Gardening product manufacturer Richgro Garden Products has improved the sustainability of its green manufacturing operations with the help of Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA), after ordering a new fleet of Toyota battery electric forklifts and TMHA sweepers.
The Western Australia-based Richgro is a fourth-generation family-owned and operated business specialising in fertilisers, soil conditioners, potting mixes, mulches and compost, and has been essentially operating off the grid since 2015.
Richgro’s primary manufacturing and warehouse facility in the Perth suburb of Jandakot is powered by an anaerobic digestion plant which converts up to 150 tonnes of food waste per day into 100 per cent carbon-free green electricity.
Richgro has been a TMHA customer for the last five years under a long-term rental agreement, and when the time came to renew the contract and change over its equipment, it made complete sense for the company’s material handling equipment to match its sustainable ethos.
TMHA area sales manager Blair Martin said that after being shown around Richgro’s facility last year and seeing their anaerobic digestor, it made sense for the company to use forklifts powered by their own energy source.
“I woke up in the middle of the night and went ‘why have they got gas trucks when we can offer them electric trucks?’” Mr Martin said. “Why would you not use the power you’re harnessing to power the trucks? So that’s where it all came from.”
Richgro managing director Tim Richards agreed that switching their long-term rental fleet to battery electric made complete sense, for multiple reasons.
“So we’re making the move to electric for a couple of reasons – because we produce our own green energy, and it makes sense that we utilise this energy to run our electric handling equipment, and reducing our carbon footprint forms part of that decision as well,” Mr Richards said.
“We decided when it was time to renew our current Toyota forks that we opted to go with electric this time around.”
Richgro has ordered five Toyota 8FBN 2.5-tonne electric forklifts and one TMHA electric sweeper to help keep their warehouse tidy, all of which will be recharged using its off-grid power system.
Mr Richards said the reliability of the machines and fast servicing experience provided by TMHA was a key reason for Richgro renewing its contract with a second long-term rental agreement.
“They’re a very reliable machine,” he said. “The operators never say a bad word about them which is generally a good sign that they’re happy.
“And there’s absolutely no issues when it comes to the service side of things, if there’s an issue, they’re straight on to it, fixing quickly and efficiently so we’re very happy from that perspective.
“We’re very happy with the uptime of the machines, I can’t think of any big issues where we’ve had a machine down for an extended period of time which has been great.”
With the near-silent operation of the battery electric machines bringing a significant change from their previous units, Mr Martin helped Richgro spec their units up with buzzers to increase safety in the workplace.
“I think their biggest query was how to make sure people can hear them coming, so we’ve added squawkers which is a buzzer to let people be aware of the machine,” he said.
“From the driver’s point of view, they love the way the electric unit drives. They like that the manoeuvrability of the mast is more intuitive.”
Along with the new fleet of electric equipment, Richgro also outright owns three gas-powered forklifts, with a view to replace those with battery electric units when they reach the end of their reasonable working life.
Mr Richards said he was thoroughly satisfied by the performance of his Toyota machines and the service provided by TMHA over the course of their working relationship.
“We’re very happy,” Mr Richards said. “Honestly, I have nothing to complain about – we would have looked elsewhere if we weren’t happy, and we’re more than happy to stay with Toyota.
“Their reliability, their service, their parts, their backup, they’re great to deal with.
“I’ve always driven Toyota cars for a reason – they’re not necessarily the cheapest, but they’re extremely reliable and you never seem to have too many issues, and I think that transfers into their forklift fleet as well.
“If someone came to me and said they were looking for a fleet of forklifts, I’d be more than happy to recommend Toyota.”
Richgro began over a century ago in 1916 working in stock feed, and has evolved to a team of 85 members with products sold nationwide in nurseries and hardware stores including Bunnings and Mitre 10.
With an estimated customer base of over 3 million people, Richgro offers a wide range of products to keep both residential and industrial gardens healthy and productive, all while ensuring jobs and manufacturing remains in Australia.
Its anaerobic digestion plant uses food waste gathered from supermarkets, food processors and breweries in and around the metropolitan Perth area to produce carbon-free electricity, and can even return excess power back into the grid.
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Richgro managing director Tim Richards with his electric Toyota Forklifts recharged using its off-grid power system