Terry Kendrew, Managing Director at Bristol based Impact Fork Trucks Ltd, challenges the Material Handling Industry to refocus its priorities and to make the brave changes necessary.

Saying that you are putting the customer first and actually putting the customer first can be quite different things.

The first is easy, it’s just words and we can all make promises, but actually putting our promises into practice and truly putting our customers first is a far more challenging task. And, if we really look at what it means to deliver promises, it normally involves making some brave changes to the business.

Our changing role and opportunities

The rapid growth of the logistics sector, and its incredible technological advancement in what has been a relatively short space of time, has made a huge difference to the role we play in providing and supporting material handling equipment.

This evolution, together with the customers’ relentless drive for cost savings, has resulted in us all becoming a combination of efficiency consultants, finance brokers, software engineers, outsourced technicians, and of course on top of this - we still sell trucks!

However, with changes always come new opportunities and if we are clever these can be orientated to deliver real value to our customers.

A good example of this is the ‘just in time’ supply chain ethos, one which has been adopted by so many customers.

The need for responsive scalability to support this practice, combined with the inherent fragility of this system to any interruption, can both be seen as opportunities for our industry. But to make the most from this new wave of opportunities we must sincerely and meaningfully put them - our customers - first.

Are we brave enough?

Or more to the point are we willing to deliver the necessary commitments and investments to make our promises of offering ‘flexibility’, being ‘responsive’ and ultimately ‘Putting the customer first’ a true reality?

In terms of flexibility it may mean being open to adjustments in long term agreements - after all what a customer wanted back then may not be what they need now.

While the idea of swapping trucks out before contractually obliged to might seem like a bad idea, in the right circumstances it can be a win-win for both customer and supplier.

Alternatively, being flexible may require an open-minded approach to combining new and used equipment to deliver against the customer’s goals.

Long Term Vision based on short term sacrifices

Meeting our customers’ demands for responsiveness means carrying extensive inventory - both equipment and supporting parts. It also means investing in extensive short-term hire fleets, as well as the infrastructure to rapidly deploy them to site at short notice.

And as no single manufacturer offers a range of material handling equipment so broad as to cover every possible requirement to its absolute optimum efficiency.

Ultimately, to truly put the customer first we need to take a long term view, even if that requires making short-term sacrifices.

For example, it never ceases to amaze me how often I see inappropriate material handling equipment within fleets. Be it an over-specified truck or simply a unit that is less than ideal for its working tasks.

Sometimes this will be down to the evolution of the customer’s business and a change in role for the equipment. However, particularly in specialist or multi-role applications, the customer is simply unaware of the alternatives that would have been available to them.

Of course this lack of awareness isn’t the customer’s fault – why should they be experts in our industry?

However, there can also be an element of the provider of the equipment recommending something more in their interests than that of their customers’ - like a more expensive unit perhaps?

Or maybe the right unit is simply outside of their available range? And this is of course where we need to embrace a more honest and genuinely customer-centric approach.

Because, I believe it is ultimately in all our interests to do so, especially if we think long term: A happy customer and their on-going loyalty will be far more valuable than any short term loss.

Perhaps not a quantum leap but certainly a brave change. I don’t know about you, but I’m in.

W: www.impact-handling.com