CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

Peterson Farms, is a family owned and operated business, located on the hills near West Michigan's shoreline. This is a year round business, constantly receiving produce locally and from around the country, with their main focus being the processing of top quality fruits and vegetables. These products, i.e. cherries, apples, blue berries, peaches and asparagus, are shipped fresh or frozen to their clients - pie companies and other establishments.

Once produce arrives at Peterson Farms it is immediately on the move, into coolers, and then into processing. The finished product goes out fresh or bagged, via their private fleet, or is put into their freezer system. Within the freezer system the orders are sorted by lot, grade, and quantity and racked until needed. Peterson Farms ensures on-time shipments of these products to their customers by running their own private fleet of semi-trailers.

Komatsu forklifts operate in many areas of Peterson Farms - Oceana County Freezer Storage, the apple juice plant, the fresh plant, and even on the fruit farms. This fleet of 43 forklifts is a workhorse; they are involved in a variety of operations at various facilities’. They handle everything from production to distribution, product storage, and facility logistics. "We tried the competition, but came back to Komatsu Forklifts. They can handle what we put them through and we are hard on our lifts!" states Cal Moul, Purchasing Manager, for Peterson Farms. Most of the Komatsu units are equipped with side shift attachments, four with rotators (key during cherry season), many with 188" three stage masts, and about 20 are equipped with 240" quad masts. This is a fleet of lifts that tackle an abusive environment. Cal oversees this forklift fleet and their operations at Peterson Farms.

Everyone involved at Peterson Farms knows and understands commitment to quality. They have a constant quest for perfection and are continuously striving to surpass the expected and reach their goal of Superior A fruit and vegetables. This is a proactive company, "we strive for more efficiency and we go ahead and get it done." states Cal. When planning for Oceana County Freezer Storage, Cal was instrumental in developing, designing and laying out the racking system used in the facility. He ran up a 4-stage mast unit to find where he could make the top of the racking. Cal maximized this facility’s area which totals – 434,972 sq. ft. under one roof. “This facility is much taller than most freezers and is extremely productive,” stated Cal. This facility handles the amount of produce coming out of the fields and uses mostly the quad mast forklifts to efficiently access the freezer space. These forklifts perform extremely well in the freezer conditions.

The Komatsu Forklift fleet, and Van’s Industrial Equip. Co., really pulls through for Cal especially during peak harvest season when the facilities are running 24/7. As Cal said "Jack & Bob Vander Sloot, owner’s of Van’s Industrial Equipment, stay involved and ensure that the 8-9 leased vehicles are running at peek condition. Through out their 12 year relationship, Van’s Industrial Equipment has followed through with their commitment and truly has a vested interest in Peterson Farms". This is a quality fleet that assists Peterson Farms in delivering quality and on-time shipments, ultimately ensuring their goal of 100% customer satisfaction.