As part of Combilift’s celebrations for its 25th anniversary, the Irish materials handling specialist has announced that it is donating its 75,000th truck – an Aisle Master articulated forklift – to Convoy of Hope, a nonprofit humanitarian and disaster relief organization.
The World Distribution Center is based in Springfield, Missouri, and from this location at the “crossroads of America” truckloads of relief supplies and food are sent on their way across the USA and further afield around the globe. Combilift supplied its first Aisle Master for this site four years ago, and a further three units were delivered last year. Convoy of Hope’s Senior Director – Distribution Jeff Smethers: “A lot of our exponential growth has been down to the Aisle Masters as they enable us to get more loads in and out faster. And thanks to Combilift’s free warehouse layout service and the Aisle Master’s narrow aisle capability we have achieved the best possible storage density and very efficient operation.”
The announcement was made at a gala dinner in Chicago during the ProMat trade fair, and Combilift’s CEO and Co-Founder Martin McVicar said: “The work that Convoy of Hope does is invaluable to relieve suffering around the world and we wanted to make our own contribution by donating our 75,000th truck to this very worthwhile charity.”
Erick Meier, Senior Vice President – Supply Chain at Convoy of Hope said ”We are so grateful that Combilift and Martin and the whole team have actually given us one of these trucks for our operations. This is going to help people for years – and ensure that every day someone in the world will receive aid – and that brings hope.”
About Combilift
Established in 1998 by two of Ireland’s leading engineers, Robert Moffett & Martin McVicar, Combilift celebrates 25 years in business this year, and is recognised as the fastest growing, and largest manufacturer of 4 directional, side loading and articulated forklifts globally.
Alongside the Aisle Master narrow aisle articulated forklift for handling pallets as well as larger loads in warehousing applications, products include the C-series multidirectional range of trucks for handling long loads safely, Straddle Carriers and Mobile Gantries for handling containers or oversized loads, and pedestrian operate stacker trucks. The model range on offer exceeds 50 distinct models with capacities ranging from less than 1 tonne to over 100 tonnes.
The company has continued to be at the forefront of product innovation due to continuous annual investment of 7% of its turnover in R&D. From a total of 18 units produced in 1998, over 75,000 units – most of which are customised to individual requirements – have since been sold in more than 85 countries. Learn more at www.combilift.com
