Hiroyuki Shimma

Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe (MLE) has announced a further integration of its Mitsubishi Caterpillar and UniCarriers business in Europe. From 1 April 2020, business and strategy execution will be "strengthened through the establishment of an operational management covering all channels and brands with corporate and sales and services functions headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands," according to a company statement. Continued improvement of MLE's competitive product offer will be secured through group-level optimisation in product portfolio, costs and production efficiency by increased collaboration and synergies between the three supply units in Europe, MLE adds. All three entities will carry the Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe name. The existing multi-channel and multi-brand strategy will continue. "We will build further on Mitsubishi Forklift Trucks, Cat Lift Trucks, UniCarriers, Rocla, and TCM for agility, maximising market coverage and reinforcement of the forklift lifecycle customer value generation," a company statement notes. In the coming period, the fully owned local subsidiaries within MLE will carry the "Logisnext" company name. Following the transformation, the present European management structures of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe and UniCarriers Europe will be integrated into Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe structure. MLE president Hiroyuki Shimma says: "By establishing an integrated Mitsubishi Logisnext Europe management and supply chain structure, we strengthen the customer value creation and advance the global position of Mitsubishi Logisnext." MLE was established in 2018 as the holding entity of Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe group and UniCarriers Europe group. The group covers markets in Europe, CIS, Middle East and Africa, with its own subsidiaries in 10 countries as well as dealer networks. The group's production and development sites are located in Finland, Spain and Sweden.