Jungheinrich Australia is strengthening its market position through a complete materials handling portfolio, flexible commercial models, and speed to market, as warehouse operators place greater emphasis on efficiency and cost control.
Warehouse operators are under increasing pressure to lift efficiency while managing labour constraints, energy costs, and throughput demands. For materials handling providers, the expectation ishttps://www.jungheinrich.com.au/ shifting from supplying individual pieces of equipment to delivering solutions that align with how sites actually operate.
For Jungheinrich Australia, that position is built around responsiveness, portfolio breadth and fit-for-purpose design, with speed to market forming a key part of its local value proposition. Scott Coy, Director – Rental and Sales Management at Jungheinrich Australia, says the ability to deliver equipment quickly remains a practical advantage for customers operating under time and cost pressure.
“For us, a key focus is speed to market. A number of our products, from order through to delivery, can be as little as around three months at times, which gives customers a relatively fast turnaround.”
Speed and flexibility as core drivers
That responsiveness is supported by direct access to manufacturing, but Scott says it needs to be matched with flexibility across both solution design and commercial structure. The company’s approach extends beyond individual truck specification to include portfolio choice and alternative business models.
“When we talk about flexibility, that covers commercial flexibility, product portfolio flexibility with us, and a certain level of factory customisation.”
In practical terms, this includes alternative commercial structures for customers operating larger fleets. For operations running high volumes of equipment, Jungheinrich offers usage-based models designed to better reflect actual operational demand.
“If you’re a customer that has a large fleet within your warehouse portfolio, a portion of that can be what we call Flexi Fleet. You literally pay for the hours you use it.”
Alongside this, the business maintains a broad product portfolio that combines Jungheinrich’s own equipment with value-focused and partner brands, as well as racking and automation capability. This allows Jungheinrich to support a wide range of applications beyond traditional warehousing without forcing customers into a single equipment type or utilisation model.
Scott says this flexibility becomes more important as operations diversify and demand becomes less predictable. Rather than focusing solely on high-specification equipment or large-scale automation, the emphasis is on providing the right solution for each site.
“We have our own Jungheinrich branded equipment, but we also have partnerships that allow us to stretch into industries outside your typical warehousing and logistics.”
Balancing standardisation and customisation
While flexibility is a core part of the model, not every solution requires customisation. In many cases, standard machines meet operational requirement effectively, particularly where speed of deployment is critical.
“There’s a lot of our standard product portfolio that does meet a customer requirement.”
At the same time, where operations are more complex, the company works directly with customers to develop tailored, site-specific solutions. This is supported by Jungheinrich’s ability to design and build customised equipment through its manufacturing plants.
“There are times where a customer’s site and operations are quite specific. Being an OEM, we can design and manufacture our own equipment and work closely with our customers to find a solution that exactly suits their requirements.”
That process is grounded in understanding how a site operates on a day-to-day basis, rather than applying a predefined configuration. Scott says the starting point is always the same.
“It’s always a close conversation with the customer out on their site, walking their warehouse, really working out what the exact solution is.”
At the same time, Jungheinrich maintains local stock of standard equipment to support customers that need immediate deployment. This balance between stock availability and plant-built customisation allows the business to respond across different operational timelines.
“We ensure that we always have a standard offering within our locations around Australia for that efficient speed-to-market need.”
Electrification and cost pressures
Cost pressures are shaping how customers approach equipment decisions, particularly in relation to energy and fuel. The shift towards electrification, and specifically lithium-ion technology, continues to accelerate across the market.
“We’re seeing not only the continued shift towards electrification, but also the heightened push at the moment, especially given fuel availability and pricing pressures.”
For many operators, the focus is not just on changing energy sources, but on reducing downtime and improving operational continuity. Scott says this is where lithium-ion solutions are gaining traction.
“It’s very important for a customer to minimise downtime as much as they can. Any downtime they have is a cost they can’t recover.”
Jungheinrich has invested heavily in lithium-ion technology, including integrating battery systems directly into its equipment rather than relying on retrofit solutions.
“Jungheinrich was an early adopter of lithium-ion solutions within the materials handling equipment industry. Our products are designed and manufactured around lithium-ion, so it’s fully integrated within the truck.”
While upfront costs can be higher, the conversation is increasingly centred on total cost of ownership (TCO) rather than purchase price alone.
“Often, the upfront cost is higher, but the return on investment over a relatively short period of time, when you’re talking five years plus, is significantly more compelling.”
Total cost of ownership in focus
Rather than focusing solely on purchase price, Jungheinrich is increasingly engaging customers around TCO, particularly when transitioning from internal combustion fleets. Scott points to a recent example involving a customer operating a fleet of LPG forklifts.
“The customer was spending upwards of 6 figures per annum on LPG to keep their LPG forklifts running.”
By moving to an electric, lithium-ion solution, the cost profile changed materially over time, even when factoring in infrastructure upgrades.
“When you start looking at total cost of ownership, the cost saving was upwards of just under a million dollars over a six to seven-year term for this customer.”
Scott says these discussions are driven by transparency rather than pushing a predetermined outcome.
“If there’s no genuine commercial benefit, we’ll let the customer know that. We’re open and transparent with those conversations.”
Automation and staged adoption
Automation remains an area of strong interest, although adoption varies depending on site maturity, layout and capital availability. Jungheinrich’s approach is to work through operational requirements before introducing automation into the conversation.
“Automation can definitely come with a larger upfront cost. However, when you work through the total cost of ownership, the return on investment becomes very visible.”
For new facilities, automation can be designed into the layout from the outset. For existing sites, the focus is on staged integration without disruption.
“We can work with brownfield sites and redesign the operational flow, or in many cases fit an automated solution within the customer’s current design.”
This staged approach allows customers to adopt automation progressively rather than committing to large-scale projects upfront.
CeMAT: full portfolio on show
At CeMAT Australia, Jungheinrich reflected this portfolio-led approach by showcasing both premium and value-focused solutions across two stands.
“One was focused on Jungheinrich and our high-end solutions, so high-volume operations, automation, racking, the full portfolio.”
Alongside this, the AntOn by Jungheinrich range was positioned towards customers with lower utilisation requirements or more cost-sensitive operations.
“The AntOn portfolio is really for that customer who doesn’t need high utilisation and is focused on value. It’s a good product. I’ve driven it myself, and it performs well.”
Product development also remained closely tied to customer feedback and local market requirements, with the focus on refining existing solutions while introducing new technologies that improve efficiency and performance.
“Our local product team works closely with our sales team and customers to understand what’s required in the market. Then we work directly with our factories to adapt those solutions for local conditions.”
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