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“The whole industry was quiet in 2009
and 2010. The Global Financial Crisis
certainly affected our business for a while,”
Brad said.
“During that period, we went back to
basics. We put all of our attention back on
the customer. We had a good, solid look
at what we were doing and how we could
develop our products so we could be in
the right position when the market turned
positive again. We believe we are right on
the cusp of a positive turn in the market.
“Last year was an exciting year for us. We
used customer feedback on how we could
improve our standard Genie GS-68RT scissor
lift which resulted in us developing a new
range. In 2011, we launched a new, diesel
range called Genie GS-69RT scissor lift series
(Rough Terrain Series).
“The new Genie GS-69 rough terrain
scissor lift range is an inch wider than
the 68. It may sound like a small figure,
but it offers a big difference in operating
platform and working area. The model
features an oscillating axle, which means
the machine always has four wheels on the
ground, this makes for better stability and
terrain-ability.
“The biggest change though was in the
platform height. The Genie GS-69 rough
terrain scissor lift includes a 40ft machine
and it’s the only one in the industry that can
be driven extended at full height.
“Another significant business
development was partnering with the BOQ
(Bank of Queensland) to create financial
products designed to assist our customers
grow their fleet.
“We want our clients to succeed in
business. And a large part of their success
will be dependent on them being able to
grow as the economy does. And businesses
will always be hampered in their endeavors
to grow depending on their available cash
and leverage position. We really wanted to
assist in that, so early this year we launched
Terex Financial Services. We have new
resources, staff and financial products.
Into 2012 and beyond
“At this years’ HRIA Convention, we will
launch the new 69DC electric scissor series,
based on AC drive technology.
“We’ve seen there’s a demand for rough
terrain machines with low noise and no
emissions. We saw the success of the AC
drive technology in our Genie Z-40 electric
knuckle machines, so we’ve applied it to the
new Genie GS-69DC range.
“Normally, battery powered machines
don’t have the grunt for rough terrain.
But our AC drive provides the extra power
that’s needed to work in rough conditions.
The AC drive also provides a longer battery
life, lasting a full, normal working day. This
means there’s no down-time for recharging.
So this new 69DC range has full terrain-
ability and it also ticks the ‘green’ box
for working in confined spaces with low
emissions and low noise.
Setting standards
“The US, European and Australian
markets are quite similar; we’re all driven
by safety standards and labour efficiencies.
Specifically, Australian Standards are more
aligned with European Standards.
“One labour efficiency we introduced
in the Australian market, which has led
the worldwide market, is the addition of
a hydraulic generator to most of our big
booms. We fit a 7kVa generator to the
machine body to allow operators on the
platform to access power, independent of
ground-based generators.
“From a performance perspective,
operators can use grinders, rattle-guns and
other hand-held, power equipment while
being able to drive around without the
need to disconnect from a ground-based
generator.
“Most manufacturers in Australia selling
machines over 60ft would sell a generator
attached to the machine. It is in fact
probably now standard in the Australian
industry. We started fitting generators to
our larger machines about six or seven years
ago and we’ve probably fitted over 3,000
generators since then.
Asia set to grow
“We’re part of the Asia Pacific operations,
and there’s a lot of excitement being
generated out of China. I see China as
Australia was 20 years ago in terms of
where their rental industry is. In the
Asia Pacific region, China represents our
strongest growth opportunity closely
followed by India. India currently favors
pre-owned equipment and we’ll be keenly
MAY 2012 | ACCESS
in
ACTION | 45
ACCESS in ACTION
Focused on a brighter future
The Australian and New Zealand economies continue to perform relatively well, the US and Japan markets are
recovering, and Australia is transitioning to a second phase of the commodity boom. This market improvement has
economists confident Australia’s economy will continue to grow. Focusing on this positive future, Genie General
Manager, Brad Lawrence takes a look back at the events of recent years and discusses why 2012 and the future is
bright for Genie and Terex and for the whole access market.
At this years’ HRIA Convention, we will launch
the new 69DC Series electric scissor, based on AC
Drive technology
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