As businesses are planning for the advent of Level 4, Masslift Africa, the sole distributor of Mitsubishi forklifts in Southern Africa, announced their preparedness plan to help businesses get their logistics back on track.
South Africans are eagerly anticipating May 1st 2020 when lockdown will be lowered from Risk Level 5 to Level 4 allowing numerous sectors to be back in business. Since lockdown was first implemented, Marco Caverni, CEO of Masslift Africa, says that the country has seen a major shift in logistics and supply chain management. “As specialists in materials handling, we have had a front-row seat to the logistical challenges that our clients have been faced with. Despite this, as a nation united in the fight against COVID-19, South Africa has managed to keep everything running and the shelves stocked.”
Caverni attributes this to the resilience of South Africans, the strong leadership shown by government and the agility of companies who service the fast-moving consumer goods industry. “We as Masslift Africa are proud of the part that our team has played in this. We have managed to keep up with the demand for forklifts which play an integral role in the logistics side of the retail and e-commerce industries.”
Just days ahead of the lowering of lockdown to Level 4 risk, Caverni spoke on behalf of Masslift Africa to announce their service continuity plans to ensure a steady supply of forklifts to businesses that will be re-opening. “We have to all make sure that we are able to contribute to the revival of the economy post-lockdown. As Masslift, we want to do our part to get South Africa moving forward as soon as possible.”
From a staff and service delivery point of view, Masslift is classified as an essential service provider. Administration and sales staff are working remotely from home while technicians, contracts managers and workshop staff are in the field.
For field services and repairs, Masslift has a 24-hour call centre with technicians and contracts managers on standby attending to breakdowns at client sites. All clients are being serviced from main centres and Masslift can extend their reach up to 200km outside central hubs to assist those who are providing essential goods and services. Masslift dealers are helping to bridge the gaps to ensure national service coverage.
“Breakdowns can also be logged on our service app for existing clients,” Caverni explains. “The app has been instrumental in building our reputation for a quick turnaround on repairs and services. Clients have immediate access to our service department and can track the process. This is one of the ways that Masslift shows a strong commitment to supporting our clients during this period of uncertainty.”
Masslift’s full forklift rental, sales and services offering is available to assist both essential service businesses and businesses that will be reopening and have a need to increase material handling capacity. Depending on unit availability, Masslift’s lead time for delivery can be as quick as same-day delivery for an existing customer. For new clients, they offer a turnaround time on delivery of forklifts within 2 – 3 days.
“Typically, when delivering forklifts to a new client, a team goes out to the client to do a full handover. Our current situation means that this will not always be possible, and we have tried to respond to this need as best as we can. For new clients who require driver training, we can deploy a technician to provide training while taking all hygiene measures into account. We also have instructional videos that cover the most important operational aspects of the diesel forklifts that can be provided to clients coupled with a teleconference for further instruction,” explains Caverni.
Masslift teams in the field are taking all the recommended hygiene precautions including wearing masks, using hand sanitiser and using gloves where required. They also comply fully with PPE and hygiene protocols at client sites.
Masslift contracts managers have been in constant contact with their clients to ensure that their needs are being met during the lockdown and this will continue during the upcoming Alert Level transitions that South Africa will be going through.
“Masslift is committed to supporting our clients who are essential service providers – and all customers who will be reopening their business soon. At no point during the Level 5 lockdown did our teams allow the challenges of working remotely to get in the way of service excellence. Whether companies need forklift rental, are looking to buy forklifts or need services related to forklift operation, Masslift is here to help reopen South Africa,” Caverni concludes.
For more information, visit www.mitsubishiforklifts.co.za.
