Why you can always rely on our parts

The standards behind our tests

“At TVH, we never want to compromise on quality,” Björn begins. “This starts with ensuring our organisation has people with the right mindset when it comes to quality. The driving force behind these efforts is THV’s Quality Department, which consists of over 100 quality specialists operating on three continents. But we also continually raise awareness of the fact that quality is everyone’s responsibility.”

“Our specialists are responsible for various tasks to ensure quality, including establishing product standards. These standards cover a number of attributes that are Critical to Quality (CTQs), which must be met before a new part is added to our range. CTQs typically relate to the form, fit and function of products, their compliance with applicable safety and product regulations and, where relevant, their appearance and durability.”

“Once a product standard has been established, it forms the basis of a Quality Master Sheet. Used during first-article inspection and the random sampling of incoming products, this sheet provides our quality inspectors worldwide with clear guidance on what to inspect and which specifications the part must meet,” Björn explains. “It goes without saying that our inspectors adhere strictly to our standards, without compromise. Consequently, around 40% of the high-risk products that undergo first-article inspection are rejected. Of the 2.5% of incoming goods that are randomly sampled, usually critical parts, approximately 7% are deemed unacceptable.”

“In an ideal world, we would like to have a Quality Master Sheet for each product. However, creating this tool is a long-term project. While we are working on retroactive sheets for existing products, we also need to make sheets for the new parts and accessories that are constantly being added to our range.” 

Adapting parts and packaging

“But it doesn’t stop there, of course,” Björn reassures. “Based on customer feedback, we can make targeted updates to our range that will have a real impact. On the one hand, this involves adapting the parts themselves. For instance, we upgraded a selection of our joysticks for mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs) this year, improving our assembly and testing processes to guarantee long-lasting reliability. Another recent example is that we have changed suppliers and updated our drawings for a number of hydraulic cylinders.”

“On the other hand, we can sometimes solve issues by improving our packaging. This can be as simple as adding caps to our hydraulic hoses to prevent pollution, or it can involve a whole thought process. For example, our packaging engineers recently developed a solution to protect TotalSource radiators from damage during transport. And we previously undertook a similar project for Glassinter windows, which resulted in the purchase of a custom Box-On-Demand solution.”

“In that way, we’re constantly working to improve our parts and services. This is essential to ensure that we evolve with market demands, keep pace with changing equipment, and guarantee that customers can always rely on TVH,” Björn concludes.