Toyota this week announced the completion of the integration process between Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing and Toyota Material Handling USA into a single business unit to better serve customers and increase overall synergy. The company’s new name is Toyota Material Handling Inc.
The move combines Toyota’s forklift manufacturing operations with its sales, marketing, and distribution functions. The company remains headquartered in Columbus, Ind., where the Toyota Forklift brand has been manufactured since 1990. TMH is led by president and CEO Jeff Rufener, vice president Tony Miller and senior vice president Bill Finerty.
Toyota has been the No. 1 selling forklift brand since 2002, the company said.
“Toyota is more committed than ever to being a complete material handling solutions provider,” Rufener said. “The integration of TIEM and TMHU will allow us to simplify, streamline, and strengthen the entire customer experience. Integrating our teams will improve the flow of information to and from our customers so we can deliver exactly what they need when they need it.”
Integrating the two business units is the next step in a process that started in 2014 when TMHU completed a three-year relocation of its headquarters from California to Indiana. The integration process occurred progressively throughout 2019.
“We’re already seeing results, and we’re just getting started,” Rufener said. “The results have been gratifying in terms of the attitudes of our associates, and also in the tangible improvement and efficiency in our business. The world is changing faster every day, and our business has to change with it. Standing still is simply not an option. Combining our companies is another step forward on that journey.”
