Capital Equipment News December 2022

MATERIALS HANDLING

These forklifts are robust and have fewer electronic components, and keeping it simple is better for the South African market given what we all pay for electronic parts.

Taking a Big Picture Approach to Forklift Costs

M aterial handling and and more. The three main factors driving cost include increasing fuel prices, inter est rate hikes and a global rise in cost due to lack of supply over the past two years. These factors have all had a knock-on effect on the cost of material handling equipment. Costs from factory to shipping and the supply crisis in electronics manu facturing have resulted in higher prices to purchase new forklifts. For example, freight costs alone have doubled since 2020 and in most cases, manufacturers have no choice but to pass this cost on to the customer. Compounding what is happening on a global scale, local market conditions have also increased the running costs for forklifts. Technicians call out, labour fees, and the warehousing activities that drive key economic sectors such as retail are costing companies more

Across industries, South Africa is grappling with increasingly difficult economic conditions as the cost of doing business soars. According to Masslift Africa, a long-term view and “bigger picture” perspective is best when managing – and mitigating – material handling costs to ease pressure on the bottom line.

“The overall product design also affects maintenance. These forklifts are robust and have fewer electronic components and we have found that keeping it simple is better for the South African market given what we all pay for electronic parts. This together with the fuel efficiency makes it the perfect forklift for Africa.”

Marco Caverni, CEO of Masslift Africa

TALKING POINTS

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS DECEMBER 2022 24