Businessman Sam Tang has turned his company, Fung Lea Food Pty Ltd, into a thriving enterprise by paying attention to detail. His forklift choice is Linde.

The Sydney based company is an importer, wholesaler and distributor of seafood and also carries out chicken processing under contract to some of the poultry industry’s largest players.

“I started the business 18 years ago with just four staff,” Mr Tang said. “Today we have 156 staff working in New South Wales at Peakhurst and Prestons and in Queensland at Morningside.

“It is easy to stay informed about how your business, your staff and your equipment are performing when you are small, because you have to take a hands-on approach to make things happen. You very quickly notice when something or someone isn’t working.”

With much of his business based around cold stores and the Sydney Fish Market, Sam Tang’s early hands-on role involved lots of time in the driver’s seat of a forklift. Fung Lea Food has long since grown beyond the stage where Sam needs to be moving pallets around, but it is an indication of his approach to business that he has maintained his forklift operator’s licence.

“In the early days we tried a number of materials handling equipment suppliers,” he said. “We didn’t have the capital to purchase our first machines, so we went for the rental option.”

As the business grew, Fung Lea tried forklifts and pallet trucks from several manufacturers before committing to one supplier with whom the company stayed for several years.

“Even while we were with that company I was always checking to see what our competitors and other seafood suppliers were doing,” Sam said.

“The Sydney Fish Market is a very tough working environment for forklift trucks and there are many different fish merchants who operate them.

“In the last couple of years we started to experience service problems with the forklift trucks from our previous supplier and that’s when I began to make serious inquiries about other brands.”

Fung Lea is a key supplier to restaurants, fish shops and grocery businesses in Sydney. The nature of its business makes forklift usage patterns difficult to predict, but high levels of availability are essential.

Sam Tang’s own observations told him that Linde was the preferred brand for a growing number of Sydney Fish Market businesses. When he checked with their operators they confirmed that Linde’s forklifts performed well in the tough market and cold store environment.

“We conducted our own back-to-back tests with other makes of forklifts provided by the distributors. Our operators liked the stability, the handling and the hydraulics of the Linde E20 electric forklift during the trial, but you can’t beat the hands-on experience of long-term use. All the reports I was getting from market businesses with Linde forklifts were positive,” he said.

Fung Lea purchased its first Linde electric forklift early in 2004. It now has two in operation at its Peakhurst coldstore and another at its Prestons chicken processing facility on Sydney’s outskirts. The company’s Brisbane facility at Morningside is currently evaluating a fourth Linde machine.

“We’ve found that Linde represents very good value for money,” Sam Tang said. “I looked into every aspect of the purchase decision and obviously I am happy with the outcome. Even spare parts pricing is more than competitive with what we have previously experienced with other brands.”

The forklifts at Fung Lea are in constant use. The workload at the company’s busy Peakhurst premises often means that the electric forklifts spend three hours or more each day in the coldstore.

“We’ll keep the Linde machines for four years before replacing them with new ones,” Sam Tang said. “You know, usually there is something which you don’t like, but with these forklifts I can’t think of anything.”