22.11.2018

Almac goes direct in Oz

Italian tracked scissor and boom manufacturer Almac is to open a direct sales operation in Australia - Almac Pacific Pty Ltd - and has agreed a distribution deal with United Forklift and Access Solutions.

The Almac Pacific will initially comprise a registered office, with responsibility for the sales and support of its products to rental customers/major accounts and all national rental companies, handled initially from the factory. At the same time the company has agreed a separate deal with rental company United Forklift and Access Solutions, appointing it as the exclusive ‘National Retailer’ for Almac products, with responsibility to sell to end users.

Almac previously worked with Melbourne based specialist aerial lift sales company ASPAC which sold the Almac machines under its Athena brand, since launching the product at the EWPA meeting in 2015 See Almac arrives in Australia. While that partnership has now ended, Almac will continue to use the Athena branding for its products in Australia.
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Andrea Artoni of Almac (L) and David Maxwell of United Forklift and Access Solutions

Almac general manager Andrea Artoni said: “The appreciation and reception of our products from day one has made Australia our first market. The prospects for the future, combined with the high level of our deliberations, brought us to the decision to establish a direct presence on the market and open Almac Pacific to support strategic and executive customers. Consequently, it was very important to identify a high quality partner to service and support the retail market. United have always been very receptive to our products and produce the same level of quality work.”

“For this reason, it was natural to partner with United Forklift and Access Solutions. It is a pleasure that one of the most important and well respected players in the Australian Market decided to add our unique range of products and the Athena brand in its portfolio. United Forklift and Access Solutions, with its great experience, history, leading position and national presence both for sales and especially service/after sales, will be a great resource to further strengthen Athena and future AlmaCrawler products in the market. This will certainly bring many interesting opportunities for the future and lead to a mutually successful relationship. Last but not least, for us this was a natural agreement as we definitely share the same unique approach to the way we do business.”

United’s managing director David Maxwell added: “We are excited to be able to deal factory direct with AlmaCrawler as we do with our other world-renowned brands. This enables us to provide a high level of quality technical support and provide a quick response service at the most competitive price for the end user. The new partnership will build on our current relationship and only strengthen the brand and the product offerings in the Australian market."

Vertikal Comment

This move is a little surprising, given how well the existing arrangement seems to have worked, Australia is currently Almac’s largest market. It is not unusual for manufacturers to move to a wholly owned sales operation once they are established - at least for larger rental company sales, although unusual for a niche manufacturer. You would also thought that it would have reverted to its own branding.

United Forklift and Access Solutions is a major player of that there is no question, the company has to be one of the world’s largest all time purchasers of Haulotte platforms, last year it handed the French manufacturer its largest order ever last year, after having already added 1,000 Haulotte units to its fleet. So, having it on board as an exclusive retail partner is no bad thing. When it comes to its direct sales efforts though, it will find that it needs to build up a local infrastructure sooner, rather than later if it is to keep its customers happy.

An interesting move that probably has more to it than has so far been revealed?