Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (NYSE:HY) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Al Rankin: Just to elaborate a small bit about the automation side. The backdrop of course is the point that Rajiv made many times, which is the most expensive aspect of the operating cost of a lift truck driver. And so that’s the sort of the core backdrop. And then if you put it in the context of the computing power that can be deployed in today’s world on a vehicle and in the context of the management of the vehicle, and then put that together with the increased sophistication of sensors that has developed over the last, I don’t know, Rajiv, five years, seven years, particularly pushed along by the automotive industry, which drives for low cost. And so we’re in a position of being able to bring automation forward in what I would call a highly controlled warehousing or manufacturing environment, where the sophistication of the software systems can really manage that environment very effectively.

We can use the sensors that are being used on automobiles, but without the huge number of variables that automated automobiles have to face in a real world environment that is not inside a warehouse or a factory. So, we see a very great opportunity as we look forward, and we think that these are going to be very much sort of project approaches and not just the sale of a product, but they’ll also be packaged in a way that allows them to be deployed by our dealers efficiently and relatively easily into installation. So it’s a pretty exciting arm of the business as we look forward. And we do think that, I think Rajiv you would agree that we think our approach to €“ in our internally developed technology is distinctive and has competitive advantage of consequence.

So that’s the backdrop for what we’re up to in that area, a little bit of elaboration.

Brett Kearney: Excellent. No, that’s very helpful. Thanks so much Al and Rajiv.

Al Rankin: You’re welcome.

Christina Kmetko: Thank you. Okay. And with that we’ll conclude our Q&A session. We’ll close with a few final reminders. A replay of our call will be available online later this morning. We’ll also post a transcript on the investor relations website when it becomes available. If you have any questions, please reach out to me. You can reach me at the phone number on the press release. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. And now I’ll turn the call back to Bruno to conclude the call. Thank you.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s call. Please remember, a telephone replay will be available during seven days. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.