Jan’s Blog
I was listening to the radio as I was driving to work this morning and they were talking about ‘mature-aged people’, meaning people in their 50s (mature-aged?), yes 50s, finding it difficult to find jobs .
One guy talked about his many years in the air conditioning business… no one wants to hire him at 56 as they think he might do his back in.
I thought to myself, why would you miss the opportunity to employ someone with all that experience when you can use a stairclimber or some sort of lifting device and benefit in so many ways – not just the avoidance of a back injury (which can happen to someone at any age by the way), but the many potential improvements in efficiencies for your business.
Terry started out in the photocopier industry and about 20 years ago discovered the wonderful world of stairclimbers – powered trolleys which can lift virtually anything up and down stairs.
So intrigued was he with these machines that he travelled to Europe and the U.S.A. and set up exclusive representative agreements for Australia and New Zealand with two manufacturing companies, who to this day remain our core suppliers. There’s a lot to be said for long-standing, mutually beneficial commercial arrangements when the product is this good.
Terry now understands these machines inside and out. There is virtually nothing he doesn’t know about them. Having an engineering mindset with remarkable technical/mechanical abilities helps of course, which, combined with many years of sales at the coalface of industries which benefit greatly from lifting equipment, is invaluable when it comes to assisting customers choose the right stairclimber for their business.
Not a week goes by that he’s not out on the frontline either demonstrating, training, facilitating, consulting or problem-solving with a stairclimber. Last week he coordinated the move of a $1.5 million artifact – the removalist company was not equipped to take it down the many stairs from the home, it weighed over 500 kg, not to mention the object’s value.
It’s amazing to think there are so many of these ingenious machines all over Australia, helping people every day run their businesses more efficiently. One person using a stairclimber can lift what used to take up to 4 people to move up and down stairs. Apart from the cost saving (the machine pays for itself in no time), companies end up with happier employees – certainly with less back problems.
The stairclimbers can actually eliminate injuries and back problems in the workplace. Take a working environment – let’s say a school. What can a Hercules Stairclimber do for a school? Think about what needs to be lifted during a typical school day. Filing cabinets, stacks of chairs, paper stocks, books, records, IT equipment, wheelie bins, canteen deliveries…
A stairclimber can lift heavy items off a truck or van and transport books, educational material, canteen deliveries, whatever the case may be, into resource rooms and other areas. A customer from an Elevator Company confirms ‘our stairclimber has helped us tremendously because it has made our job much easier getting these large parts up and down stairwells, in and out of pickups.
In fact, I would say that it paid for itself the first time we used it. I think it’s a very definite asset to any elevator company who does a lot of repair work and has to move armatures, drivers, large rotating equipment in and out of a machine room on a daily basis. It’s a tremendous labour saving device. It saves a lot of money.’
A customer from an Elevator Company confirms ‘our stairclimber has helped us tremendously because it has made our job much easier getting these large parts up and down stairwells, in and out of pickups.
In fact, I would say that it paid for itself the first time we used it. I think it’s a very definite asset to any elevator company who does a lot of repair work and has to move armatures, drivers, large rotating equipment in and out of a machine room on a daily basis. It’s a tremendous labour saving device. It saves a lot of money.’
A client from an Appliance company said ‘it’s a lot better than a helper. First it’s always at work on time; second, it never talks back… seriously, we used to use a two-man crew. Now we have two one-man crews. We make more money and they make more money. It paid for itself in less than a year.’
Another Appliance company – ‘This stairclimber paid for itself in less than two months. I don’t see how an appliance dealer could get along without one. All of our customers marvel at our performance when we deliver.’
A customer from a Safe company – ‘We now deliver heavy safes single-handedly with a minimum of effort. I couldn’t get along without it. Great machine, saves money and the back.’
‘Tremendous labour saving device… best investment I’ve ever made’…. the positive feedback is fantastic. We are really lucky to be in a business where we have so many satisfied customers. It helps that we have awesome distributors around Australia, that we provide servicing and repair back up nationwide and have readily available parts for all our stairclimbers. That’s why the name Hercules is synonymous with lifting equipment. That’s why Hercules Complete Lifting Solutions means just that – lifting solutions.
