Atlet was a Swedish company that manufactured indoor and outdoor
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
s. The company also provided services related to trucks and material handling, such as
logistics
Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
analysis, training and service. The head office, manufacturing and training premises were located in
Mölnlycke
Mölnlycke is a small town nearby Greater Gothenburg, a locality and the seat of Härryda Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 17,499 inhabitants in 2019. The urban area stretches over two municipalities. Mölndal Municipality ...
, just outside Göteborg,
Sweden.
Nissan Forklift Co. Ltd. bought Atlet in 2007 and merged with Mitsubishi and changed the name to Unicarriers. Mitsubishi later bought out Unicarriers and changed the name to Mitsubishi.
History
Knut Jacobsson started Elitmaskiner in
Göteborg
Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has a p ...
in 1958.
[Bergqvist, Peter. "Bra affärer för Atlet", Verkstäderna. 28 November 2012, p. 22.] At the time the company only made trucks for indoor use. Elitmaskiner changed its name to Atlet in 1966.
The company started by making hand pallet trucks.
Around 1960, powered stackers and telereach trucks dominated the market. Knut Jacobsson then invented the pedestrian stacker that had a lifting capacity comparable with the telereach trucks, but could be used in narrower aisles, thanks to its patented side stabilizers.
Atlet started providing training for truck operators in the 70s. Technical developments continued with computerized simulations of warehouse management solutions, automatic trucks and mobile terminal systems, and between 1988 and 1994 Atlet took part in a development project in collaboration with doctors and occupational therapists. This resulted in
Tergo, a telereach truck with ergonomic solutions such as the mini steering wheel and floating armrest.
Jacobsson left the CEO position in 1995, letting his daughter, Marianne Nilson, take over.
[Börjesson, Karin. "Atlets nya VD har tagit över", ]Göteborgs-Posten
''Göteborgs-Posten'' (lit. "The Gothenburg Post"), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden.
History and profile
''Göteborgs-Posten'' was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1 ...
. 28 April 1995. It was then Sweden's biggest family-owned engineering company and one of the leading European truck manufacturers.
, a subsidiary of the
Nissan Motor Company
, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...
, bought Atlet AB in 2007.
["Nissan tar över Atlet", ]Göteborgs-Posten
''Göteborgs-Posten'' (lit. "The Gothenburg Post"), abbreviated GP, is a major Swedish language daily newspaper published in Gothenburg, Sweden.
History and profile
''Göteborgs-Posten'' was first published in 1813, but ceased publication in 1 ...
. 5 September 2007.
Nissan Motor Company spun-off its Industrial Machinery Division and establish a new company, “Nissan Forklift Co., Ltd.”, effective from October 1, 2010.
[Atlet, Henrik Moberger, Tärnan Reportage AB 2008. ]
See also
*
A Ergo
Sources
{{reflist
External links
Atlet AB
Manufacturing companies of Sweden
Nissan
Companies based in Västra Götaland County