Japan's TCM Corporation is all set to launch its latest Acroba forklift on the international market.

The new electric model, called the Acroba-s (epsi), will be marketed in Saudi Arabia by Abdulaziz & Mohammed A Aljomaih Company, TCM's sole distributor in the Kingdom.

'This will provide customers with a greater selection of the Acroba series. The main features are the same as the internal combustion Acroba. In addition, the new model provides a 10 per cent improvement in transport efficiency per battery recharging and easier maintenance,' says Engineer Abdullah Sulaiman Al Ali, general manager of Aljomaih's Heavy and Agricultural Equipment Division.

TCM is one of the world's leading manufacturers of materials handling equipment. The company unveiled a prototype of the new Acroba at Logis-Tech Tokyo 2000, considered to be the largest industrial fair in the Asia-Pacific region. The company's regional manager for the Acroba project division, Akira Isshiki, recently visited the Kingdom, where he said the new Acroba would be ready for distribution by this spring.

'For many years, Aljomaih has been proud to be part of the TCM family of international distributors because of TCM's leadership in materials handling technology and innovative engineering designs,' says Al Ali.

Aside from TCM, Aljomaih's Heavy and Agricultural Equipment Division also markets a range of international equipment for the construction, industrial and agricultural sectors in the Kingdom.

It markets and distributes equipment used in agriculture, road construction and building construction, among other civil works. Additionally, it sells Perkins and Iveco Aifo diesel engines coupled with water pumps mainly for farm irrigation purposes but sometimes also for special applications such as use in fire-fighting equipment or as a prime mover for some industrial machines.

With its network of 13 strategically-located branch offices, customers are provided with quality services in equipment sales, spare parts and repair works.

'Our business includes the sale of generating sets in any size or capacity and it is one of the major activities of our division. We also deal in special machines that collect baled hays and automatically stack them in piles in designated storage areas in a farm,' says Al Ali.

Among the well-known international companies represented by the division are Fiat, Iveco Aifo and New Holland of Italy, Claas and MTU of Germany, TCM and Tacom of Japan, Nokka-Tume of Finland, Perkins of the UK, and Merlo, Nardi and Sogema of Italy.

The firm provides a wide range of tractors, gensets, harvesters, spreaders, forklifts, telescopic handlers, ploughs and trailers to the Saudi market.