TCM

In the late 1940's an industrial boom began to take place in Japan. At the moment there were no forklift trucks companies in the East and very little outside the US. However, the cost effectiveness of the unit load concept began to be widely appreciated and the material handling industry was born.

History - In 1949, Toyo Umpanki Manufacturing Company LTD, established itself and produced the very first forklift in Japan. The outstanding success of the TCM product drew other Japanese manufactures into the new handling equipment business. In order to continue growing Toyo, started an expansion into international marketplace. They worked with the traditional trading companies such as Cascade Corporation (attachments), Joshua Shaw LTD. (side loaders), and Clark, Equipment (wheel loaders). As the result of that, company has become a major provided for the global fork lift truck market.

In 1961 the company has changed its name to Toyo Umpanki Co. LTD., TCM and it was listed as the number one Japanese stock exchanges. TCM forklift trucks were first introduced in the United States market in 1965 by Toyo Umpanki. A distribution effort was made from St. Louis, Missouri and assumed responsibility for distributing the products around the Unites States market. TMC America, Inc. was incorporated and headquartered in Bridgeport, New Jersey.

This operation was one of the most successful marketing efforts in history of material handling. TCM first established a major dealer network to distribute and service its products. Fortune 500 Companies become regular customers and some of them now operate feels of more than 200 units. A major customer for the TCM was also the U.S government who once order on 1,000 trucks. To meet the demand, in March 1989 Toyo Umpanki Co. started producing new forklifts in the new 165,000 square foot factory located in Columbia, South Carolina. This facility combined skilled craftsman with automatic production machinery to produce the highest quality of forklifts in the world. 1999 marked the company’s 50 year anniversary. In July the company has shorten their name to TCM Corporation. In June 2005, TCM assumed distribution and responsibility from Mitsui and Co. that was located in Swedesboro, New Jersey to distribute and supply products all over the USA.

TDU Supports sales, marketing, and technical service for the entire line of TCM fork lift truck products through our dealer network.