Dali Ribeiro
Director of Product Management
____
JLG Industries
It’s been a couple of years since JLG debuted its rotating telehandler line through its partnership with Dieci. When our customers asked us to add rotating telehandlers to our product portfolio, we knew that it was important to establish a partnership with a like-minded innovator who shared our passion for products and taking care of our customers, and they have been an extremely supportive partner for us and for our customers.
We have both learned many new things about customer preferences for certain features, as well as new opportunities for jobs that can be done with JLG® rotating telehandlers.
With their heavy lift capacities, extended reach capabilities and, most importantly, 360-degrees of continuous rotation, market acceptance continues to increase for rotating telehandlers — and with more awareness, we believe they’ll soon become a mainstay on construction sites around the country.
Applications and attachments
Rotating telehandlers have traditionally been an ideal solution for staging material on construction job sites — especially in urban settings where working space tends to be highly congested.
Because of the unique features and benefits of these types of machines, rotating telehandlers are also used in a wide variety of industries and applications, including commercial construction, renovation, masonry, roofing, demolition, cladding, tunnelling, bridgework, facility and industrial maintenance, as well
as shipyards and ports
With an extensive range of attachments available for these machines, there is significant potential for additional uses of rotating telehandlers in other applications. Similar to traditional telehandlers, rotating telehandlers can utilize attachments to lift and extend loads into position, but these machines offer the added benefit of being able to rotate loads into place too. Equipped with these different attachments means that operators get the versatility of having three machines in one: A telehandler, a crane and a MEWP (mobile elevating work platform).
Common attachments for rotating telehandlers are work platforms, crane jibs and winches, standard and rotating carriages, forks, buckets, truss booms and coupler-mounted hooks. JLG currently offers 13 different attachments for rotating telehandlers in our product portfolio and based on the inquiries from our customers, we plan to further expand our attachment offering for new applications in the future.
As the use cases for JLG rotating telehandlers expand into more markets, customers have made inquiries about new attachments and accessories that could further improve their productivity. We are pleased with the feedback that has been received so far and are looking forward to working with Dieci and our customers on future product development initiatives.
Challenges and curriculum
While telehandlers have long been a staple across North American job sites, rotating telehandlers are still a relatively new concept to many equipment operators, even for those who regularly use telehandlers.
That means one of the biggest challenges facing this sector is making people aware of how these machines' features and benefits can help them get work done more efficiently. For example, even though all telehandlers are versatile, rotating telehandlers can significantly increase productivity and reduce the time it takes to pick-and-place loads. With a rotating telehandler, the machine generally remains stationary, and the operator simply rotates the upper frame to pick-and-place materials.
The biggest opportunity for growing the rotating telehandlers is through operator training and machine familiarization, helping increase awareness of these machines in the market. To meet this need, JLG training programs are being updated to include rotating telehandler curriculum.
Trends and transformations
Demand for rotating telehandlers in North America is increasing as worksite space decreases. Whether operators need to lift and place, work at height or move suspended loads, rotating telehandlers allow them to better maneuver in confined areas, completely transforming the way crews work.
One trend we are seeing as interest in this product line grows is more requests for new specialized rotating telehandler attachments, which tells us that our customers really appreciate the versatility they can get from the use of rotating telehandlers in different applications. As mentioned previously, with the use of different attachments, JLG rotating telehandlers can perform the work of three different machines — a standard telehandler, a mobile elevating work platform or a rough-terrain crane — with one piece of equipment.
We believe that their ability to be a “3-in-1” machine will be a key factor in the growing popularity of rotating telehandlers, especially in the U.S. And as the benefits of rotating telehandlers become better understood by contractors, we expect to see a further increase in overall demand for rotating telehandlers.
Evaluate and expand
Since the introduction of JLG’s rotating telehandler models, we have learned a lot about unique applications for these machines, as well as our customers’ feature preferences for this type of equipment. We will continue to evaluate and expand our rotating telehandler portfolio to deliver solutions that meet the needs of the market.
Updates to our current rotating telehandler portfolio will include more commonality in operator controls. Achieving more uniformity with operator controls helps operators feel more confident when using different machine models from the same product family.
Product enhancements will also include new accessories, specialized attachments and a few updates to our existing attachment offering. These product changes will help our customers to improve their productivity, as well as further expand the scope of how they are using JLG rotating telehandlers today.
We are also excited that the new ClearSky Smart Fleet™ IoT (Internet of Things) solution, the industry’s first two-way fleet management and communications platform, will soon also be standard on all JLG rotating telehandlers.
Learn more about JLG rotating telehandlers at www.rotatingtelehandlers.com.
Do you want to stay up-to-date with industry news and issues similar to this? Make sure you subscribe below to receive monthly updates from #DirectAccess with newly posted content so you never miss important information.