When enterprises prepare to purchase batches of electric forklifts for warehouse, logistics or production line handling scenarios, most potential suppliers will provide past real-world application references as proof of their product performance and service capability. However, unverified reference information may lead to mismatched product functions, unexpected after-sales delay and extra operational cost later, so it is necessary to carry out standardized, multi-dimensional verification work before making final procurement decisions.

First, you can start with basic information cross-check for the reference cases. You can ask the supplier to provide complete basic details of the reference projects, including the full name of the client enterprise, specific application scenarios, deployment scale of electric forklifts, project implementation time, and main demand background of the client at that time. You can compare these details with the public operation information of the corresponding client to confirm that the project did take place, and exclude those references that are only partial cooperation or even fictional.

Second, conduct direct communication with the contact person of the reference client you screened out. When contacting, you can focus on asking about the actual operating performance of the electric forklifts after long-term use, the response speed of the supplier’s daily after-sales maintenance service, the cost of routine spare parts replacement, and whether the team can provide targeted adjustment solutions for the special handling scenarios of the client. This kind of first-hand feedback can help you get rid of the one-sided publicity description provided only by the supplier.

Third, arrange on-site visit to the reference application site when conditions permit. During the visit, you can observe the actual operation state of the electric forklifts on site, check the daily operation log and maintenance record of the equipment, and communicate with the front-line forklift operators who use the equipment every day, to learn about the actual use experience that is often not mentioned in written reference materials. You can also check whether the use effect of the equipment matches the actual demand of the site, to judge whether the supplier’s product can adapt to your similar working conditions.

After completing the above verification steps, you can sort out all collected information for comprehensive evaluation. Avoid judging the qualification of a supplier only by the number of reference cases, focus on the matching degree between the reference scenario and your own actual demand, which can effectively reduce the procurement risk, and lay a solid foundation for the long-term stable operation of your subsequent material handling system.