Growing Crown Fleet Gives Hartalega the Upper Hand

      Crown Equipment is working hand in glove with a revolutionary producer of protective gloves for healthcare, industrial and scientific use.

Hartalega, the first and largest producer of nitrile gloves in the world, has put Crown at the centre of its warehousing operations with the use of RD 5700 Series reach trucks at its manufacturing facility in Sepang, Malaysia, thanks to Crown's ability to provide the right material handling solutions.

The Crown reach trucks, which provide added warehouse efficiency with visibility, uptime and fast lift speeds, play a key role in the logistics side of manufacturing 16 billion gloves a year. Hartalega's ongoing acquisition of additional Crown RDs will help with the company's plan to progressively expand to an output of 42 billion gloves per year in 2020.

Hartalega began working with Crown Equipment in 2007 which was the same year it introduced a number of firsts: the industry's first online glove packing system, the world's first lightweight 3.7 gram nitrile examination glove and Malaysia's first 'oil palm empty-bunch fiber renewable energy plant', which is registered with the United Nations.

Warehouse and shipping manager Encik Akhbar Muhamad said the relationship has flourished because of Crown's ability to meet its material handling needs with reliable, functional and comfortable equipment and responsive aftersales support.

"We started working with Crown 10 years ago and we're currently using their double-deep reach trucks in all of our warehouses," Mr Muhamad said.

"Besides their superior quality, one advantage that I'm very pleased about is the aftersales service.

"When we have an issue it's always well addressed, it's well taken care of.

"If we make any suggestions for improvement, they take notice and help to make appropriate adjustments. For example, for our application we needed a different type of front wheel for the reach truck, and Crown customised the truck to meet the needs of our operation," he said.

Positive operator feedback is another factor in the companies' strong relationship.

"Our drivers are happy with the reach trucks, there's no issues, we've tried a few other brands and they prefer Crown," he said.

Crown Equipment's overall approach has helped the brand become a part of Hartalega's expansion plans.

"We have a plan to expand, and for the second phase we have confirmed that we are going to take another 12 Crown units, because we are happy with what we've got now, he said. "For the third phase we will be doing a repeat order again.

"I've been dealing with Crown for the last 10 years and I know their professionalism.

"What we are given is not just material handling equipment, we are given a solution to our needs.

"I've been telling all other suppliers of the Crown advantage, especially the aftersales service."

Hartalega was founded in 1988 and currently employs over 5,500 people across seven dedicated manufacturing facilities.

The company has won many prestigious awards including recognitions from Forbes Asia, KPMG and Asia Money.

About Crown Equipment Corporation

Crown is one of the world's largest material handling companies with a reputation for award-winning product design, advanced engineering and technology, and superior after-sale service. Crown's business philosophy utilises vertically integrated processes to design, manufacture and distribute forward-thinking, innovative solutions that improve customers' productivity and operating efficiency. Crown produces a broad range of forklifts as well as automation and fleet management technologies.

The company's global headquarters is located in New Bremen, Ohio, USA, with regional headquarters in Australia, China, Germany and Singapore. Its employees number more than 16,100 worldwide. Crown operates a service and distribution network that exceeds 500 retail locations in over 80 countries. To learn more about Crown's ideas for helping customers advance the productivity of their operations, visit crown.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1475861/Hartalega_Customer_Result_Image.jpg
Caption - Growing Crown Fleet gives Hartalega the upper hand in its global distribution strategy.