To keep up with the times Hyster was inclined to focus on the evolution of these mass markets. As a result, in 1970, the XL design philosophy was born. The XL design philosophy allowed Hyster to offer greater quality at a more inexpensive cost. A further expansion in manufacturing capabilities was necessitated by the demand in Europe for Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles. To plug this hole, a plant in Craigavon, Ireland was opened in 1980. Through the 80's Hyster continued to concentrate on developing industry leading lift trucks. The Hyster brand name was recognized throughout the world for its commitment towards superiority. This attention to quality produced numerous suitors for the business. In 1989, a large international business based in Ohio called NACCO Industries purchased Hyster and began an aggressive expansion strategy. NACCO quickly replaced the XL philosophy with a more driver oriented truck that focused on operator comfort, which is well-known as the XM generation of forklifts.

The shift in supply change management to a much more just-in-time focused approach has meant that Hyster has had to continually invest in new-found technologies. Acquisitions and investments were made in the United States, Italy, Netherlands, and countless other places throughout the world. All of these investments have made Hyster a global leader in the lift truck market. In 2009, Hyster celebrated its 80th anniversary as an industry leader of materials handling equipment, which consists of over three hundred assorted models of lift trucks.

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