Quick coupler manufacturer Hill Engineering, based in Newry, Northern Ireland and Japanese excavator manufacturer Takeuchi, who has UK offices in both the North (Rochdale) and the South (Berkshire) have formed a successful working relationship with Hill supplying Takeuchi with the lion’s share of hydraulic quick couplers for their excavators!
Takeuchi has successfully grown their mini excavator business to within the top three market position for the UK and Eire, while Hill Engineering is now the UK market leader for hydraulic quick couplers. The market leading TEFRA has won many engineering awards for its innovative design, these include, The Queens Award for Innovation 2014 and the Plantworx Innovation Engineering award in 2013.
In 2013 Hill supplied around 150 units for Takeuchi machines, but as 2014 draws to a close this figure is looking to reach in excess of 500 units! Mike Roby, Hill Engineering’s sales director said, “With Takeuchi’s strong performance in the excavator market place we fully expect to retail in the region of 700 couplers next year.”
Mike continued, “This year alone Takeuchi has invested in the region of £700K with Hill. We see this growth continuing as the Takeuchi customer base continue to specify the TEFRA more and more due to the increased reliability of the product.”
Kevin McLaren Takeuchi’s service manager said, “The Hill hitch is proving popular with one very popular UK brand of excavator and that’s Takeuchi! In 2014 Takeuchi increased its product range introducing the new TB260 and TB290 alongside a new wheeled TB295W. It is on these larger sized excavators, 5 tonne plus weight class, alongside the popular 3 tonne TB228, the customers often select Hill as the preferred hitch. Hill Engineering can’t build them quick enough they are that much in demand.”
Kevin added, The Hill TEFRA is an easy unit to install and operate, it comfortably handles all sizes of bucket variations required on site. It also gives machine owners and operators that added peace of mind for attachment safety both in plant hire and for ground works contractors alike.”
Hill had always planned to forge a long term strategic relationship with Takeuchi; however, Hill’s opportunity to work with Takeuchi began in 2012 when the company approached Hill as they searched for alternative hitch solutions.
“The TEFRA was perfectly positioned to offer them the solution they (Takeuchi) required.” Stated Mike. “With just three moving parts and now recognised with the Queens Award for Innovation, it offered their customers a competitive advantage over other products on the market due to the reliability and increased productivity experienced when using the TEFRA product.”
Mike added, “While working with Takeuchi we (Hill) have also looked at better working practices. https://www.hillattach.com/hill-engineering-and-takeuchi-the-perfect-coupler/ https://www.hillattach.com/hill-engineering-and-takeuchi-the-perfect-coupler/This has led to the development of a bespoke fitting solution on their machines, new dispatch processes at our factory and an aggressive stocking programme by Takeuchi themselves. All of these new working practices have helped to improve the customer experience when buying a Takeuchi machine with the Hill TEFRA hydraulic coupler.”