HELLO
HELLO
For years, the second floor of the Hyster-Yale Customer Experience Center (CEC) in Charlotte, NC played host to a Heritage Gallery, a museum that celebrated the rich history of the parent company and its brands – including the Hyster and Yale. The Heritage Gallery was the first stop for customers, investors and dealer partners visiting the CEC for equipment demonstrations. The exhibits, a celebration of nearly a century of achievements and innovations, made it clear that visitors were working with a trusted, established materials handling brand.
After the parent company, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling (HYMH), underwent a rebranding in 2024, repositioning many of the company’s brands to focus more on the needs of their customers in the here and now, HYMH wanted to update the space from a backward-looking museum to a forward-looking exhibition that would help visitors to better understand the company’s evolving vision.
HYMH worked with a museum exhibit manufacturer to map the layout and plan and construct a series of new exhibits within the space that guide visitors through the history of the company, the manufacturing process, its offerings today and the technologies and innovations to come . They then turned to Koroberi to design graphics and write copy for the static exhibits and develop content for a variety of interactive displays that bring the space to life.
Over the course of the project, we created:
Although the Heritage Gallery was a thing of the past, it was still important for the Innovation Center to convey the company’s deep roots in materials handling history. The timeline maps over a century of rebrands, mergers and acquisitions, product developments and accomplishments in images and words. We researched a trove of historical records and HYMH documents and images, whittling down 100 years of history to draft and design a concise, compelling eight-panel display. The timeline provides customers with an understanding of the brand’s history while still keeping the primary focus of the Innovation Center on the present and future.
Although most customers don’t have the time to take a guided, hardhat tour to see the design and manufacturing process firsthand, it was important to HYMH to show what goes into making their award-winning lift trucks. Our designers and content team worked with the museum manufacturer to create interactive maps of the HYMH manufacturing facilities in Greenville, North Carolina and Berea, Kentucky. We identified main points of interest for multiple clickable hotspots on each map and drafted callout copy to explain what visitors are seeing at each location. Now, customers can take a Realtor.com-style tour to (virtually) experience the key steps of the HYMH manufacturing process.
Although HYMH is a single corporation, each of its constituent brands has its own distinct identity and serves a different range of industries. We designed two static panels — one each for Hyster and Yale — that summarize each brand’s focus. We then scripted and produced an interactive exhibit to further drive their brand narratives home and help visitors find the best-fit trucks for their applications. There were brand introduction videos to show the lift trucks and solutions in action, then an industry and application selector tool to display lineups of forklifts designed specifically for their needs.
One of the primary functions of the Innovation Center is to showcase solutions that are available today and highlight new technologies and designs that will shape the company’s lift trucks and solutions in the future. We worked with HYMH to identify some of the company’s most exciting innovations, then scripted and produced videos that visitors could view by selecting a technology from an interactive touchscreen panel. Designed with the flexibility to add new videos as new innovations come to life, this exhibit gives visitors a clear idea of the company’s vision for the future.
Although the products and solutions offered by HYMH are the primary focus of the Innovation Center, it was also important for the company to emphasize the products and services that are offered to customers after they purchase their lift truck. These five static panels provide high-level details on parts and accessories, maintenance and service, training, extended protection plans and consultative services that HYMH offers customers over the lifecycle of the trucks they purchase.
HYMH wanted to showcase their nationwide network of independent dealers and give visitors a way to identify those that serve their area. For this exhibit, our designers and content team created static panels and a video to provide an overview of the robust dealer network. We then created an interactive map that highlights a visitor’s local dealer based on the location they enter on a touchscreen panel. After the dealer is identified, visitors are served specific information, videos and other assets about that dealer. The dealer network, which is the primary point of contact for purchasing, service, maintenance and day-to-day support, is a cornerstone of the HYMH brand message.
Together with the client, our team helped craft an experience that honors HYMH’s history while also providing and engaging and informative experience that emphasize the offerings and value of a century-old brand. Check out the carousel below to see how it turned out.
