Merlo, growth is "green"

The launch of the e-Worker in 2021, Merlo's first full electric telehandler, marks an important step change in industrial strategies for the Piedmont-based company. The qualitative leap is the result of careful planning that in 2018 had led the company to adopt a far-sighted four-year growth plan. The declared objective of the Piedmontese manufacturer (the headquarters are in San Defendente, Cuneo) was, at the time, to further strengthen the brand's competitiveness through targeted investments, aimed at enhancing not only R&D activities but also production capacity. In this perspective, the debut of the e-Worker is but the tip of the iceberg of an all-round consolidation process that today can be said to have been fully realised. In just five years, Merlo's workforce has grown by 34% to over 1,560 units, while sales of telehandlers have reached 7,200 vehicles, 80% of which absorbed by foreign markets. This process has also affected the plants, which, thanks to the investments in the four-year plan, have become increasingly sustainable. The installation of solar panels has enabled the Cuneo-based company to produce an impressive 747 kW autonomously, while the insulation of the new production areas has reduced energy dispersion to a minimum. Another green initiative is the introduction of more than 30 cardboard/plastic compacting presses which, together with the recovery devices for plastics, chips and metal sheets, significantly facilitate the recycling of waste materials. 2022 marked the adoption of a new four-year business plan, designed to continue in the wake of the previous one and to give even more room for innovation. Over the next four years, the manufacturer explains in a note, we intend to increase production capacity to 10,000 telehandlers per year and further improve the technological profile of our models. The goal is a challenging one, but the Piedmontese manufacturer has planned to mobilise substantial financial resources that will be allocated to opening new production lines, one of which is dedicated to the eWorker, and to further expand the company's workforce. In particular - continues the Merlo note - the cabin creation and assembly areas will be thoroughly overhauled, as well as  painting lines, while the cabin welding areas will be fully automated. But the news does not end here, as the San Defendente-based company also plans to renew logistics with the introduction of integrated management software with suppliers to optimise production cycles. In short, for Merlo, the next four years will be marked by renewal and growth.