COS, Australia’s largest family-owned and operated office and education supplies business, enhances its operations at its Sydney distribution centre with the help of reliable and high-performing Toyota forklift equipment from Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA). This partnership supports COS in maintaining efficient and seamless logistics, contributing to the exceptional service it provides to customers across NSW.
Led by second-generation Co-CEOs Belinda and Amie Lyone, COS has grown from its humble beginnings in 1977, when it was founded by Dominique Lyone with just two staff members in Western Sydney, to a company of over 600 employees today. With sales offices and distribution centres in every state and territory, COS provides thousands of essential products every day to keep workers, patients, and students healthy, safe, and productive.
Recently COS placed a substantial order for a range of Toyota high reach and counterbalance forklifts, as well as single and double-length electric pallet jacks to refresh the fleet of its Sydney distribution centre.
Upgrading a significant portion of its ageing material handling fleet, COS has ordered a total of 21 new pieces of forklift equipment for its New South Wales operations, the result of significant collaboration between COS and TMHA major account manager Michael Provan.
Mr Provan said that he worked with the COS team to provide a deal that would work best for their warehouse operation.
“I met with COS a number of times and we talked through the different options, the different models, the variations on how we can supply whether that be long-term rental, purchase, what those pricing and rates would look like, and through that process we nutted it down to what it’s now become,” Mr Provan said.
“We worked together to see what options would work for COS, what suited their business model, what suited their finance team and management team, and over time we were able to work out the model split, the supply split, work through that and find a plan to move forward.”
Owning their forklift equipment outright, COS depends on TMHA to ensure its distribution centres run smoothly and efficiently, delivering supplies to businesses across NSW.
COS has been valued customer of TMHA for over 10 years, and COS NSW distribution centre manager Troy Riggs said the partnership developed between the two companies was a big reason for continuing their fruitful partnership.
“(Michael Provan and I) have built a great relationship,” Mr Riggs said. “That relationship is why I pushed so hard to continue our partnership with Toyota for our new fleet.
“We often look for latest tech or best price and overlook the value of a solid working relationship. For me, when partnering up with a business, the relationship is the crucial part.”
The first batch of Toyota forklifts from the 21-unit order has already arrived in the NSW distribution centre for COS, which has been put to immediate use by the team who appreciate the performance, ergonomics and safety features of the latest Toyota machines.
Mr Riggs said his co-workers were loving being able to test out their new equipment.
“My team are loving the new equipment,” he said. “The looks of excitement on their faces as new equipment arrives is priceless.
“They know they are now driving the safest, most ergonomic equipment on the market. There is a real sense of pride on display from the team.”
The new fleet of equipment replaces old Toyota forklifts which have been in service for COS for approximately 10 years. A decade of consistent service has meant that Toyota’s team of service technicians have also developed a close working relationship with the warehouse team.
“Our technicians were on a first-name basis with most of the people on-site, and the relationship there has been very good,” Mr Provan said.
Minimising downtime is crucial for any business and having an extensive team of knowledgeable and experienced technicians able to rapidly respond to any servicing requests is a crucial part of TMHA’s offering to clients.
Mr Riggs said he was very happy with the company’s decision to partner with TMHA and would “100 per cent” recommend TMHA to others based on his experience with the brand while working at COS and other previous roles.
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COS maximising their efficiency with their new Toyota OSE250 order picker