Italian agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer Merlo wants to produce 10,000 telehandlers and 25,000 attachments per year by 2025.
With this goal, Merlo is undergoing significant expansion through its plant in Cuneo, where the company story first began.
Merlo enjoys a 15 percent market share in Europe and a 10.5 percent market share worldwide while it has higher market shares in Italy, Germany and Canada.
Amilcare Merlo established Merlo Spa in 1964 and began producing mobile construction equipment. The first telehandler arrived in 1981 with the SM series, which was essentially a concept offering both the performance of a forklift and a hydraulic telescopic boom crane.
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Today, Merlo, which has kept its family-run structure, produces several lines of telehandlers for agriculture and construction, attachments, and other products for the waste industry under its Merlo, TreEmme and Tecno brands.
The company’s Cuneo site extends to 330,000 sq. metres and employs almost 1,600 workers. The factory features 38 robots, 16 machining centres, 11 automatic steel cutting lines, and three high-tech powder coating lines.
During 2021, when other manufacturing facilities stopped production, Merlo continued non-stop throughout the year, albeit with some changes in the supply chains. Even though Merlo manufactures a high percentage of its components in-house, it relies on outside companies for the more specialist parts.
Amilcare’s son, Paolo Merlo, managing director of Merlo Spa, said production continued through COVID restrictions, but not without challenges.
“The COVID-19 crisis hurt the availability of components severely affecting all companies in the industry. The Merlo Group tried to counter it with strategic interventions at all levels, by expanding the number of suppliers and trying to diversify our supply channels.
“We continue to fight daily for parts, mostly small electro components only around 10 euros each. It’s an every day struggle but when those parts arrive the machines are ready to go, and that’s why we decided to continue the main production throughout the pandemic.”
Scores of telehandlers are parked in every available space outdoors at the Merlo factory, each awaiting a simple component for it to be completed.
Amilcare, now 88, remains the president of Merlo Spa and takes a big interest in the daily operations of the plant.
Paolo said: “He never stops nor does his mobile phone. There is always a deal going on somewhere with him.”
During 2021, Merlo produced 7,200 telehandlers, 80 percent of which were exported to the company’s main markets, with 19 percent going to France, 17 percent to Germany and 8 percent to the United Kingdom.
Merlo operates branches in the U.K., France, Spain, Germany, Poland and Australia and has invested heavily in these outlets over the years.
Merlo’s key products fall into a number of categories including compact telehandlers with a load capacity from 2,700 to 3,300 kilograms and lifting height from six to more than eight metres.
Medium capacity telehandlers, which includes the popular Turbofarmer range, have a load capacity from 3,300 to 4,200 kg, and a lifting height of seven to 10 metres.
A range of telehandlers with stabilizers has a load capacity from 2,773 to 5,000 kg and a lifting height from 10 to 18 metres.
High-capacity telehandlers have a load capacity from 4,500 to 12,000 kg with a lifting height from eight to 18 metres.
The Multifarmer telehandler, which Merlo calls its tractor has a load capacity from 3,400 to 4,000 kg and a lifting height from seven to nine metres.
The rotating telehandler, known as the Roto range, can handle loads from 4,000 to 7,000 kg and a lifting height from 16 to 35 metres.
The latest Merlo compact telehandler to come to the market is the Merlo TF27.6 with load capacity of 2,700 kg and a lift height of six metres.
In the Multifarmer range, the latest models are the MF44.7CS and the MF44.9CS with load capacities of 2,700 kg and respective lifting heights of 6.8 and 8.8 metres.
Merlo has also entered the electric telehandler market with its two eWorker models; the EW25.5-60 and the EW25.5/90.
Both have a lifting capacity of 2,500 kg and a lift height of 4.8 metres. The main difference is the latter model is four-wheel drive.
Merlo is expected to launch lithium-ion batteries (41kWh, 850Ah) for their electric machines.
These lithium batteries will come with an automatic battery cut-off, which functions after two hours. When the battery is disconnected, the operator will have to reactivate the circuit by pressing a key in the cab.
Merlo says lithium batteries charge quicker, last longer and hold more energy compared to lead batteries, however they are more expensive and must be completely replaced if they get damaged. The other current issue is the availability of lithium is under pressure.
