Penny Hydraulics has appointed Optimum Vehicle Logistics (OVL) as its distributor for the Middle East and Africa. The company's complete range of vehicle mounted cranes, platform lifts, portable davit cranes and its hydraulic rams, roof supports and specialist hydraulic solutions for the mining and power industry are included in the agreement.
"There's nothing else like the products made by Penny Hydraulics available in the region," says Bill Thorpe, OVL's Sales Director for the Middle East and Africa. "This is a growing market and we see great potential for providing customers with highly effective solutions to their load handling and other requirements."
OVL supplies parts and services to operators of commercial and military vehicles and is the only authorised source of AM General Humvee® parts in the Middle East and Africa. Operators of these and other vehicles are increasingly aware of the need for efficient and safe load handling. Many of the vehicles are used for specialist applications where the addition of load handling capabilities helps to enhance overall performance, improve mobility, simplify operations and provide a safer working environment. Customers include multinational, government and military organisations.
Vehicle mounted Swing Lift cranes Penny Hydraulics are designed for handling loads up to 2000kg. They can be installed on almost any kind of commercial or military vehicle to simplify operations and eliminate the need for manual handling. The company's range of side and rear mounted platform lifts is designed to handle loads up to 550kg on a wide range of commercial vehicles.
"We already had a lot of interest from our customers who see the value in adding load handling capabilities to their vehicles," says Bill Thorpe. "There's a good opportunity out there and we look forward to working with Penny Hydraulics to build both of our businesses."
OVL has an extensive network of agents in key countries throughout the region and will initially focus on customers with utility, military and special forces applications where mobility and simple load handling are demanded.
"Working with a specialist like OVL provides us with access to a major new market with their support and knowledge of the region and its unique requirements," says Richard Short, sales director at Penny Hydraulics. "This is the second major international distribution agreement we've announced this year and it demonstrates our commitment to growing the business by entering new markets."
Both companies have also identified mining and exploration activity as another growth market. Penny Hydraulics designs and manufactures a wide range of hydraulic props, rams and roof supports that are used by mining, oil and power generation companies throughout the world. Through the new distribution arrangement OVL will provide access to countries such as Jordan which have major hubs for this type of industry.