BUDGET PET PRODUCTS GOES FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH WITH HELP OF TOYOTA FORKLIFTS

WITH OVER 350,000 CUSTOMERS, ONLINE PET RETAILER USES TOYOTA MATERIAL HANDLING AUSTRALIA’S (TMHA) RELIABILITY TO HELP BUILD ITS QUEENSLAND-BASED BUSINESS, SELLING A BROAD RANGE OF AFFORDABLE PET PRODUCTS, USING THE HELP OF TOYOTA FORKLIFTS TO MAKE THE MOST OF ITS OPERATIONS.

Budget Pet Products started out selling pet products on eBay in 2009, with directors Karla Vandepol and Michael Chen running the operation from a garage.

Since then, the company has grown to a team of over 120 employees with multiple warehouse locations.

For four years the company has been a proud partner of TMHA, having reached out to Toyota following dissatisfaction with its previous forklift supplier.

As well as providing excellent service with a focus on product reliability and durability, TMHA has assisted Budget Pet Products with its growth to the nationwide operation it is today.

Warehouse manager Cheryl Norvock said TMHA had proven to be an excellent partner through its growth period.

"They have made serving and providing parts so easy," Ms Norvock said. "One key difference is that TMHA has always partnered with us to help solve our growing pains."

Starting out with a single 2.5-tonne Toyota forklift, Budget Pet Products now proudly owns a mix of forklifts, order pickers and high lift pallet trucks.

Ms Norvock said the outstanding durability and reliability of the Toyota forklifts were stand-out factors, a sentiment echoed by

TMHA area sales manager Chris Powell, who has worked closely with Budget Pet Products throughout their working relationship.

"They know what they're buying," Mr Powell said. "TMHA's value for money, it's always up there and you get what you pay for.

"The value equation over the life of the forklift combined with our service expertise makes TMHA a very attractive prospect."

Excellent reliability has led to hassle-free servicing for Budget Pet Products.

"We've found the ideal balance of machinery features and service offering with TMHA . Our business is 24/7 with very little downtime — a machine with good features is nothing without the parts and service to back it up," Ms Norvock said.

When asked whether Budget Pet Products would recommend TMHA to others in the industry, Ms Norvock said that Toyota forklifts stood head and shoulders above its competitors in the market.

"We've had various machinery over the last 13 years and find the combination of reliable Toyota features and great service to be superior all-round offering," she said.

Any relationship between companies is only as strong as its people, and both Budget Pet Products and TMHA are quick to sing each other's praises with Ms Norvock calling the working relationship "excellent".

"They have a superior service and product offering than their competitors."