Hyster Forklift

Hyster is an industry leader in the materials handling industry that has been in business for more than eighty years. However, it started as a producer of lifting machines and winches. Most of its production was focused in the Pacific Northwest and dealt primarily with the wood and logging industry. A couple years after the first forklift trucks were invented Hyster became synonymous with quality manufacturing. Over the preceding eighty years Hyster has continued to get bigger and develop its product line. The growth of its products coupled with its want to stay service oriented has allowed Hyster to develop into the international participant it is nowadays.

Hyster experienced major improvements through the 1940's and 1960's. In 1946, Hyster opened a plant in Illinois that was fully committed to bulk manufacturing trucks. This allowed Hyster to drive its costs down and, at the same time, 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 continued to aggressively expand its manufacturing operations all the way through the 50's and 60's. They started constructing container handlers in the United states in 1959 to meet with the ever growing demand for transportation goods. In 1966, Hyster developed a process for enabling a lift truck to go both ahead and backwards using the same pedal. This pedal was called the Monotrol pedal, which revolutionized the industry. Later on in the decade Hyster opened a R&D centre in Oregon that was focused on improving the design and performance of lift trucks. 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 swiftly throughout the 1960's, Hyster needed to reorient its concentration towards these new mass markets. Hence, in 1970, the XL design philosophy was born. The XL design philosophy allowed Hyster to afford superior quality at a more reasonable cost. A further expansion in manufacturing capabilities was necessitated by the need in Europe for Internal Combustion Engine Trucks. To fill this gap, a plant in Craigavon, Ireland was opened in 1980. Through the 80's Hyster continued to concentrate on developing industry leading lift trucks. The Hyster company name was recognized throughout the globe for its commitment towards excellence. This attention to excellence brought numerous suitors for the company. In 1989, a large international company based in Ohio called NACCO Industries bought Hyster and started an aggressive growth plan. NACCO quickly changed the XL philosophy with a more driver oriented truck that focused on operator comfort, which is recognized as the XM generation of lift trucks.

With the overall change towards just-in-time administration practices, Hyster has been required to keep up with the trends through investment in new and diverse technologies. Acquisitions and investments were made in the United States, Italy, Netherlands, and countless other places all over the globe. All of these investments have made Hyster a world leader in the forklift market. In 2009, Hyster celebrated its eightieth anniversary as an industry leader of materials handling equipment, which includes over 300 various models of forklift trucks.

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