Efficient and safe technologies deliver added value

G4-26, G4-27

The most important criteria for products of Linde Material Handling are performance, environmental friendliness and safety. The vehicles are regarded as particularly reliable and help customers to save energy and maintain high safety standards in the workplace.

Sustainability targets Products and solutions1

  • Reduction of the environmental footprint and expansion of alternative drives
  • Improvement of safety and efficiency

1 Operationalisation of the sustainability targets defined in 2014 can be found in section “Development of a sustainability strategy”

High-performance and versatile

Linde Material Handling ranks as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of warehouse trucks and forklift trucks. In 2014, the Company sold about 105,000* new vehicles. The product range currently includes more than 100 different series each with up to 19 model versions. The spectrum ranges from small vehicles like the electric manual forklift CiTi Truck with payload capacity of just under one ton right through to big heavy trucks that can master heavy-duty loads up to 18 tons.

Alongside the broad portfolio of electric warehouse trucks, counterbalance trucks with flexible applications powered by diesel, LPG or electric drives are the second major product segment in the Company. Vehicles from Linde are used in virtually all industrial sectors, in retail and trade businesses, and in the freight-forwarding and transport industries. Linde is the only manufacturer to supply forklift trucks and warehouse trucks manufactured at its own production facilities for areas vulnerable to explosions. In general, virtually no two Linde vehicles are similar – apart from a large number of series options, customer-specific options are produced which ensure that customers receive the most efficient and most productive vehicles tailored to their particular application.

Linde is performance-driven. The products feature highest handling capacity, reliability and longevity as well as safety, eco-efficiency and robust resilience under tough working conditions (such as heat or continuous use). This performance standard entails a comparatively high purchase price for the products. However, the outstanding productivity of the vehicles reduces the personnel expenses of our customers, which represent the biggest cost factor in a total cost analysis over the entire service life. Low maintenance costs and high energy efficiency make our vehicles some of the most profitable vehicles in the sector.

Outstanding environmental characteristics

The sustainability concept has always been built into products manufactured by Linde. For example, the hydrostatic drive does not require any brakes and therefore no brake pads, which prevents the generation of fine particulates. Power is also transferred to the wheels without any gearbox. This means that the trucks need up to 70 fewer components than conventional trucks, and significantly fewer oil changes. Moreover, they have the lowest fuel consumption throughout the sector. Linde also has the highest handling capacity for electric trucks on a sector comparison and the lowest energy consumption. The research and development work carried out by the Company is directed towards continuous improvement in the environmental footprint of products.

Customer service to production

The broad range of product-related support services is fully integrated with the vehicles. In addition to advice and financial solutions, this also includes fleet management and deployment optimisation, training sessions and not least maintenance and service. A flexible rental package, modern financial services and service contracts tailored to customers are part of our concept of customer orientation. This also includes partnership project management and prototype development, as well as remanufacturing, i.e. replication of spare parts with a new-value warranty. The global availability of spare parts ensured by two Customer Services Centres in Kahl near Aschaffenburg and in Xiamen, China, is one of the major strengths of Linde, including a 24/7 emergency service.

Safety and ergonomics

The truck driver is the focus of product development. The ergonomic design of Linde vehicles means that the machine is quite literally built around the person. All the control elements are tailored to the working requirements of the driver and can be operated intuitively. Active and passive safety systems protect the health of the driver and minimise the risk of accidents. Almost all the mobile work vehicles from Linde are electronic, i.e. they are controlled “by wire”. All electronic transducers and control units are designed with redundancy in order to avoid problematic machine faults and guarantee the highest level of safety. Over the past three years, Linde has been working with an electronic error test procedure which tests for all eventualities – the development of this procedure alone took five years. The universal commitment to safety is paying off with substantial dividends. During the year under review, there were no incidents relating to non-compliance with regulations or voluntary standards relating to the health and safety of products or services from Linde. We are also not aware of any financial penalties or fines relating to the support and use of products, and the provision of services.