Mark Ward

Mark Ward, a well-known material handling expert, is the new "leader in used forklifts".
Lisman Forklifts Asia Sdn Bhd is the Asian subsidiary of Lisman Forklifts Group - a family owned company which has nearly 50 years of successful trade history in Europe and the rest of the world.

Lisman Forklifts Asia has rapidly established itself as the hub of high quality European and Japanese used forklifts in the heart of Southeast Asia with close to 400 quality inspected units stored under one roof in a bonded warehouse of 5000 m2. We have asked Mark to explain in detail about his decision for this new challenge and his relationship with Lisman.

What is your experience in the material handling business?
"Effectively I grew up in the materials handling world. My father was a consultant for the National Productivity Institute in South Africa and formed his own business designing warehouses for large organisations incorporating latest technology such as live racking, Kardex vertical carousels and flow racking. During school holidays I was invariably assembling shelving or working on a project."

"One of my first jobs was in a sales team with Linde in South Africa just after the transition from Lansing Bagnall. I came back into the industry with OM Pimespo when I moved back to the UK in 1997 and I moved from there to Barloworld in 1999 where I progressed through the ranks to head up the Commercial Asset team in 2005 until the business was sold in 2012.
Following Barloworld I formed a small remarketing operation - EMRA Solutions to focus on a gap in the market remarketing for finance operations and dealers but only to trade customers. This has successfully grown and has been retained by my business partner."


Why the switch to Lisman Asia?
"While EMRA provided a good return and lifestyle, the opportunity to grow this niche business is fairly limited. My former position with Barloworld provided a lot of customer, supplier and staff interaction and exposed me to high level strategic planning while maintaining various teams of motivated and empowered staff. Monitoring the transition of the business and guiding the short term hire and used equipment teams to focus on both customer expectations and company objectives was very rewarding. Following discussions with Koen Lisman the Lisman Asia vacancy looked set to provide me with similar opportunities."

Could you tell us more about your expectations working for Lisman?
"Lisman were a key partner to our operation at Barloworld and demonstrated clear work ethics and principles which provided both customers and suppliers with confidence. Robert Hermans (the outgoing Managing Director) has established the processes and set the foundations in this new operation and has assembled a competent team in Lisman Asia which provides us with the building blocks to grow in this market.

With a range of equipment locally available and an extensive range in our European operation Lisman Asia is a valued trade partner for material handling operations located in Asia making it easier for our customers to source premium equipment locally. My objective is to expand our local customer base within the geography and be the supplier of choice to dealers in the Asian materials handling market."

For more company or product information, please contact:

Lisman Vorkheftrucks NV
P: +31-(0)30-6884884
F: +31-(0)30-6886001
E: sales@lismanforklifts.com
W: www.lismanforklifts.com
Techniekweg 1, 3401 MH IJsselstein, The Netherlands
P.O. Box 233, 3400 AE IJsselstein, The Netherlands

Lisman Forklifts Asia Sdn Bhd
P: +60 (0) 33 1341 884
F: +60 (0) 33 1342 884
E: salesasia@lismanforklifts.com
W: www.lismanasia.com
Lot 8945 - Jalan Telok Gong, Telok Gong
42000 Pelabuhan Klang, Selangor Darul Ehsan
Port Klang - Malaysia