Hyster Forklift

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

The thirty years between 1940's and the 1960's saw a large evolution in the number of products existing under the Hyster brand name. In 1946, Hyster opened a plant in Danville, Illinois that was completely devoted to bulk manufacturing trucks. This allowed Hyster to drive its costs down and, simultaneously, offer a better quality product at industry competitive rates. 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, along with the entire forklift industry, continued to spread out into different product lines throughout the 1950's and 60's. They began building container handlers in the US in 1959 to meet with the ever growing demand for transportation goods. In 1966, Hyster developed a method for allowing a lift truck to go both ahead and backwards using the same pedal. This pedal was known as the Monotrol pedal, which revolutionized the industry. Later on in the decade Hyster opened a R and D centre in Oregon that was focused on improving the design and functionality of forklifts. The centre is still one of the world's greatest testing facilities in the materials handling industry.

As demand for materials handling equipment continued to expand rapidly during the 1960's, Hyster considered it necessary to reorient its concentration towards these new mass markets. Accordingly, in 1970, the XL design philosophy was born. The XL design philosophy allowed Hyster to offer superior quality at a more affordable price. A further expansion in manufacturing capabilities was necessitated by the need 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 forklifts. The Hyster brand name was recognized throughout the globe for its dedication towards quality. This attention to quality brought several suitors for the enterprise. In 1989, a large multinational business based in Ohio called NACCO Industries bought Hyster and started an aggressive expansion plan. NACCO promptly replaced the XL philosophy with a more driver oriented lift truck that concentrated 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 system has meant that Hyster has had to frequently make investments in new-found technology. Acquisitions and investments were made in the US, Italy, Netherlands, and various other places throughout the globe. All of these investments have made Hyster a global leader in the lift truck market. Recently, Hyster celebrated its eightieth anniversary as an industry leader of materials handling equipment, which includes over three hundred assorted types of lift trucks.

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