Sir Neville Bowman-Shaw (far right) at Samuk's IMHX stand in Birmingham.

Samuk HC, a UK joint venture with China's leading forklift manufacturer Hangcha, boasts that many foreign forklift company representatives visited its IMHX stand in Birmingham last month.

Samuk chairman Sir Neville Bowman-Shaw said 27 engineers and senior managers from European competitors "inspected, measured and reviewed" the Samuk HC forklift line.

"To begin with, we were very concerned, but realised it was a great compliment by competition.

"[We have] two or three photographs of our senior management welcoming competitors' representatives to our stand, complete with cameras."

Bowman-Shaw, founder of the now defunct Lancer Boss Group, said Samuk HC had a successful exhibition but did not sell any forklifts from the stand.

"Back in the 1950s and 60s you would expect to sell to many end users. Today if a manufacturer announces show sales, it's normally pre-arranged.

"No one can afford to deal with end-user sales when stand costs are GBP8,000 (USD15,804.80) per hour or more."

He said the aim of exhibiting was to improve Samuk's dealer network. Samuk had three times the targeted number of potential dealers leaving their credentials and requesting follow-up at the end of IMHX. Samuk HC invested more than GBP200,000 (USD395,120) in the show.

Samuk CEO Vanda Morris said Samuk's competitors were "rightly anxious" to see for themselves the competition Samuk provided.

"Our Chinese partner Hangcha is now the number one Chinese forklift manufacturer. The warehouse range was a particular surprise to many of our competitors."

Samuk HC's forklifts have European components, including Cummins and Nissan engines, ZF transmissions, Dunlop tyres, Curtis electric components with DC/AC control systems, Kessler drive axles with oil immersed brakes and ZAPI DC control systems.

To bring the Chinese forklifts to the European market, Samuk capitalised on Bowman-Shaw's experience of controlling design at the Lancer Boss Group.

Bowman-Shaw said: "Some of the old Lancer Boss influence can be seen in the suspended torque converter power train, which more than matches the hydrostatic equivalent, coupled to the selection of power train and layout for the heavy trucks."

Bowman-Shaw and his brother formed the sideloader and counterbalanced forklift manufacturer Lancer Boss Group in 1957, establishing Boss as a leading forklift brand in the 1990s. In 1994, Jungheinrich AG took over the then bankrupt Boss Group.

Bowman-Shaw, who received the UK Fork Lift Truck Association's lifetime achievement award in 1996, said his first contact with Hangcha was in 1984. "They were introduced to Lancer Boss by the Chinese Embassy. At the time they were looking for a licence."

The Samuk and Hangcha joint venture was established in 1996 after Bowman-Shaw visited Hangchai in China. Samuk HC distributes the Chinese forklifts in the UK and some European countries under the Samuk+HC brand.

Hangcha, based in Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, China, produced more than 33,000 forklifts in 2006. Its factories have an annual single shift production capacity of 40,000 units. A new assembly hall is expected to begin construction in May for production starting in 2009.
Senior Samuk staff will visit Hangcha in May to develop a memorandum of understanding for developing a European parts centre, in Peterborough, UK.

The distributor introduced the Samuk+HC R series diesel and LPG forklifts with capacities up to 3.5 tonnes on March 1.