Baoli forklifts outside Brother's Johor site

Baoli Forklift (M) Sdn Bhd, Malaysia's Baoli forklift distributor, has received a RM2 million (USD579,626) order from Japanese technology manufacturer Brother.

Technical director Handy Lee says the delivery to Brother's four Malaysian plants in Terbrau Industrial Park 1 and Kempas Industrial Area in Johor, will be completed in six months from late 2006 to early 2007.

Brother ordered 11 CPD15 electric counterbalanced forklifts, one CPD20 electric counterbalanced forklift, three CPCD20 diesel forklifts and five CQD16H electric sit-down reach trucks.

Brother will be hiring the forklifts and trading in its old fleet consisting of Toyota, Nichiyu, Still and Nissan forklifts.

Lee says Brother had complained about the parts and service downtime for its old fleet.

"Service [was] not prompt by existing suppliers. [Also] maintenance and running costs [were] too high."

He adds that Baoli forklifts have been available for two years in Malaysia, a forklift market dominated by Japanese brands Toyota, Nissan and Komatsu.

"[However] more customers are accepting Chinese-made trucks due to its low running and ownership costs.

Lee expects Brother's Malaysian operations to save over 30% in maintenance and running costs with its new forklifts.

Baoli Forklift (M) Sdn Bhd, headquartered at Johor Bahru, employs 50 people and was established in 2005. Jiangsu Baoli Forklift, a joint venture with a US company, has its factory in Jiangsu province and employs 3,000.

Lee, who has 12 years' experience in Malaysia's forklift industry, estimates the annual market size to be about 5,000 new units. Over 60% of the new forklifts consumed are internal combustion forklifts. He names Baoli, Heli and Hangcha as leading Chinese forklift brands in Malaysia.