Tornerefelt

UniCarriers Europe (UCE), a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Logisnext, recently appointed Jonas Tornerefelt as executive vice president sales & marketing. The Swede shares some thoughts with Forkliftaction News:

FLA: Prior to this appointment, what has been your biggest achievement?
JT: Apart from raising a family with my wife and having two fantastic sons, I would say that one of my biggest achievements so far was my role within the European management for the integration of Toyota and BT, turning a major part of the network captive, renewing 80% of the product line-up and leading it through the financial crises during a few busy years.

FLA: What excites you most about the materials handling industry?
JT: It is an industry where customer value is built on integrated supply chain solutions of products and services. I appreciate the challenging and stimulating fact that our products and services are used in such a wide variety of market segments. This calls for us to engage with many different customers in order to ensure we understand present and future needs, delivering unique values in their diverse applications.

FLA: What is the most significant change you have seen in the industry in your time?
JT: Industry-wise, the biggest change is the consolidation and broadening of the supply chain capabilities of the materials handling providers. From an operational standpoint, major change drivers are at play - such as D2C growth, e-commerce, digitalisation, small parcel shipments, reverse logistics, automation, IoT, real-time information transparency, sustainability focus and much more.

FLA: What is the biggest opportunity that you see in your new role?
JT: In my new role, I have the opportunity and responsibility to continue providing sustainable value and growth for our customers using UCE's high quality portfolio of products and services delivered by our dedicated team of UCE employees and dealers. We will enhance and widen our market offering, making sure we serve our customers in the demanding changes of materials handling (on an ongoing basis).

FLA: Can you share one piece of information about yourself which would surprise our readers?
JT: I am a hands-on guy, loving our products, and in my line of work, it is not enough for me to read about them. It has, therefore, always been my quest to be able to operate all equipment in the range from walkies to heavy tonnage CBs as well as high-level order pickers at full lift height.