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The forklift sector is one of the most
heavily competitive markets within the
logistics industry. Operational costs,
performance factors, reliability and
squeezing margins are the name of the
game if a manufacturer plans to survive
long-term. The opportunity arose to
visit a new player to the market, by
the name of BYD. Having visited many
European manufacturers I was eager to
investigate the wonders of the Far East
to see what was what. The week-long
excursion catered for a comprehensive
tour of the BYD facilities in both
Shenzhen and Shaoguan. Though BYD
may not be a familiar name to some
of you reading this,
Logistics
Business
has been keeping a close eye on their
progress within Europe thanks to their
multiple appearances at LogiMAT and
a 2014 appearance at CeMAT
Hannover.
There are 3 main divisions
to BYD, all of which are
manufactured at the
Huizhou Plant. These
include IT components,
auto components and new
business energy (incl. Fe
batteries). BYD are perhaps
best known for their battery
technology within the
mobile phone industry. They
remain suppliers to
some of the biggest
names in the market,
such as Samsung.
On inspection of the
batteries, one will notice
no brand name of BYD
inscribed amongst
the small print. They
prefer to remain, as
Javier Contijoch, BYD Forklifts Director
stated, a “silent partner” with only a
written credit legible in Chinese on
each battery manufactured.
Having become the first
Chinese Li-ion battery supplier
for Motorola in 2000, BYD
continued to excel in the
mobile industry, hitting another
milestone in 2002 by becoming
the first Chinese Li-ion battery
supplier for Nokia. That same
year also saw the company
listed on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange and marked the start
their mobile phone component
business.
China’s Forklift
Charge
By Alex Cottard
36
Logistics Business Magazine | September 2015
FORKLIFTS