Privately owned on-premises liquor wholesaler, Paramount Liquor, has made large-scale use of refurbished Linde Material Handling forklifts to help minimise costs in a highly competitive industry.
The family company competes successfully in a market contested by major local and overseas players.
Paramount Liquor founder Mark Rowe has seen plenty of competitors in the on-premises wholesale liquor business fail over the last three decades, but his business has succeeded and expanded.
One of the key decisions Mark has made in the last 18 months has been to rely on refurbished Linde forklifts and reach trucks. The business now has 30 of them at its Melbourne and Sydney warehouses.
“We don’t lease anything,” says Mark. “We own everything we’ve got, including buildings.
“My experience has been that maintenance costs on the used Linde equipment we run still come in below what our outgoings would be to purchase or lease new equipment.”
Mark adds that the company constantly adapts to the marketplace in order to outperform its competitors. “As a family company Paramount Liquor has the advantage of rapid decision-making – the buck stops with me,” he says.
“I always strive to reduce my costs so if I am offered a good deal on refurbished equipment, as I always have been with Linde, I’ll go for it.”
Paramount Liquor has built its reputation on a commitment to service and reliability, so looks for those characteristics in its own suppliers, Mark explains.
“We have a good relationship with Linde,” he adds. “They understand our business and provide us with refurbished forklifts capable of handling the workload we place on them. Given their reliability and quality in our circumstances, we consider that we get best possible value by purchasing refurbished equipment.”
Paramount Liquor purchases used Linde forklifts under 10 years old, and generally with around 6,000 to 8,000 hours on the hour meter. Often, the refurbishment process includes provision of a new battery.
The company’s 16,000sqm Melbourne warehouse runs a mixture of 30 Linde electric forklifts and reach trucks operating at high tempo in a wide-aisle environment, with racking up to nine metres high. A smaller Sydney warehouse also runs used Linde equipment.
Refurbished Linde trucks stack up
“Our demands are very straightforward,” says Mike. “We look for good reliability and equipment that is easy to use. We are always busy, but we work around the clock four days per week. At those times, we use opportunity charging and we have never had a problem with our Linde trucks running out of charge.
“Over the years, we have looked at other forklift brands, but we’ve never had reason to change since switching to Linde. They suit our purposes. We keep each of them until they reach the point that they are no longer worth repairing.”
Mak adds that the company has a strong relation with Linde. “Whenever we need equipment I call Linde,” he says. “They’ve come to know our business, know what we want and have always been able to source it for us. When we have had need to call Linde technicians they have appeared promptly.”
Linde notes that it manages its relationship with Paramount Liquor not simply in an order-taking role, but by anticipating and understanding Paramount’s needs and by offering solutions that give the expanding wholesaler the power to choose Linde products that will suit it best.
Find out more about Linde pre-owned forklift solutions.