Nexen brings forklift manufacturing to the UK

Published: October 18, 2011

Hot on the heels of its decision to move its entire R & D programme from its manufacturing facility in Taiwan to the UK, forklift company Nexen has announced that it has also decided to move the production of its successful "X" range to its home base in Lowestoft, Suffolk.

Tim Mason, Nexen's UK managing director, said, "We have an extensive programme of new models in the pipeline that are to be added to our existing range. However, we have become frustrated at the time it is taking to get these trucks from the development stage into production at our Taiwan facility.

"In order to overcome these delays and in response to several major component suppliers being reluctant to release specialised development items to Taiwan, for fear that they may be copied in China, we have taken the very big decision to move all of our Research and Development activities to our European Headquarters in the UK.

"We believe that this will allow us to expand our range at a dramatically faster rate than previously and at the same time, meet the constantly increasing demand being placed on our production schedule following our successful launch into the North American market."

These new models and others from the "X" range will also be produced at Nexen's new production facility in the UK.

Nexen director Pam Oakes said, "This is a very exciting development and personally I cannot wait to see the label on the "X" range trucks saying 'Made in the UK'.

"UK manufacturing is still seen as being synonymous with quality, and the increasing labour costs in Asia coupled with the difficulties of recruiting a skilled workforce have been instrumental in our decision."

Nexen also sees this as the opportunity to implement the latest technology in its manufacturing process, as opposed to working with inherent procedures, whilst gaining greater control over its production.