 Henning Hoj has four decades of experience with forklifts and 60 years of dealing with engineered equipment and systems. |
Henning Hoj has roots in Denmark, but his business acumen has made an indelible stamp in an intermountain heartland of the United States.
Hoj has nearly four decades of experience with forklifts and 60 years of dealing with engineered equipment and systems. Now 77, he retains a twinkle in his eye, spring in his step and zest for life as the hands-on president and engineer for Salt Lake City, Utah-based Hoj Engineering & Sales Co Inc.
Two sons are involved. Peter Hoj joined the business in 1987 and serves as vice president. Tim Hoj came aboard in 1992 and is warehouse equipment sales manager and corporate secretary.
Forklifts account for more than 21% of the business, with the remainder of revenues relating to overhead bridge cranes, engineered conveyor systems and warehousing-distribution logistics analysis. The segmented operations combine in-house mechanical, structural and electrical design talents with representation of several material handling equipment makers.
In nearby Murray, Utah, Russ Abbott is service manager for the Hoj Forklift Systems unit, which sells, rents and services Nissan standard-aisle forklifts, DV8R combination machines, Barrett electric and standard pallet jacks, Jungheinrich material handling equipment and JLG aerial platforms.
Hoj Forklift Systems provides consultation, supplies equipment and provides maintenance for customers primarily in Utah and Idaho with other distribution in western Wyoming and eastern Nevada.
About 20 persons work in the forklift unit including four in-house mechanics and eight on-the-road service technicians, each in a van. Around-the-clock emergency service is available. As needed, two large flatbed trucks transport forklifts.
Broadcasters, sponsors and the Salt Lake Organising Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics utilised forklifts from Hoj in preparations, operations and equipment transportation.
But Henning Hoj's journey began a continent away in a different era.
In Denmark, Henning Hoj was born in Bjerreby, completed a tool-making apprenticeship and graduated with a mechanical engineering degree with a productivity specialty from an Odense technical school.
He moved to Toronto, Canada in 1956, and, on a whim, accompanied a work friend who was driving across North America to an automotive job in California. Seeing the Western US changed Hoj's perspective and, eventually, his life. The vistas and grandeur of the region captivated him.
He went back to Toronto, but a fortunate coincidence in Salt Lake City led to his first job there with an engineering firm. He would return later to Toronto until, in 1961, he and his wife, Inge, moved permanently to the West. Now, the Hojs have four children and 15 grandchildren.
Upon arrival in Utah, they lacked money, but Hoj was able to provide his engineering and design skills to a struggling machine tool and Cleveland Tramrail Crane Co distributor. Eventually, the shop owner decided the potential liability in working with cranes was too risky. He moved to close the business and recommended that Cleveland Tramrail use Hoj's services.
Among other things, Hoj inherited the predecessor firm's stationery. There was no money for printing new materials so, creatively, Hoj wrote his name in place of that of the former owner and retained the rest of the business name. That is how Hoj Engineering & Sales got its identity in the firm's January 1964 start.
Even today, Hoj distributes Cleveland Tramrail equipment, now for a unit of Gorbel Inc.
In 1968, Hoj ventured into the forklift business after reading about the machines in a materials handling publication. The article told how a military contractor used forklifts to haul heavy metal plates during assembly of a temporary airstrip. Hoj purchased three Datsuns and began renting the forklifts as a complement to his primary business of supplying overhead bridge cranes for construction jobs.
In 1969, Hoj began representing the Datsun forklift brand, now Nissan. Hoj believes their 38 years constitute one of the longest continuous US relationships between a forklift manufacturer and a dealer.
Nissan Forklift Corp North America of Marengo, Illinois, recognised Hoj Forklift Systems with 2002, 2003 and 2006 dealer of excellence awards and Hoj forklift sales manager Brian Keeran with a 2005 lifetime Pinnacle sales achievement award.
Hoj Engineering & Sales employs 150 persons and has annual sales exceeding USD45 million.
Forklift distribution and service operations include an Idaho Materials Handling Inc subsidiary that opened a Boise office in 1977 and an Idaho Falls location in 1982.
For legal protection, Hoj's services business is incorporated separately.
"We aim to provide material handling solutions in a cost-effective and time-efficient manner," Hoj says. "Based on last year and this year, we have a tremendous (forklift) business. The market is very good, but it has not always been very good."
Keen competition keeps selling prices low so that Hoj Forklift Systems profits mostly on parts and labor through its long-term relationships with customers, Hoj adds.