NACCO Materials Handling Group Gets Global Lift From AT&T Networking Solution
PORTLAND, Ore., March 30 -- AT&T today announced it has been awarded a three-year, $7.5 million networking and long distance phone service contract by NACCO Materials Handling Group Inc. (NMHG), a leading global manufacturer of lift trucks and associated products with a presence in over 200 countries across the globe.
The company, the largest subsidiary of NACCO Industries, designs, engineers, manufactures, sells, services and leases a comprehensive line of lift trucks and aftermarket parts for virtually every market niche, including cargo, container and warehouses.
With this agreement, AT&T will connect more than 14 global manufacturing and assembly sites in the United States, Asia-Pacific and Europe, and speed the flow of critical company information to NMHG's 6,500 employees worldwide, through an Internet Protocol Virtual Private Network (IP VPN).
Specifically, the network will enable NMHG to more effectively manage its supply chain, inventory, shipping and tracking, and billing and financial reporting. Employees gain secure high-speed access to corporate databases and proprietary applications, enabling them to work more efficiently and collaborate online regardless of their location.
Additionally, this global network links NMHG to its suppliers and dealers throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific providing full-function business-to-business transaction processing.
"Our information technology platform is key to customer service and operating efficiency," said Roy Wittman, director of Information Systems, NACCO Materials Handling Group. "To achieve greater economies of scale in sales and distribution, we need a technology backbone that gives us the ability to do business around-the-clock, across multiple time zones to boost productivity and response time to customers and suppliers. AT&T's superior technology and service commitment will allow us to take full advantage of opportunities for global expansion."
The AT&T network solution also strengthens NMHG's comprehensive business continuity plan to ensure critical business processes and applications are always available to support customers and retail sites.
About AT&T
For more than 125 years, AT&T (NYSE "T") has been known for unparalleled quality and reliability in communications. Backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, the company is a global leader in local, long distance, Internet and transaction-based voice and data services.
About NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc.
NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc. ("NMHG") designs, engineers and manufactures materials handling equipment for virtually every market niche, including warehouse trucks, counterbalanced trucks and large capacity cargo and container handling trucks. All lift trucks are marketed under the Hyster(R), Yale(R) or Sumitomo-Yale(R) brand names. NMHG is one of the world's largest lift truck manufacturers. In addition to a worldwide distribution network of independent Hyster(R) and Yale(R) retail dealerships, NMHG operates wholly-owned dealerships in certain markets. Based in Portland, Oregon, NMHG is one of the three core businesses in the diversified holdings of NACCO Industries, Inc., a publicly-held company with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATT )
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991018/ATTPRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com