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          business elite canada
        
        
          H
        
        
          OCTOBER 2016
        
        
          tial complications interfere with his vision.
        
        
          “You need to have nerves of steel and
        
        
          bankers who believe in you because it is a
        
        
          big investment,” Martin Drolet said.
        
        
          In 1998, the rental fleet had only 15 units.
        
        
          Now with over 400 units, Manulift houses
        
        
          the largest rental fleet in Canada and the
        
        
          13th largest in North America. The equip-
        
        
          ment is tailored to customer needs, thanks
        
        
          to more than 72 models that are available.
        
        
          Merlo is an Italian telehandler manufactur-
        
        
          er renowned worldwide for its advanced
        
        
          technology and increased productivity.
        
        
          Drolet felt it was the perfect fit for Manu-
        
        
          lift, which is why it was introduced by the
        
        
          company in 2004 to the Canadian market.
        
        
          This allowed for diversification while still
        
        
          being specialized; Merlo enabled Manulift
        
        
          to cater to many markets.
        
        
          “We were lucky Merlo was not previous-
        
        
          ly on Canadian soil because we would’ve
        
        
          faced severe competition,” Drolet said.
        
        
          THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX:
        
        
          NEW MARKETS
        
        
          Not only was the company able to pen-
        
        
          etrate industries for whom heavy duty
        
        
          machinery is a must, it has even catered
        
        
          
            “People who need fast-paced machines and fast deployment on-site, they know
          
        
        
          
            that our technology and our company are good at being highly efficient and
          
        
        
          
            productive.”