Flexible thinking on contract

The Merseyside-based company, known for its high-end cookware, worked closely with Jofson’s area sales engineer for the North West, Terry O’Malley, to generate cost savings from the company’s low-intensity shift pattern.

The result was an all-inclusive contract, based on a 6-year finance agreement, but with the trucks retained at Meyer for ten years.

“Jofson are taking care of everything,” says Meyer director David Slater. “Servicing, maintenance, changing and topping the batteries, even painting the fleet – we had the fleet all sprayed Meyer- Corporate Blue at Mitsubishi factory prior to shipment.

“They’re great people to do business with, too. I’ve known Terry O’Malley for many years and I know I can trust him. Plus the fact that Jofson have a depot facility close to our operation gives me real confidence they’ll respond quickly.”

A wide variety of materials handling equipment is needed to deal with the 24,500 pallets at Meyer’s warehouse, at heights of up to 13 metres.

Since February, the company has run 3 and 4-wheel versions of the Mitsubishi EDiA EM electric counterbalance truck, as well as PREMiA ES ride-on power pallet trucks. The 11-truck MHE provision from Jofson also includes support for the main bulk storage area and picking activities.

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Terry O’Malley believes the robust EDiA is a great backbone for such a long-term contract. With forklift and battery engineers visiting regularly to ensure every truck stays in top condition, he had no qualms about offering the unusually long deal.

He says: “While some applications are hard-wearing, with trucks working triple shifts, Meyer’s new trucks were needed for single shifts. Having discussed it with the customer, we agreed that a longer term solution was the best fit.

“We always try to be flexible with our contracts, and do what we can to meet each customer’s needs. And EDiA is a really incredible truck, so it’s well up to the term and the task.”

But, as David Slater points out, there are other reasons why the trucks were particularly suitable for handling Meyer’s high-value stock.

He explains: “They’re incredibly drivable too, so the staff tell me. It’s good to show our workforce that we’re investing in quality trucks that make their job easier. When you’ve got pan sets that can cost £1,500 each, you want to know the trucks aren’t going to give the drivers any trouble before you begin moving whole pallets.”

Jofson’s local presence in the North West was an important part of the deal for Meyer, as the contract length means maintenance engineers need to be close at hand to ensure the trucks stay productive over such a long period.

Area sales manager John Wright concludes: “We always try to keep that local business attitude with our customers. We like to think that we’re easy to deal with and that’s reflected back by our customers time and time again.

“That personal touch – with a big company backing – is what our business delivers to our customers. 

“I think this deal shows not only that our customers have a lot of faith in us, but that we’ll also put our faith in working with them over the contracted term. We believe in the long run and understand that good relationships are the heart of good business.”