Precast Concrete Manufacturer Relies on Heavy Duty Hyster® Big Trucks to Support Rapid Growth

2nd March 2021

Founded in 1989, M CON Products, Inc. in Canada is a leading provider of precast concrete infrastructure products. The company produces everything from maintenance holes and catch basins, to pipes, box culverts and other critical concrete products to support residential and commercial development projects.

In addition to the company’s sheer growth in volume, the product mix evolved, too. Larger and heavier products, such as wide-diameter pipes used in storm retention ponds for subdivisions, grew significantly to account for a greater part of M CON’s business.

M CON needed to re-evaluate the capabilities of its lift trucks, both in terms of capacity and handling capability and purchase new equipment with the right attachment to handle the larger products, but that was not the only factor M CON considered. Previously, the duty cycle taxed the equipment to its limit, leading to significant expenditures to keep the mission-critical equipment moving.

The solution? Implement higher-capacity Hyster® H16XM12 forklifts, built at the Hyster® Big Trucks plant in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, capable of handling a complete range of concrete products and capacities, with proper-spec attachment to avoid product damage.

See the Hyster® lift trucks in action at M CON

Handling cylindrical concrete products requires a specialised attachment, and M CON had certain diameter, weight, and application criteria the clamp needed to meet.

The Hyster engineering team put together a solution that integrated the proper size hydraulic box and pipe clamp with the right lift truck to provide an effective solution for M CON. Depending on the size of the product, the operator can set the correct PSI and enable the clamp to apply the proper force. Crucially, the clamp spreads that pressure throughout – not just on a single spot – helping reduce the risk of cracking or other product damage in the material handling process.

The final piece of the puzzle was to ensure the solution was designed around the needs of the operator all year long. The Hyster® H16XM12 forklifts specified for M CON features an insulated, heated cab for the freezing Canadian winters, along with air conditioning to help operators stay comfortable and productive in hotter summer months.

With the Hyster® H16XM12 lift trucks, the M CON fleet is comprised of 15 total lift trucks and is able to handle the company’s accelerated production. The operation can load 25-30 trucks in an 8.5-hour day at peak capacity.

“This truck is able to handle the full range of material handling tasks at our facility, meaning we avoid time lost because they do not need to hop between different lift trucks for different tasks,” says Tim Underhill, Plant Manager, M CON Products.

Contact our Construction Industry experts or your local Hyster® dealer to discuss the best solutions for your particular operation.

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