 Nissan QX four-wheel electric riders for new plant will get customised "Roxul red" paint jobs. |
Nissan Liftrucks of Memphis is fulfilling orders from Roxul Inc for new equipment with a total value of about USD1.7 million.
Roxul is beginning production at its first US insulation manufacturing plant and obtaining its materials handling equipment and sweeper-scrubber units through the forklift dealership. About 20 mi. (32 km) separate the Memphis forklift facility and the totally new Roxul factory in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park near Byhalia in northern Mississippi.
The equipment includes 16 Nissan forklifts from UniCarriers Corp, one scissor lift and one boom lift from Oshkosh Corp's JLG business and four Tennant Co units, including three sweeper-scrubbers and one Sentinel high-performance outdoor rider sweeper.
A customised "Roxul red" colour scheme is being applied to the Nissan Platinum QX four-wheel electric riders with 4,000 lb. (1,814 kg) or 6,000 lb. (2,721 kg) capacity. Four of the forklifts will have full steel cabs for outdoor applications. The forklifts are due for delivery soon. "In the interim, we rented them almost the exact number of lift trucks," says Baron Selman, vice president of operations for Nissan Liftrucks of Memphis.
In moving to equip the plant, Tracy Pillow, Roxul maintenance manager, contacted the forklift dealership in mid-November. That started a series of meetings and negotiations, Selman reports.
"We went into this deal as underdogs, knowing our tight competition and being behind in Roxul's timeline for purchase," Selman says. "In the end, our abilities to configure the dealership's strengths with what Roxul needed netted us the largest single-day order we've had in our history here in Memphis."
Selman and his team's final sales presentation was scheduled for two hours but lasted for a total of five hours. Senior dealership manager Jim Dietz; the dealership's owners; and Nissan, JLG and Tennant factory and technical representatives participated in the January session.
"We brought in what (equipment) they would be buying," Selman says. "We got to do a little forklift rodeo" allowing the Roxul team to try the merchandise.
The order includes forklifts with a value of about USD700,000 and batteries and power equipment worth about USD550,000. About 95% of the forklifts are 80-volt electrics.
Perry and Jeff Paul Dubose own separately operated equipment businesses including Nissan Liftrucks of Memphis in Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee; National Lift Truck Inc in Franklin Park and Hazel Crest, Illinois; and National Lift of Arkansas Inc in Little Rock and Springdale, Arkansas.
The two locations of Nissan Liftrucks of Memphis employ 33 staff and occupy about 31,000 sqft. (2,880 sqm).