Haulotte North America held Open Days 2018, a customer event for US and Canadian customers at its Virginia Beach, VA location this month. The event included education, hands-on machine demonstrations including an obstacle course, and the opportunity to be the first in the US and Canada to test drive the new HA61 LE PRO 100% electric architecture boom lift.
“We invited 40 customers from 20 companies to join us for two days at our US headquarters, and we are very pleased with the outcome of the event,” said Carlos Hernandez, executive managing director, Americas. “It’s not just a chance to show our customers appreciation for their business, it’s also a chance to get their feedback and strengthen our partnerships.”
Alexandre Saubot, CEO, attended the event to share with North American companies the new business strategy that was unveiled in the spring at the INTERMAT conference in Paris. Looking to create a sustainable future, Haulotte will focus on creating strong business partnerships with customers and suppliers, build environmentally conscious products, and become a digital company. One result of this strategy is the new Pulseo Generation family of machines, a range of electric rough terrain work platforms, designed to eliminate pollution and noise emissions.
Following Alexandre’s comments, the first product in the Pulseo Generation range was unveiled for the first time in North America. Originally showcased at INTERMAT, the HA61 LE PRO articulating boom is the product of intense collaboration and partnerships with customers and suppliers. “We worked closely with customers to understand how they would use a machine of this type on job sites. We also partnered with suppliers to create new technologies to meet those customer requirements,” said Maxime Girard, product manager.
The final day of the event gave participants a chance to get into safety harnesses and experience for themselves the HA61 LE PRO and the rest of the product range as they drove machines around a test track built for the event. Giancarlo Bobbio, marketing director said, “This is the best way to experience a Haulotte machine. You can’t get a feel for how comfortable and easy they are to operate standing next to one on a tradeshow floor.”
The end of the Open Day event also marks the beginning of the HA61 LE PRO demonstration tour. “We will have six machines in North America dedicated to giving customers and operators the opportunity to experience the machine for themselves in their own work environment,” said Bobbio. “This is an exciting technology leap for the industry and we are looking forward to sharing the benefits this new machine can bring to our customers’ business.”
