Task chairman Dean Rainsford, Osko general manager Mike Thomas and the Sumi Boa.

By Daphne Haneman
A snake fascination slithers behind Task Australia's success. Task products are named after snakes: the Sumi Boa legless stacker, the Sumi Conda, and the soon-to-be-released Viper. The idea for the names came after a Task employee realised no other company had a "legless" product and remarked "the Boa strangled the life out of the competition".

Less intimidating names mark Task's beginnings.

History
The Rainsford name is inextricably linked with Task Australia. Eric Rainsford founded equipment manufacturing company The Rainsford Group just before World War II. It has evolved into Task Australia. His son, Dean, is now company chairman.

The Rainsford family has been associated with manufacturing for nearly 70 years in Australia.

In 1938 Eric Rainsford began manufacturing surgical equipment for the armed services. The business developed quickly, expanding production to include mirrors, blinds, seat belts and child restraints.

Dean worked with his father for 16 years in the seatbelt industry for Rainsfords and Safe-n-Sound after the company designed a baby safety capsule when the Australian Government made wearing seatbelts compulsory in the 1970s.

(L-R) Richard Ho (TASK director Asian Operations), Dean Rainsford (Chairman OSKO), See Chee Jhuen (STK), Mr. Tan Ngiap Loong (STK).

Dean Rainsford started Forklift Brokers, in Brisbane, with Darren Gardiner in 1989 and, with his son, Ben, added branches in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. They were amalgamated into the Task Australia Group in 2001. Dean and Ben have developed the business internationally in Singapore and Shanghai.

In 1981 the Rainsford family began manufacturing forklifts in South Australia at its Osko factory, under a licence agreement from American Big JoeTM Manufacturing Company.

Sumi pedestrian forklifts and the range of Max ride-on forklifts are manufactured and/or assembled at the Osko factory.

Australian owned
Task is Australian owned. It manufactures Sumi Boa and Conda stackers and distributes the Max range.

"Our Sumi products are manufactured in Australia, however we also have a large range of Max products that are manufactured in China to our specifications. They are battery electric or gas ride-ons," a Task statement said.

Task is the only Australian-owned company to manufacture counterbalanced stackers or, as Task hopes they will be known, legless stackers.

Meeting change head on
Dean Rainsford said the forklift industry had changed in the last 25 years.

"The trend is more towards battery-electric forklifts and there is a huge emphasis on occupational health and safety issues. These two main changes definitely suit our ethos very well," he said.

"Business has never been better in Australia and Asia for Task, but we put it
down to our products."

However, Rainsford said business had not been stress free.

"The materials handling industry is a tough game, and never easy, but Task has still managed to survive and prosper. Any industry is tough but the challenge is to keep being innovative and supply customers what they need."

To overcome more difficult times, Task concentrated on building durable, robust stackers to suit the "harsh Aussie conditions". Rainsford said Task had worked to improve its models, releasing, for example, the Sumi Boa and the Conda.

Lean manufacturing

Sumi Conda

The "modular design" of the new legless stacker triggered a new agreement with Task partner Singapore Technology Kinetics (STK). The modular design permits a change to weight capacity and mast height, adding or removing bolt-on modules to the original stacker. Rainsford said that meant cost savings for dealers as it was unnecessary to buy another unit if requirements changed.

The modular concept has meant Task's Asian dealers can offer a large range of stackers without having vast inventory levels in their warehouses. Before the Sumi Boa, distributors held about AUD350,000 of stock in their warehouses to cover the range, but now held about AUD40,000.

"The innovative design is partly why we were awarded a world protection patent. We believe this concept will revolutionise the stacker world," Rainsford said.

Going strong
Task has produced more than 8,000 forklifts in Australia, according to a company statement.

"Since 1981, thousands of electrically operated forklifts have been produced by the South Australian plant, at Dudley Park, and these have set new standards in the industry, being robust, compact and reliable," it said.

"We are not sure of the exact [market-share] percentage, as our opponents do not publicise their sales. However, in markets that we monitor, we have a sizable share, particularly in the stacker market."

Rainsford said he considered any company with battery-electric stackers or a strong customer service focus as competition.