Thermote & Vanhalst
TVH Group (formerly TVH Thermote & Vanhalst) is a Belgian company active in the market of forklift trucks, aerial work platforms, agricultural tractors and industrial vehicles. The company is a global player in the distribution of forklift trucks and the sales of spare parts. The international company has its headquarters along the E17 in the West-Flemish city of Waregem.
| Industry | internal transport |
|---|---|
| Founder | Paul Thermote & Paul Vanhalst |
| Headquarters | Brabantstraat 15, 8790 Waregem , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Paul Thermote – president |
| Products | spare parts and accessories for forklift trucks, aerial work platforms, agricultural tractors and industrial in-plant vehicles. sales of forklift trucks and aerial work platforms (new and used) |
| Revenue | €1 630 million (2018) |
Number of employees | +6700 |
| Website | TVH |
History
TVH is a family business that was founded in 1969 in Gullegem by Paul Thermote and Paul Vanhalst, both descendants from an agricultural family. The company is currently led by the second generation.
Initially the company concentrated on the purchase, repair and sales of agricultural machinery and former military lift trucks. During the first couple of years, the field of activity for the purchase of used lift trucks was mainly focused on Belgium and the surrounding countries. The European market however soon became too small and as a result the company shifted a part of its focus to Japan. Thousands of used forklift trucks were purchased there, after which they were repaired and sold all over Europe. From this originated the demand for spare parts for the repairs, which later developed into the main activity of the group: the sales of forklift spare parts.
The group experienced a strong growth in both turnover and work force. The company grew from 96 employees in 1989 to more than 400 employees by the end of the 90's, to over 6700 employees at the beginning of 2019.
Activities
The company is active in more than 170 countries worldwide. In addition to the head office in Waregem, TVH has a regional head office for America in Olathe, Kansas (TVH Parts Co.). TVH is divided in 2 business units: Parts & Accessories and Equipment. Equipment has 4 activities: Sales, Rental, Service and Trade. Sales division is responsible for the sales of used lift trucks and aerial work platforms, on a global scale. The Rental division rents mainly lift trucks and aerial work platforms, in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary. The Service division is handling maintenance and repair of lift trucks, aerial work platforms, telehandlers ... The Rental Division is active in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and many other European countries. The Service & Repair Division is a service TVH only offers in Belgium. The Parts & Accessories Division and the Equipment Division are both active across the five continents with own branches and local stock in the main regions. Furthermore, TVH also has a training centre providing driver and technical training. The unequalled know-how of TVH's Parts Division is reflected by a database of 30,000,000 article numbers, of which well over 680,000 references are in stock. The typical characteristic of the company is that it is not brand specific but offers parts for all brands. TVH has several own brands such as Energic Plus (battery chargers), TotalLifter (hand pallet trucks, lift tables ...), TotalSource (parts), Climax (hand pallet trucks, lift tables, mini pullers). For the growing market of electronic parts for material handling and industrial vehicles, a separate electronics repair centre was built, working together with Curtis, Sevcon, PG Drives and SME. The MyTotalSource ordering platform provides information about the availability of parts and allows the creation of quotes and placement of orders.