Jungheinrich and EP Equipment have agreed on a strategic partnership under the motto ‘Shaping the future of material handling together’. This collaboration aims to deliver significant benefits to customers worldwide by combining the strengths of both companies to enhance efficiency, productivity, and sustainability in material handling operations globally.
Enhancing product offering
Leveraging their combined expertise, Jungheinrich and EP Equipment will focus on customer-centric and innovative industrial trucks, making both parties more competitive in their product offerings. As a starting point EP Equipment will support the portfolio extension of Jungheinrich with its new Mid-Tech brand ‘AntOn by Jungheinrich’, focussing on electric counterbalance and warehouse trucks. With parallel histories and a shared focus on electric material handling equipment, both companies have, over the last decades, driven innovation and thereby changed the industry.
Dr Lars Brzoska, CEO of Jungheinrich, stated: “We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with EP Equipment, as it will be a significant benefit for our customers. The portfolio extension will be a key part of our Strategy 2030+, in order to strengthen our position in the booming Mid-Tech market. Together with EP, we are able to provide a comprehensive full-liner truck portfolio – simply the right truck for every customer.”
John He, CEO of EP Equipment, added: “The partnership with Jungheinrich is yet another step in our mission to transform the industry from IC forklifts to electric. Together, we will further enhance our economies of scale in production, learn from each other and further strengthen our position as the leading players in lithium-ion powered material handling equipment.”
Combined strengths delivering superior value to customers
EP Equipment is a leading player in lithium-ion-based material handling trucks, shaping the future of the industry through innovative solutions with a clear focus on green energy. EP is active through a global dealer network servicing customers all around the world. Jungheinrich is one of the world’s leading providers of material handling solutions and a trusted partner of customers worldwide, with a strong global footprint and an exceptional direct sales and service network. Since 1953 the company has always focused on highly innovative electric material handling equipment and is the pioneer of lithium-ion technology in its industry.
By combining these strengths and the shared history of electrification and innovation, the partnership promises to deliver superior value to all customers and opens up the potential for further strategic cooperation opportunities along the entire value chain. Both partners are committed to exploring additional opportunities as they move forward.
This International Women’s Day, two Jungheinrich UK leaders talk about their careers, their greatest successes and challenges, and opportunities for women.
Karen Taylor Ronson (pictured) is a Jungheinrich Business Director, responsible for customer service and sales. After 24 years with the Jungheinrich where she was responsible for the operational and customer service side of the business Karen has now also taken responsibility for the sales, racking and used equipment operation.
What makes a great business director?
Karen: “Firstly, it’s about looking after our employees as they are our biggest asset. Then it’s about knowing what works for the customer. Throughout my time with Jungheinrich I have learned to identify what makes the customer happy but to also see the warning signs of what could become an unhappy customer. And it’s at that point where we need to act. Customer service is not just about solving problems – it’s about customer retention. And ensuring we have the right service package for the customer is a big part of the sales process. My job as business director is to ensure we sell the right solutions for each customer.”
After studying business administration, Silke Herrera’s first job was with Jungheinrich in Hamburg. In the 32 years since, she has headed departments in Germany, been Finance Director for Jungheinrich Spain and MD of Jungheinrich Chile, before becoming UK Finance Director in 2023.
What has been your greatest challenge?
Silke: “Going to Chile in 2018 as an MD. It was a relatively new country for Jungheinrich [having previously operated via dealership] and there was a lot of development and training necessary to make people understand our business model and improve the processes to offer the best service to the customers. Also, working in a different culture is always challenging, but all the wonderful experiences I would never want to miss!”
As a woman in intralogistics, what obstacles have you had to overcome and how have you done it?
Karen: “When I first joined, I was the only female in an operational role. It’s only in the last 10 years or so we have started to see an interest from other females, and we now have female engineers, apprentices, and Area Service Managers. And the same can be said for the sales side of the business where we now have female salespeople, regional sales managers, and heads of sales. However, 24 years ago, I did face some resistance from customers and internal colleagues. There were some very standard questions directed to me, for example ‘what do you know about repairing forklift trucks?’ ‘What do you know about logistics?’. My standard response in those days was, “Richard Branson can’t fly a jumbo jet, but he makes a very good CEO of Virgin Airways.” It wasn’t my job to know how to fix a forklift truck. It was my job to support the teams in making sure they could get the right tools, support and training to do their jobs.”
Silke: “Sometimes the idea of women leaders could be challenging for men, even if they didn’t say anything. I feel that women have to work harder to show they can do it.”
How do you deal with stress?
Karen: “Take a deep breath, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. I very rarely panic and always take a pragmatic approach. And I always tell my team, “You can only do what you have the capacity to do”. You’ve got to prioritise and focus on what you can reasonably change rather than worrying about everything that’s outside your circle of influence. Outside of work I coach (and train) at a female only boxing club — that’s a great stress relief. I am qualified to deliver the fundamental principals of professional boxing training and functional fitness.”
Silke: “I am generally a positive thinking person and I feel very lucky that I am able to treat the next day as another day. I don’t take things personally and I try to look forward, not back. Also, I always have faith in myself to say, “I will do it. I will find a way. I will find a solution.” It helps that my family have supported me always. My husband, especially, is a big supporter. Whenever I have a problem, he listens to me and helps me get rid of my anger or stress.”
Who has been your inspiration in Jungheinrich?
Silke: “When I started we had one woman on the board, the famous Mrs. Martin. She was responsible for Finance and HR. She knew Dr. Jungheinrich personally. She was not my direct boss, but she was the board member for my department. It was inspirational to see a women in that role at that time. She was very close to the people and she would always ask how you were and ask about your family — a completely approachable person. This is what I try to be, part of the team and showing respect to all members. This was my message at last year’s conference: everybody has an important role to play, some at the front and others at the back office. Without the defence and midfield playing their part, the top strikers would never score a goal.”
What is your proudest achievement at Jungheinrich?
Karen: “My proudest achievement is that I broke the mould and the perception that women can’t succeed in this industry. But I am really proud of the fact that in my Region we have a great team spirit. We’re a strong team. I encourage an open and honest approach with the everyone and I believe that work should also be fun. If there is a work event such as a family fun day, or just an evening out for drinks we always get a good turnout. The sales team arrange and fund a Christmas weekend away between themselves and I know that would never happen without their being a great team spirit.”
What is the most important thing that you have learnt in your role?
Silke: “When I started at Jungheinrich, I had a specialist role and worked more on my own. With the time and taking over leadership roles, I learnt to be a team player and to give the team members flexibility and the ability to learn from their mistakes. The higher you get, the more you really have to trust your team. Something else I have learned is to put myself in the role of the other to understand their point of view and their needs. For example, when it comes to a decision my boss has to take, I try to be a step ahead and prepare the decision with facts and figures, and also to build my own opinion and give a recommendation. The same I would expect from my team, not to come up with problems and open questions, but with a proposal as they are the experts.”
How can encourage a more diverse workforce?
Karen: “I think articles like this are a great way, but we must change the perception of the intralogistics business. It’s not just about repairing forklift trucks, it’s not a heavy lifting job, it’s not all about dirty, oily environments. Yes, there is an element of that, but a big part of our business is about automation – it’s the future. Its high-tech and it’s developing all the time. There’s just so much for youngsters and females coming into this business to learn.”
Silke Hererra
Silke: “We need to be flexible as a company and find good solutions to combine the job with the family, hybrid working is a good step forward. But we also should encourage women to feel that they are able to follow a career path and take leadership roles.
On International Women’s Day, what would you say to women who may not have considered a career in intralogistics?
Karen: “I would say don’t judge a book by its cover. Just because it doesn’t sound glamorous, doesn’t mean it isn’t exciting and challenging. Explore the options, look at our website, talk to people who work in the industry. Many females must dismiss our job adverts thinking it’s not an environment for women. Think outside the box – I did.”
Jungheinrich is connecting its fleet by equipping all its new trucks with telemetry units as standard. This enables customers easy access to the Jungheinrich Fleet Management System (FMS), starting with the entry level Starter Kit.
Jungheinrich is continuing to drive forward the digitalisation and networking of intralogistics by equipping all newly ordered trucks produced in its European plants with telemetry units as standard.
Jungheinrich trucks are fully networkable and ready for intelligent integration in the warehouse. With the help of the Jungheinrich FMS fleet management system, customers can use this data to optimally deploy their fleet.
“Data is one of the most valuable resources in the warehouse today. We are now making this data easily and efficiently usable by our customers,” says Phil Pearson, Sales Management Director at Jungheinrich. “Connectivity is an essential key to further optimising intralogistics. By processing information better and faster with our Jungheinrich FMS, we make our customers’ warehouses even more efficient.”
Thanks to the telemetry units and Jungheinrich FMS, Jungheinrich customers receive real-time data on the condition and use of their trucks, enabling them to optimally manage their fleet. Data transmission to the Jungheinrich Cloud takes place via a mobile connection or Wi-Fi.
“When our customers agree to share the usage and vehicle data of their trucks with us, we can access important insights into the actual use of the industrial trucks. This enables us to tailor our range of solutions even more personally and individually to our customers’ needs,” says Pearson. “This includes, for example, remote diagnostics for the targeted reduction or avoidance of downtimes through more efficient service, or intelligent energy solutions as the basis for cost- and consumption-optimised energy management.”
* Enhanced connectivity thanks to telemetry units in every new truck
* Truck customers now have easy access to the Jungheinrich Fleet Management
* The FMS and telemetry units deliver increased efficiency and performance thanks to better data management
Jungheinrich UK Ltd is one of the top three leading intralogistics providers in the UK, generating a turnover of over £200 million annually. With a team of more than 800 dedicated and highly experienced employees operating from four locations across the UK, Jungheinrich offers the industry’s widest range of intralogistics solutions, including high energy efficiency pallet trucks, stackers, counterbalance trucks, order pickers and more in 600+ truck variants, new or fully refurbished.
Hamburg-based intralogistics pioneer Jungheinrich is fully taking over Magazino, a Munich-based robotics specialist. In addition to its shareholding, which has existed since 2020 and was increased to 21.7 percent in 2022, Jungheinrich is acquiring all shares held by the founders as well as the previous co-shareholders, a.o. Cellcom, Fiege Logistik, and Körber. The transaction took effect immediately upon signing this week. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Magazino will continue to grow as an independent company within the Jungheinrich Group and also in particular make use of the Group’s global sales and service network. The company will remain under the management of both Co-Founders Frederik Brantner and Lukas Zanger as well as Dr Moritz Tenorth.
For Jungheinrich, the full takeover of Magazino is another strategically important step towards strengthening its automation expertise. Founded in 2014, Magazino employs around 130 people and has one of the largest mobile robotics development teams in Europe. The company offers a powerful technology platform that enables logistics robots to also operate in a mixed human-machine environment. As a result, robots are able to intelligently navigate in the warehouse as well as selectively pick up and transport needed objects. Magazino’s system and robots are already in use in warehouses of various industrial customers, online retailers and logistics service providers. The control software for robots in complex logistics environments is also already integrated in Jungheinrich’s EAEa, a fully automated low-lift truck that was initially presented at this year’s LogiMAT intralogistics trade fair.
For Jungheinrich, the merger is an ideal addition as part of the expansion of its business with automated and autonomous vehicles. Going forward, Magazino’s software and development expertise will be even more closely integrated into Jungheinrich’s product development. Magazino gains access to Jungheinrich’s international sales and service network and becomes part of a broad portfolio of intralogistics products and solutions. The Magazino brand will be retained and the company will continue to work with external integration partners and customers.
“We’ve been working closely with Magazino for several years now, we are on par with each other and communicate well. The chemistry is simply right. Now we are taking the next logical step in our cooperation and acquire Magazino in full”, said Dr Lars Brzoska, Chairman of the Board of Management of Jungheinrich. “Magazino is a successful company with a very good management and top experts in the market. It has outstanding software competencies and has developed solutions that have the potential to shape the future of intralogistics in the long term. In the Group, we will leverage these competencies to jointly drive the further development of innovative automation and robotics solutions.”
Frederik Brantner, CEO and Co-Founder of Magazino: “The need for warehouse automation is growing constantly. By steering robots in this complex environment, we have developed a unique expertise that we want to further expand. We would like to thank our previous investors for the trust they have placed in us and for the many years of successful cooperation. They have supported us strategically and financially to date and have made a significant contribution to the further development of our business. Together we have laid the foundation for the next chapter in Magazino’s success story. With Jungheinrich, we will continue to extend our intralogistics technology leadership and expand internationally.”
The fourth episode of our Podcast series, ‘Logistics Business Conversations’, is now available to listen to on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast, Google Podcasts, Amazon Audible, YouTube, and all other podcast distribution platforms – just search for ‘Logistics Business Conversations’.
Warehouse Automation is in vogue at the moment due to labour shortages and costs, but the issues are more complex than that. Learn from industry leader Jungheinrich, who provide the full spectrum of materials handling products. What is the future of robotics and forklift trucks? Peter MacLeod talks to Jungheinrich UK MD Paul Lynam and Director of Projects Spencer Goss about customer needs and future trends.
Listen anytime on your preferred platform or by clicking here. Watch our recent Webinars or listen to any of our Podcasts here.
Jungheinrich UK is a leading material handling solutions provider. It is a subsidiary of Hamburg based Jungheinrich AG which employs 19,000 colleagues around the world. Jungheinrich provides a holistic range of products and services in terms of equipment & solutions, warehousing and material flow engineering. Jungheinrich is leading the way with the latest technology including Lithium-Ion batteries and warehouse automation.
The company’s Logistics Systems division offers warehouse concept design and material flow analysis, project management, installation of pallet racking and shelving right up to semi and fully automated warehouse solutions such as Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems as well as Autonomous Mobile Robots and Automated Guided Vehicles.
Jungheinrich UK is headquartered in Milton Keynes and has a large warehouse, workshop and regional head office in Warrington. Jungheinrich currently employs over 750 staff in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of which almost 500 are working in the Customer support & Aftersales sector.
Jungheinrich celebrates its 60 year anniversary in the UK in 2023. This landmark helps highlight a wealth of experience at the forefront of materials handling solutions and, more than ever, instils the confidence that the company can find the perfect solution for any application.
The third episode of our Podcast series, ‘Logistics Business Conversations’, is now available free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Simplecast, YouTube, and all other podcast distribution platforms – just search for Logistics Business Conversations.
Supply chains are responsible for a quarter of the world’s carbon emissions. Learn how to accelerate the move to a decarbonised future as Logistics Business Editor Peter MacLeod talks to Serene Esuruoso and Felix Prettejohn of the Carbon Trust, experts in hydrogen technology and transport. What new technologies can be used and what are the easy wins? Listen to find out. and understand the hurdles: cost, infrastructure and uncertainty.
Listen anytime on your preferred platform or by clicking here. Watch our recent Webinars or listen to any of our Podcasts here.
This episode, on Carbon Neutral Supply Chains, is sponsored by Jungheinrich UK. The company’s UK Head Office is located in Milton Keynes. This lies at the hub of additional strategically sited Customer Service Centres in Scotland (Motherwell), the North West (Warrington) and the South West (Bristol). Jungheinrich UK now offers the most comprehensive range of materials handling solutions and services available from a single source.
Jungheinrich celebrated its 50 year anniversary in the UK in 2013. This landmark helps highlight a wealth of experience at the forefront of materials handling solutions and, more than ever, instils the confidence that the company can find the perfect solution for any application.
The Jungheinrich Group of Hamburg celebrated its 60th Anniversary in 2013 (having formed in 1953). In contrast to the USA, the new efficiencies offered by materials handling techniques were only adopted by European industry after the Second World War. A prime mover behind this development was Dr-Ing. Friedrich Jungheinrich who established a small workshop in northern Germany in 1953 to explore the potential benefits offered by modern handling innovations.
From those humble beginnings employing just 30 staff and achieving a first year turnover of DM 2.5m (£1m), the Group, with its headquarters remaining in Hamburg, has developed to become the number 1 supplier of warehousing technology in Europe.
Jungheinrich group now has sales and service companies in 30 countries, dealer distribution networks all over the world including Australia, South Africa and China and has an international workforce of over 12,000 employees.
Jungheinrich AG chose Configura to be a strategic partner for the development of various product and system configurators for highly complex customer solutions for its logistics systems division. The aim is to jointly establish an all-in-one plant-design-solution for customer projects which cover Jungheinrich’s entire process from initial planning to calculation and the creation of a bill of materials.
“Configura has officially been awarded the contract as the central software solution for the ‘System CPQ’ topic at Jungheinrich, which covers our fully automated intralogistics solutions and several other products,” said Dr. Florian Kuzmany, Head of Business Tools Sales Warehouse & Automation Projects at Jungheinrich.
The cooperation between Jungheinrich and Configura began in 2020, starting with a pilot project for the configuration of automated pallet racking systems. With the latest development in this strategic collaboration, further racking systems as well as materials handling components will be added to Configura’s CET Material Handling planning software, providing Jungheinrich’s sales department with an efficient, intuitive and cross-product project planning solution.
“We value Jungheinrich’s continued commitment to Configura,” said Rich Trahey, VP Sales & Marketing at Configura. “This strategic collaboration enables Jungheinrich to take full advantage of our software ecosystem—enabling them and their network of partners to concept and engineer warehouse systems with speed, accuracy and efficiency.”
As one of the world’s leading providers of intralogistics solutions, Jungheinrich has been advancing the development of innovative and sustainable products and solutions for material flows for 70 years. As a pioneer in the sector, the Hamburg-based family business is committed to creating the warehouse of the future. In 2022, Jungheinrich and its workforce of about 20,000 employees generated revenue of 4.76 billion euros. The global network covers 11 production plants and service and sales companies in 42 countries. The share is included in the MDAX.
Paul Lynam has been named the new Managing Director of Jungheinrich UK, an industry-leading intralogistics supplier. It is a role he will combine with his current position as MD of Jungheinrich Ireland, a position he has held for the last two years. Lynam is on a mission to help businesses dependent on material handling/intralogistics respond to a fast-changing world. The appointment occurs at a critical moment within the intralogistics industry, and he is excited to have the reins of both companies at such a pivotal time.
“The sector is on the cusp of major change,” he explained. “We are at the start of a period where the impact of global megatrends such as electrification, digitisation, sustainability and globalisation will mean a lot of change and opportunity for our customers, and we will have to adapt to meet that demand.”
Driving and responding to change
“We’re seeing more automation coming into play,” said Paul, examining the real-world impact of change. “The technology is advancing and the effect of that is that you are creating choices for the consumer and the supply chain. The supply chain can do it the way they’ve always done it, or they can do it in a way that harnesses new technology and futureproofs their business.
“Our customers are changing, but they are changing at different paces and in different ways. We must change our approach to deal with that. That starts with the products that we’re providing (for example, if you create an autonomous truck, you don’t need to design a comfortable seat for an eight-hour shift because there’s no driver) but it effects every element of our operation, from the people we recruit to how we sell to how we develop the brand.”
Championing Environmentality
Jungheinrich is no newcomer to sustainability—it is an organisation with 70 years of expertise in electromobility. Yet the company’s EcoVadis platinum certification combined with the launch of Environmentality, Jungheinrich’s approach to tackling climate change head on, was a step change in the company’s approach to carbon neutrality. It struck a chord with Paul, who will be leading Jungheinrich UK’s journey towards net zero.
“Jungheinrich is taking the issue of sustainability very seriously and we are seeing this not just in new legislation but in the demands of the customer base.”
Those shifting demands are impacting every element of the Jungheinrich UK operation.
“We are developing our proposition with respect to the environmental footprint of our trucks both during the manufacturing and in the longer-term operational lifecycle. Not only are we leading the way in the lithium ion segment but we also have the Powerline range of trucks with a smaller physical footprint and zero carbon footprint to the point of delivery across the range.”
Journey of change
Central to Jungheinrich’s continued success are its people, and there’s one facet of Jungheinrich that struck Paul from his first day with the company.
“This is a business with a lot of long-serving and passionate employees who know everything about forklifts,” he said. “It seems to run throughout the organisation. Everywhere you go there are lots of people with 20+ years’ service and some have close to double that. I believe this is a sign that the company has been doing things very well, but it is equally a company that sees the world is changing and is inviting and enabling customers to go on this journey of change with us.
“The UK is in my opinion one of the flagship units within the global Jungheinrich organisation and the UK is a major economy. The opportunity to continue the development of the business here in the UK was one of those opportunities that don’t come around too often. Despite the current local and global economic challenges, it’s a good time to be in the industry.”
Jungheinrich UK Ltd is one of the top three leading intralogistics providers in the UK, generating a turnover of over £200 million annually. With a team of more than 800 dedicated and highly experienced employees operating from four locations across the UK, Jungheinrich offers the industry’s widest range of intralogistics solutions, including high energy efficiency pallet trucks, stackers, counterbalance trucks, order pickers and more in 600+ truck variants, new or fully refurbished.
A full intralogistics solutions provider, Jungheinrich excels in automation, racking systems, warehouse planning and financial services and operates one of the largest forklift rental fleets in the UK, all connected by a 500-employee strong customer service support network.
The company is a division of the Jungheinrich AG Group, which has direct sales companies in 40 countries and operates through a partner network in a further 80 countries. Jungheinrich employs 19,000 people worldwide and generated consolidated revenue of €4.2 billion in 2021.
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