Company Report: Mobile Pallet Truck
Finding the right mix Custom-builder of lift trucks looks to global partner to greatly extend its reach

Mobile Pallet Truck

Mobile Pallet Truck

Mobile has been in the business of pallet and truck manufacturing long enough to know that all things change, but this company, which began as a family affair, has expanded its reach globally, maintaining a distinct reputation for quality and hard work.

Mobile Pallet Truck has become one of the leading manufactures of manual and hydraulic lift trucks in North America, and has expanded its reach across the world.

Joe Gardin founded the company from his garage in 1959. At the time, the only manual pallet truck that was available was one from Europe, and it did not fit the wooden skids that were used for transportation.

Gardin modified the trucks’ forks and hand pump, completing one every week. This spirit has not left the company. Building custom solutions, while maintaining a large selection of base products, has become a strong selling point.

Through this growth Mobile PT has grown its catalogue to include:

• Pallet Trucks - specifically designed to meet any companies inventory moving needs;

• Stackers - for heavy lifting of skids and product;

• Lift Tables - ergonomic solutions when dealing with product;

• Allied Products - everything from work benches, hoists, and metallic covers;

• Scissor Lifts - stable, heavy duty stationary lifts; and,

• Self Propelled Stackers – motorized, made for moving heavy inventory items.

According to Steve Guagliano, President of Mobile PT, one of the company’s smartest moves has been to diversify and to offer economy versions of their products under the ECO brand.

“Everything with the Mobile name on it is made right here in this plant,” says Guagliano. “We can make 100 trucks a day, and about 15,000 a year at the Mississauga plant alone. But with our partnership in China under brands like ECO, we produce about 60,000, and… that’s just a lot more!”

BREAKING BARRIERS
The partnership was formed easily. Mobile wanted to produce a lower cost version of its flagship pallet truck, the MLX55. The partnership seemed to do even better due to the fact both RUYI and Mobile were both family businesses, and had the same entrepreneurial spirit.

Mobile’s high standards would not be compromised, Steve had to see the production facilities there himself. He was more than impressed, “the sheer size of the factory there is just amazing,” he says. “We realized early on that we had to make sure our cultures were compatible. Once we saw that, we knew we would work well together and we decided to get involved. We required them to achieve the same quality and certifications that we had in our North American operations.”

RUYI’s input in to the manufacturing of the ECO is comparable, but it is a less “luxurious” version of the Mobile core brand. “We are very proud of both products and they deliver the same options,” says Guagliano. “Both of these product lines exist to fill specific needs. Through our distributors, we offer and train for both. These aren’t competing brands, they are ones that coexist, and will continue to do so.”

“I saw the industry shift coming, even back in the 1990s, I knew it was a good move when the opportunity presented itself,” says Guagliano. Creating the ECO brand and maintaining the Mobile core products was a way of competing with companies producing economy versions of their products, while maintaining the eminent quality of the Mobile brand name.

With the expansion of production into Asia, Mobile has been able to break into the European market with its ECO brand. They now have built supplier partnerships throughout, and have warehouses in Rotterdam and Barcelona.

Mobile’s product line is extremely diverse, and every time a client comes to them with a problem to solve, it leads to the creation of more base options. “Sure there are people who come in and want a specific thing, be it a pallet truck, stacker, or lumber cart.” Steve and his team love a challenge, when a customer brings in a need; Mobile strives to bring added value to their customer’s processes.

Of course the lumber carts, and that Mobile manufactures are immediately recognizable, their bright orange paint could only have them going to one place. “Every time a new Home Depot opens we are guaranteed an order of a volume of trucks, carts, and lumber carts,” he says.

Details, says Guagliano, is part of the way Mobile makes its customers happy. For example, offering a plastic cover for their platform trucks was an option that many suppliers did not have, and a selling point to many retailers who suffer through Canadian winters. The cold often makes steel bend and break. The plastic that Mobile uses extends the life of these trucks, and lessens wear and tear.

It is through Mobile’s attention to details like this that distributors and customers keep coming back again and again.

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