Gulf Construction Online - Belgian supplier plans Dubai entry by year-end

Transport & Materials Handling

Belgian supplier plans Dubai entry by year-end

01 December 2005

Thermote and Vanhalst (TVH group) of Belgium – a leading global supplier of spare parts, accessories and material handling equipment – is poised to open its Middle East sales office in Dubai by the end of the year.

TVH’s Middle East representative Sanjoy Roychoudhury is taking care of local needs of the customers and assisting with technical support, supported by the sales advisors at TVH headquarters in Belgium. With an operation based in Dubai, the company will be able to enhance its local support to the clients.
The headquarters of TVH Group, which was set up in 1969, has been supplying a range of quality products to wholesalers and retailers worldwide with a guarantee of fast delivery at the most competitive price, according to Roychoudhury.
“TVH is a one-stop shop, supplying everything from the simplest of hand trolleys to the heaviest lift trucks, and from the smallest of nuts to the complete chassis. Irrespective of the make, the type and the year of make of the lift truck, TVH always has the solution whenever there is a problem,” he points out.
He continues: “TVH’s unrivalled know-how is reflected in a database containing more than 10 million part numbers, 450,000 of which are in stock. Customers no longer need to find different suppliers, which saves them a lot of time and effort.”
Founded by Paul Thermote and Paul Vanhalst, the company has customers in 162 countries and is represented all over the world. To be as close as possible to its customers, TVH has set up a worldwide distribution network with its own subsidiaries and affiliates in the UK (TVH UK), France (Manupiece), South Africa (TVH South Africa), Malaysia (TVH Far East), TVH Australasia, CIS-countries (Inter forklift), Belgium (CC-forklift trucks), America (SMH) and China (TVH China).
“Our sales teams are always available to advise customers, no matter which part of the world they are in,” says Roychoudhury. “They can help customers in no fewer than 31 different languages Every day 17,000 customers across the globe make use of the stock of 450,000 different parts stacked in 27 km of shelves, comprising spare parts of all brands and types from a database of over 10 million known parts references The company has also recently started a department that specifically deals with spare parts for access equipment and already 100,000 references are available.”
Quality awareness permeates the entire TVH organisation as all business processes are systematically subjected to strict quality control. A great deal of attention is paid to the quality of TVH products through rigorous inward and outward checks.

Technical support
“Based on the expertise and know-how of a large technical team, TVH can solve even the toughest of problems. Highly qualified and trained specialists in mechanical engineering, electronics and hydraulics – for all makes of forklift and all product groups – forms the backbone of the organisation. Based on the basic information that customers provide, the technical team is able to identify the part required, irrespective of the type or year of construction of the forklift truck,” he says.

Forklifts & access equipment
TVH is also a top supplier of used forklifts with a permanent stock of 1,600 forklifts and an annual sales volume of 5,000 machines. In addition, last year the company further expanded its massive range by launching into the sale of second-hand access equipment.
“TVH only focuses on products that comply with up-to-date CE (Conformite Europeenne)-standards, and top-of-the-range brands that are offered at the most competitive prices,” says Roychoudhury.
The TVH fleet consists of well-known brands like Genie, Grove, JLG, Upright, Niftylift and Aichi and the company has a permanent stock of at least 200 second-hand machines.
The company also offers a large assortment of scissor-lifts, articulating boom-lifts, telescopic boom-lifts (even on tracks) and trailer-mounted lifts.