Ashwini Wankhede: Steering Excellence at Toyota Lift Northwest

In the realm of material handling solutions and excellence, certain individuals stand out as pioneers, reshaping the landscape of services and strategies. Selected as WCRCINT World's Best Emerging Leader, Ashwini Wankhede , an influential figure at Toyota Lift Northwest, embodies a commitment to exceptional service, strategic insights, and transformative leadership in the forklifts and material handling.

Ashwini Wankhede , armed with a wealth of experience and a forward-thinking mindset, plays a pivotal role in steering Toyota Lift Northwest towards redefining forklifts and material handling. solutions. His journey is marked by a passion for innovation, embracing cutting-edge technologies, and fostering operational efficiency.

Under Wankhede's guidance, Toyota Lift Northwest has emerged as a prominent entity in the forklifts and material handling services landscape. The company, founded on the principles of exceptional customer service and a commitment to providing tailored automotive solutions, has positioned itself as a trusted name in delivering innovative services.

At the heart of Wankhede's philosophy lies a deep-seated commitment to client-centric approaches. Toyota Lift Northwest is dedicated to providing personalised forklifts and material handling solutions, catering to clients' distinct needs while ensuring reliability and optimal performance.

Wankhede's expertise extends across the forklifts and material handling sector, leaving an indelible mark in the industry. His insights and strategic approaches have elevated standards and redefined the service experience, setting a trajectory for the company's future successes.

Ashwini Wankhede's journey epitomises the essence of transformative leadership and a dedication to innovative forklifts and material handling solutions. His initiatives, client-centric focus, and groundbreaking endeavour's position her as a trailblazer, inspiring the sector to reimagine their strategies and navigate the ever-evolving industry landscape.

In conversation with Ashwini Wankhede, President and COO, Toyota Lift Northwest

What makes you a strong leader? What are your key leadership strengths are make the strongest attributes of success.

Fast decision making, consistent communication, empowerment, inclusive leadership, and trust are some of the unique traits of my leadership style. As a leader, it is crucial to build a strong coherent team that delivers consistently. Effective delegation, i.e., the right person for the right job is mantra for success. It is equally important to seek timely feedback from the employees and act on good ideas to foster pride of ownership. The key intent is to make employees happy at heart so that they are fully committed to the job and enjoy their time at work. Empowerment ensures that the ideas are implemented at a faster pace. An efficient comradeship between staff members accompanied with an attitude of forgiveness goes a long way in building trust and confidence.

An accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career? What challenges did you face to reach to the success?

A significant career achievement is to be able to solidify and position Toyota Lift Northwest as a Total Integrated Solution Provider. We have been able to achieve this by eliminating any downtime the customers face due to product or aftermarket failure. We aim to get closer to customers; be a partner in their operations and understand their pain points and grievances. This leads to innovation and improvement in their solutions, while paving the path for novel business opportunities. In the last 2 years we have opened six new facilities. We have started our own battery line and charger line of business. We have also commenced tire business and servicing trailer business. This equips us with the capability to recondition and refurbish our used truck within our own premises. The rental fleet has been increased three-folds, and investment in storage and automation department is yielding positive results. All these efforts consistently support us in hitting record numbers in service, rentals and parts sales.

What is the role of a leader in these challenging times. List 5 in order of priority.

Focus on opportunities, not the problems.

Recognize differences between leadership and management.