Warehouse & Logistics News recently had the pleasure of visiting the TVH headquarters in Waregem, Belgium to be given a comprehensive tour of their facilities and to exactly find out what’s behind the succesful running of a major company in the materials handling business.

picture-of-the-building[4]

TVH is an international group with customers in more than 170 countries, and has been split up into 2 activities: Parts & Accessories and Rental & Equipment.

Parts & Accessories is the one-stop shop for material handling, industrial and agricultural equipment parts and accessories. The unequalled know-how of TVH’s parts division is reflected by a database of more than 20,000000 article numbers, of which well over 500,000 references are in stock.

Rental & Equipment consists of 3 divisions: Equipment Division, Rental Division and Service & Repair Division. The Equipment Division sells new and used lift trucks and aerial work platforms. With its short- and long-term rental of lift trucks and aerial work platforms, the Rental Division is active in Belgium, the Netherlands and other European countries. The Service & Repair Division is only active in Belgium. In addition, TVH also has the ‘TVH Training Centre’ where driver trainings and technical courses are given.

TVH is proud of the service it provides ensuring that every stock item ordered by the customer is delivered to their door within the shortest time possible. On the tour, I was told that all employees ‘Commit themselves to maximising customer satisfaction by offering them the right product at the right price with the guaranteed best service.’ They do this by having a dedicated sales team for all countries with a dedicated contact person understanding the customer’s requirements.

parts-heftruck

Behind each team, they have a purchase and technical department to answer any query they might have. The system couldn’t be any simpler, the team at TVH have been doing this for over forty years now and have made sure that they have the expertise to cover all types of stock, spare parts and accessories.

Thanks to the MyTotalSource webshop, TVH’s customers can obtain information about the availability of the parts. MyTotalSource is their webshop for spare parts and accessories, where you can send offers and place orders. Online and 24/7. For every reference you can see immediately the price, lead time, stock, pictures and technical features.

But you can also look up information. If you don’t know the reference for a part you are looking for, MyTotalSource has 2 very impressive search tools.

MyPartsFinder: you can track part numbers via the machine, engine or transmission details.

MyProductSearch: find article numbers with technical specifications and dimensions.

With MyTotalSource, you have access to a database of 20,000,000 references. 85% of all offers and 73% of all orders at TVH are placed via their e-commerce tools.

In addition to the parts for forklifts and other industrial vehicles, TVH can also offer you a variety of accessories.

• Hand Pallet Trucks, Scissor Hand Pallet Trucks and Hand Trolleys

• Manual & Electric Lift Tables

• Manual & Semi-Electric Stackers

• Warehouse and Dock Equipment

• Hydraulic attachments (CAM System and other brands)

• Mechanical Attachments

• Second-hand Attachments

• SmartSweep®, Lazy Sweeper® & Maxi Sweeper

• Rubber Tracks & Undercarriage Parts

• Synthetic Ground Support & Stabilizer Plates

• Wheel Covers for Aerial Platforms

• Hydraulic Generator

TVH also has a training centre providing driver and technical trainings.

MMagThe main goal of the TVH Training Centre is to broaden knowledge and to improve skills, turning knowledge into practical training and innovation. In the UK, their operational partner is Hinckley College who are responsible for providing the training developed by TVH. In their technical training courses, TVH and Hinckley College use a standard formula of 50% technical knowledge and 50% practical experience. People taking the courses have the possibility of using the acquired theoretical knowledge in real-life situations while a specialist in the matter corrects them where necessary.

Danny McAllister, General Manager of TVH UK based in Coventry and the team will gladly run through the Technical training dates for the rest of the year and 2014.

Our overriding impression on spending a full day at Waregem is that TVH know exactly what they are doing and most importantly the direction the company is taking. It is built on success and will continue to do so with having the passion, the people, the parts!

www.tvh.com

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