When we think of solid we think of a whole bunch of other S words like, strong, stable, sturdy and secure. So when we are talking about a business kicking goals in the solid tyre industry one must automatically think we are talking about the tyres.

Not the case.

While quality tyres remain the core business for Solid Plus, it's the technical innovation that is making this business a leading success.

Henk Van Diggele the GM of Solid Plus; "Back in early 2008 we put ourselves in the customer's shoes and asked ourselves, what is going to make their (the customer's) life easier? What can we do so we both benefit from this relationship?"

"The answer to the question was a big technology project handed to the CIO with justified benefits and an end result that would make any business with forklift and industrial tyre operations happy".

Two years later and the rubber flowers are blooming at Solid Plus, with a growing garden of accounts that include Australia's largest airline, Australia's largest manufacturer and distributor of structural, rail and steel products plus Lencrow Group, a leading Australian material handling company. These businesses now have a strong mutually beneficial relationship with Solid Plus that is married by the assets of technology. The new key digital features that are part of the solution include:

  • Online ordering minimising mistakes such as sizing
  • Online quoting by the customer themselves
  • Online reprinting of invoices
  • KPI's recorded for each job
  • Invoicing the customer onsite instantaneously at job completion
  • Tailor made IT programs for each individual customer
  • Online fleet monitoring, LIVE 24/7 with Cents Per Hour (CPH) figures per forklift ; and
  • Online Reporting

All Solid Plus forklift tyre service trucks right across Australia are fitted with GPS navigators and tracking devices so customers are kept in the loop regarding arrival times.

"It's a little ironic that our business has a focus on compact, reliable, durable and performance based tyres and that we have applied the same principals to our technology" said Gil Mayhew CIO at Tyres4U, the parent company of Solid Plus.

The customers are receiving accurate real time invoices direct to specific accounting staff, detailed records are kept and the customers can manage much of their account online.

The success of this initiative has filtered down from the corporate decision makers who save valuable time and money to the busy press operator getting his hands dirty, ensuring the forklift driver is a happy end user.

This point has been emphasised by Peter Luggerman a press operator at Solid Plus; "At Solid Plus we are committed to delivering on time, so having a paperless system where we are able to invoice on the spot through a simple tap on my device gives me one less thing to worry about. I can concentrate on the service and then get to the next job hassle free, minimising any customer down time."

Solid Plus is cementing itself in the industrial/forklift tyre service industry through technical innovation. It has paved the way in revolutionising the forklift tyre industry by conducting much of its operations online in an automated manner that benefits both their business and the customer.

This is what Ross Grossick from Lencrow Group, a leading material handling company had to say about Solid Plus; "Solid Plus billing is instantaneous; we get real-time costing, we invoice our customers momentarily and the difference in our cash flow is now 20-30% better."

Additional information on Solid Plus includes:

  • A quality-endorsed IS09001, Australian owned and operated organisation
  • Exclusive distribution rights for many tyre brands with the best range of pneumatic and solid forklift tyres including Watts and Continental brands
  • Operations and distribution centres in every Australian state and a national dealer network of 186 independent service centres
  • Some of the most highly respected expert technical people in the Australian tyre industry
  • Same or next day solid tyre pressing service and an exchange wheel system for far remote areas

For more information please contact:

Henk Van Diggele, General Manager, Solid Plus
Ph: 02 9716 1728
Email: henk@solidplus.com.au

Image - Solid Plus Victorian Sales Manager, Peter Bryen, and Solid Plus Service Technician, Steve Zderski