CRA Ontario tours Skyjack

Oct. 22, 2013 – A healthy turnout of 60 Canadian Rental Association Ontario members gathered at Skyjack in Guelph, Ont. on Oct. 16 to get an inside look at the Canadian lift manufacturer's operations and products. Matt Rahn, Skyjack territory manager, hosted the meeting and gave a comprehensive talk on aerial lift safety following the dinner at the Guelph Golf and Curling Club.

After arriving at the huge manufacturing facility, attendees were split into groups and toured around the plant by Skyjack product managers. An impressive amount of equipment and machinery was on display, including two gigantic paint lines and dozens of different lift models in various stages of assembly. A surprising amount of the fabrication and machining was done in-house or at Skyjack's parent company, Linamar, in Canada, including such items as hydraulic cylinders and boom shafts. Skyjack uses Kubota engines and globally sourced electronic components, but does a lot of sub-assembly and customization on its shop floor. The plant employs around 300 people.

Skyjack makes lifts for the global market in a 150,000-square-foot facility in Guelph, employing around 300 people.

Dale Brinklow, CRA Ontario president, covered some association business prior to the dinner. The CRA Ontario is forming a committee to look into future directions for the Tabletop Show that takes place every second year opposite the Canadian Rental Mart. Brinklow announced the fall golf tournament had been a tremendous financial success, enabling the association to make sizable donations to the Doug Mitchell and ARA scholarship funds.

Matt Rahn knows his stuff when it comes to lift safety, having been involved in training and accident litigation for many years.

Rahn gave attendees a thorough overview of Skyjack as a proud Canadian manufacturer, making the announcement that all parts distribution will soon return to Canada. All Skyjack products are made in Canada, except for some manufacturing in Brazil to serve that market. Tier 4 diesel engines are coming soon. He reminded members of Skyjack's commitment to the rental industry, only distributing its product through rental operations. He then covered a number of safety topics, a subject he was clearly passionate about. Skyjack has demonstrated its commitment to proper safety training by refusing to issue training certificates unless users actually take its training course – simply filling out a log and submitting it is no longer enough.

For more photos from the event, visit the Canadian Rental Service Facebook page.

Related links
skyjack.com
crarental.org