Skyjack division has further strengthened its presence in the Asian region with the appointment of several new dealers. The dealers, who represent the company across the region, are:

•  SKYKorea, serving the South Korean market
•  JPN Industrial Trading Pte., Ltd., serving the Singaporean market and also supporting customers in Indonesia and Malaysia
•  Avion Group Company, serving the Hong Kong market
•  Regal Machinery, also serving the Hong Kong market and customers in the Chinese province of Guangdong
•  MPK Constancy, serving the Thai market

Simon Cracknell, Skyjack’s business development director – Asia, said the enlarged company network would support the growing number of Skyjack platforms in Asia.

“Historically there’s always been quite a large population of Skyjack machines in Asia, but these were mostly used units imported into the region,” he said. “Now, we’re seeing increased demand for new machines and markets picking up pace and we want to support our growing customer base here, whether they are rental companies or end users.”

Skyjack aerial work platforms are renowned for their simple designs, so owners can maintain them directly with minimal assistance from the manufacturer. To support this business philosophy Skyjack ensures it can provide technical support, parts and training. The new dealers will enhance the localized offering of products, parts and services especially for end users in local language and currency.

“Skyjack machines offer a low cost of ownership and long working lives. In Asia, and across the world, there are units that are 15 or 20 years old – or even older – that are still working well,” he said. “Having local support is a key part of ensuring the high levels of machine uptime we want our customers to experience. So now in Asia, with the expertise of our own people plus the staff at our dealers we can react faster to customer needs as they develop.”

In the coming months Skyjack hopes to add further staff to its team and sales channels in regions of Asia not yet served directly. There is also scope for even bigger development plans, should the market dictate, as Skyjack is part of Linamar Corporation, which already has several facilities in China and India with support offices across Asia.

“We’re part of Linamar Corporation, which has factories in Asia supplying automobile and construction equipment manufacturers including BMW, VW and John Deere,” Cracknell said. “And having the support of such an established parent company gives us the freedom, knowledge and confidence to plan our strategy for this market in the best way. But that doesn’t mean that we will be pushing too far too early. We are learning what the market needs here and the market is also changing every day as acceptance continues to grow of access equipment.”

Skyjack recently announced a number of new sales and service managers for Asia and to further support Skyjack’s expansion in the region, the company will be exhibiting at the bauma China show this November in Shanghai.