Meclift plans to ramp up production

Under new ownership, Meclift is investing in international growth.

The Finnish company, founded in 1981, came under new ownership at the end of 2019. The new owners, Lännen MCE Oy (40%), Sign Systems Finland Oy (40%) and Credos Oy (20%), saw much potential in the Meclift brand with its reputation of quality, especially in the international market.

One of the first decisions was to halt production of container handling equipment and to focus on manufacturing reach trucks.

Stakeholder Lännen, which produces Lännen and Lundberg tractors as well as Watermaster amphibious dredgers, has become the contract manufacturer of Meclift variable reach trucks, allocating around 20 employees to a dedicated production line.

Meclift CEO Janne Kalliomäki says so far this year, machines have been delivered to Poland, China, Germany and Russia, with deliveries planned for Brazil and Bangladesh at the end of the year. "Our sales are managed through a global dealer network (and) at the moment, Meclift is represented in more than 30 countries," he says.

The overall target for 2020 has been to deliver 12 18 T and two 42 T machines. "We seem to be reaching this target," Kalliomäki says. "In 2021, our goal is to double the production and sales volumes compared to those of 2020."

He points out that the 18 T truck has an impressive lifting capacity, but also benefits from a small footprint that fits into a standard shipping container.

"Our intention is to start series production of our popular 18 T machines (to reduce the current production time of two months)," he adds.