Toyota 8-Series forklifts are proving integral to the operational efficiency at one of Australia's largest powder coating companies.
Established in Western Australia in 1984, Supacoat specialises in powder coating large items such as street lighting columns, power generator enclosures, building trusses and large sliding gates.
Its state-of-the-art, 3000m2 facility in Welshpool, near Perth, boasts the biggest batching oven in the country, extendable to a length of 15 metres.
Supacoat owner Max Carson said the company's three Toyota 8-Series forklifts - two 2.5-tonne models and one 3.0-tonne model - enhanced the operation and consistently delivered in an environment where quality of finish was critical.
"The size of many of the items we coat demands fork handling so we can hang parts for coating, remove parts once they've been coated, and load our customers' trucks," Mr Carson said.
"The Toyota 8-Series forklifts are great for us as they are so easy to operate and very reliable.
"They are also operated by a number of different people daily, and their user-friendly control layout means drivers can get straight into the 8-Series and on with the job quickly.
"All this reduces the chance of operator error and helps to achieve the finish our customers demand."
In addition, Mr Carson said the 8-Series forklifts had helped ensure Supacoat remained an injury and incident-free workplace.
"The forklifts eliminate the risk of back stress injuries by assisting with almost all the lifting in our new factory," he said.
"The 8-Series' compact container masts also make working on the floor easier and safer when drivers operate under our overhead track system while loading and unloading parts for powder coating."
Toyota Material Handling Perth branch Area Sales Manager Tony McGuire said Toyota 8-Series forklifts helped get the job done, regardless of the brief.
"8-Series forklifts offer leading design and safety features, such as Automatic Fork Levelling Control to level forks during loading and Active Control Rear Stabiliser, which locks the rear axle to help reduce the potential of lateral tip-overs.
"These are particularly useful attributes for a business like Supacoat, which has very specific demands and must provide the highest quality results, on a very large scale, to all its clients.
"Toyota forklifts contribute to a business' factory floor operations no matter how awkward or difficult the task."
Toyota Forklifts Enhance Efficiency and Safety