Lift Truck OEMs Build Skill and Heart

• NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. (NMHG), makers of Yale and Hyster lift trucks, announced the addition of 401 workers at the company’s Sulligent, Ala., Berea, Ky., Ramos Arizpe, Mexico, and Greenville, N.C., lift truck manufacturing facilities.

“We aren’t ready to say that the economy is totally out of the woods yet, but we feel that we are in a solid position to take advantage of the rebound that is occurring,” said Jonathan Dawley, V.P. of marketing, NMHG. “We’re very happy to play our part in putting Americans back to work.”

NMHG is also adding third shifts to certain areas, and assembly plants in Berea and Greenville are starting up second shifts in painting and select assembly lines to meet expected ongoing demand and to reduce lead times. 

• Service technicians for The Raymond Corporation and its authorized sales and service centers are now trained through Raymond’s exclusive Technician Development Program. This program provides technicians with practical application training that enables them to be deployed more quickly out in the field.

This training is predicated on rigorous course manager training, according to Scott Holcombe, director of training and certified course manager for Carolina Handling, LLC, in Piedmont, S.C. “Course managers are in the best position to ensure individuals participating in the Technician Development Program learn the skills they need to perform at the highest level,” he said.

• Employees of Houston-based Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc.(MCFA) recently volunteered to help a local family achieve their dream of owning a home. The project was completed as part of Habitat for Humanity’s program which seeks to build affordable homes for hard-working, low-income families.

Over the course of two days, nearly 60 MCFA employees worked to construct the frame, build the roof, and install windows and other elements for the house in South Houston.

In early 2010 MCFA donated a Cat lift truck model NR4000P to Houston’s Habitat for Humanity ReStore, the organization’s discounted building supply warehouse.