Forklift Brands Inc history

1868, Yale: Yale Lock Manufacturing Co. (USA) is formed, later becoming Yale and Towne Manufacturing Co.

One of the early efforts to combine horizontal and vertical motion was in 1887, when a crude truck capable of lifting its platform a few inches was built.

1890, Caterpillar: Caterpillar (USA) is founded by Benjamin Holt and Daniel Best.

1898, Baker: Baker Motor Vehicle Co. (USA) is founded to build electric cars.

1899: On 20 October, our founder, Friedrich Jungheinrich is born in East London, South Africa.

Our company’s roots date back to the early 1900’s with our legacy companies, Barrett Cravens and Towmotor.

By 1904, revolving bases had been developed to permit easier loading and tiering.

In 1906, an official of the Pennsylvania Railroad at Altoona, Pa., added storage battery power to a baggage wagon, producing what was probably the first powered platform truck.

The forerunner of our company was established by Hermann Jungheinrich in 1908 as an import and export firm under the name H. Jungheinrich & Co.

One of the early efforts to combine horizontal and vertical motion was in 1887, when a crude truck capable of lifting its platform a few inches was built. It was not until 1909, when the first all steel lift truck appeared, that unit load handling really took hold, getting its start in paper factories.

In 1914, Barrett Cravens began operation as a manufacturer of manual pallet trucks.

1917, Komatsu: Komatsu Iron Works (Japan) is established, later becoming Komatsu Ltd.

About 1919 some high lift trucks were built which raised their platforms several feet to provide a greater range of operation and permit handling the many different types of skids.

1920, Mitsubishi: Shibaura Works of Ohte-Shokai K.K. is established as a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., which eventually becomes Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Japan).

1922, Raymond: Raymond Corporation (USA) is formed.

With the vertical lifting cantilever introduced in 1923, the first modern forklift arrived.

1929, Linde: Linde takes over Güldner-Motoren-Gesellschaft, a German engine and tractor manufacturer.

Pallets had to wait until 1930 when the research of a large can manufacturer revealed the great strength inherent in the two-faced design, which could still be built for less money than standard skids.

These patent rights, together with the difficulty and expense of getting close enough tolerances, resulted in a virtual stoppage of experimental work on hydraulic trucks until 1932.

1934, Hyster: Electric Steel Foundry and Willamette Iron & Steel Works have combined into Willamette Hyster Company and an early straddle-carrier forklift model is produced.

1942, CESAB: CESAB (Italy) is founded.

1946, BT: BT Forklifts (Sweden) is founded.

1947: Hermann Jungheinrich dies on 9 October.

1948: Production of hand trucks and lift trucks starts in Barmbek.

1950, Prime-Mover: The Prime-Mover Company (USA) is founded by the Home-O-Nize Company of Iowa.

On 22 October Friedrich Jungheinrich registers the brand name Ameise (which means ant) at the patent office.1953: The forerunner of Jungheinrich AG, H. Jungheinrich & Co.

1954: Under the name Ameise a new battery-powered forklift model series is launched, as are the first lift trucks and tractors with driver platform.

1956: Start of in-house battery-powered motor development and production.

The heritage of UniCarriers forklifts began with the first Nissan Forklift rolling off the production line at Nissan Motor’s Totsuka plant on August 25, 1957.

With the reach truck Retrak a new fork lift truck category is developed.1958: To expand manufacturing capacity the new Hamburg-Wandsbek commences starts production.

1960: Ameise Junior, the first wheel-supported lift truck, featuring tiller steering and starter batteries, enables small companies to maximise the advantages of pallet storage.

1962, Halla: Hyundai International Inc. is founded.

1963: International subsidiaries open in Netherlands and UK.

Towmotor officially became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Tractor Company of Peoria, Illinois in November 1965.

1966: Land is bought in Norderstedt.

Toyota started selling forklifts in the US in 1967, and Perin Company (now TMHNC) was one of the first dealerships.

1968: Our founder, Dr Friedrich Jungheinrich, passes away at the age of 68 years on 28 January.

1969: A new international subsidiary is founded in Norway.

1970: A new international subsidiary opens in Spain.

In 1971, Caterpillar relocated Towmotor manufacturing to Mentor, Ohio, and soon after Towmotor forklifts were rebranded under the “Caterpillar” brand name.

1976: The first driverless transport systems are introduced into production.

1979: Our company now employs 4,100 people and boasts sales of DM 533 million, of which 58 percent is earned abroad.

1980, Hoist: Forklift Exchange is founded in the suburbs of Chicago, IL.

1984, Linde: Linde acquires Fenwick, the largest French lift truck manufacturer.

1985, Yale: Yale is acquired by NACCO Industries, Inc., and Yale Materials Handling Corporation is established.

1986, Cascade: Cascade forms a joint venture with Xiamen Forklift Company of China (Xiamen-Cascade Corp., Ltd.).

1987: With the new Retrak generation Jungheinrich opens new opportunities for reach trucks in space-saving storage.

1988: New product sales, rental and used truck business, repair shop and service division are brought together under unified management – at the headquarters in Germany as well as decentralised in the sales divisions.

1989: A new plant is built in Lüneburg for special build, small series production, and customisation.

1990: After merging the domestic companies, the company is transformed to a public limited company and floated on the stock exchange on 30 August.

1991: The launch of DIS, the drive-In-system for deep stacking

1992: New international subsidiaries founded in the Czech Republic and Hungary

1993: In July, in a joint venture with Linde, Jungheinrich sets up an engine plant in Moravany/Brunn, Czech Republic.

1994, Hoist: Forklift Exchange acquires Silent Hoist and Crane, a Brooklyn-based company.

1995, Toyota: Toyota Industrial Equipment, S.A. (TIESA) is established in France as a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corporation and Manitou B.F.

1996: Certification of entire Jungheinrich sales operations to ISO DIN 9001.

1997: Series production of the AC counterbalance EFG-VD 25/30 truck series starts.

1998: Jungheinrich develops the Retrak® ETV 14, the first reach truck for wheelchair drivers.

1999, Allis-Chalmers: Allis-Chalmers officially closes its main offices.

2000: New international subsidiaries founded in Turkey, Greece, United States and Singapore.

2001: The Group approves and implements the new corporate sales strategy, focussing on direct sales of the Jungheinrich brand.

2002: A new international subsidiary is formed in Brazil.

2004: New international subsidiaries go into service in Finland and China.

A joint venture with Ningbo Ruyi (PR China) is formed for sourcing our pedestrian pallet trucks.2005: The 100,000th truck with AC technology is delivered.

2006, Linde: Linde Material Handling breaks off from the Linde Group and becomes a part of the KION Group.

2007: The Germany sales, export sales, Norderstedt plant and spare parts logistics Norderstedt divisions are converted into separate companies.

2009: A new plant for the production of electric pallet trucks starts to operate in Landsberg.

2010: A new powder coating system goes online in Norderstedt.

2011: The EJE 112i series truck with lithium-ion technology goes into production.

2012: The ground-breaking ceremony for a new production plant for Jungheinrich Lift Truck Manufacturing Co., Ltd. is held in Qingpu, China.

In 2013, Nissan Forklift Corporation and TCM America joined together, becoming UniCarriers Americas Corporation.

2014, UniCarriers: UniCarriers acquires Crepa B.V., a Dutch forklift sales company, and New England Industrial Truck, Inc.

2015, Mitsubishi, UniCarriers: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. acquires UniCarriers in an attempt to compete with Toyota and the KION Group, the world’s top forklift manufacturers.

Direct sales branches in Australia, South Africa, Romania and Chile (January 2016) are founded.

Having set up Colombia, Peru and Ecuador in early 2018, Serbia followed as 40th own direct sales company.

In 2019, Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas Inc. acquired Equipment Depot, expanding its distribution network by adding direct, full-service material handling operations across nine states.

In 2020, Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas group launches its expanded business, bringing more than 100 years of material handling expertise to the marketplace.