 Amar Sain (middle) flanked by his sons Patrick (left) and Michael (right). |
Material Handling Inc (MHI) has won numerous awards from the forklift, battery, charger and battery systems manufacturers it represents, but it had very humble beginnings. Vice president Michael Sain says his father, company founder, Amar Sain, is a "classic American success story".
Company CEO Amar V Sain, 73, came to the US from India to further his studies as a teenager. He started out in the forklift business in 1960, working as a janitor for a Clark dealer in Atlanta, Georgia. With dedication and perseverance, he quickly worked his way up to mechanic's apprentice, rental clerk, rental manager, and then depot manager when he moved to Dalton, Georgia, in 1972, to manage the branch.
Amar bought the dealership's Dalton and Gainesville branches in 1975 and then the Chattanooga, Tennessee dealership in 1985.
At the end of 2005, the company expanded with locations in Nashville, Tennessee and Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Today, two of Amar's sons, Patrick, president, and Michael, vice president, run the company. Michael moved to Nashville in 2006 to run the daily operations for the two new locations.
 One of MHI's newest locations is in Nashville, Tennessee. |
Michael says: "[Dad] has always been internally motivated to win. He taught my brother and I that if we have a burning desire to do something, we can do it," he says, adding that Amar was a perfectionist when it came to customer service.
"When he was with Clark in Atlanta, his drive to take care of the customers before anything else helped differentiate him from the other managers."
The first location Amar bought in Dalton was known as the "carpet capital" of the world. In the 1970s, propane forklifts were used. As the plants grew bigger and more forklifts were used, the exhaust emissions caused a discolouration in the yarn.
To solve the problem, Amar worked with engineers from Clark and large carpet mills to design electric forklifts that would stand up to the demands of carpet manufacturing and distribution.
MHI also formed a separate motive power division to support its electric forklift customers. The division supplies batteries, chargers and changing equipment, and helps with room design and maintenance.
"This gives us a unique advantage in the market because we understand how to combine the best technologies in forklifts and motive power for a custom solution."
Michael remarks that technology was constantly evolving and there is a "fine line between being stuck in the past or being a guinea pig".
"We make sure the best practices are utilised."
MHI has converted over 2,000 LPG forklift users to electric forklift users since 1975.
Today, the family-owned company employs 102 people. Its original Dalton location has a group of 30 employees with an average tenure of over 17 years.
"We take care of our people and they take care of our customers. Today I am starting that tradition all over again in the Nashville and Bowling Green markets," Michael says.
MHI represents Clark and Linde forklifts and is a local sales and service dealer for Princeton Piggyback truck-mounted forklifts, Combilift long-load handlers and Bendi and Drexel very narrow aisle equipment. AMP, MHI's motive power division, sells and services battery and charger technology.