Hyster is an industry leader in the materials handling industry that has been in business for over eighty years. However, it started as a producer of lifting machinery as well as winches. Most of its production was focused in the Pacific Northwest and dealt mostly with the lumber and logging industry. A couple years after the 1st forklift trucks were invented Hyster became synonymous with quality production. Over the preceding eighty years Hyster has continued to expand and increase its product line. The expansion of its products coupled with its want to stay service oriented has allowed Hyster to develop into the intercontinental participant it is in our day.

Hyster experienced major innovations through the 1940's and 1960's. In 1946, Hyster opened a plant in Danville, Illinois that was exclusively devoted to mass producing trucks. This allowed Hyster to force its costs down and, simultaneously, offer a better quality product at industry aggressive rates. In 1952, Hyster began its first foray in to the international production market through opening its first plant in the Netherlands. The Netherlands plant was originally designed to produce two products: Hyster 40" and the Karry Kranes.

Hyster, along with the entire forklift industry, continued to expand into different product lines throughout the 1950's and 60's. They began constructing container handlers in the United states in 1959 to meet with the ever growing demand for transportation goods. In 1966, Hyster developed a method for enabling a lift truck to go both ahead and backwards using the same pedal. This pedal was labeled the Monotrol pedal, which revolutionized the industry. Later on in the decade Hyster opened a R&D centre in Oregon that was focused on improving the design and performance of forklifts. The centre is still one of the world's greatest testing facilities in the materials handling industry.

In the 1960's Hyster experienced rapid growth. Much of the manufacturing was shifting in the direction of mass production. To keep up with the times Hyster was inclined to focus on the evolution of these mass markets. Thus, in 1970, the XL design philosophy was born. The XL design philosophy allowed Hyster to offer greater quality at a more reasonable cost. A further expansion in manufacturing capabilities was necessitated by the need in Europe for Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles. To fill this gap, a plant in Craigavon, Ireland was opened in 1980. Through the 1980's Hyster continued to focus on developing industry leading lift trucks. The Hyster company name was known throughout the world for its commitment towards quality. This attention to quality produced numerous suitors for the business. In 1989, a large international business based in Ohio called NACCO Industries bought Hyster and started an aggressive growth strategy. NACCO quickly changed the XL philosophy with a more driver oriented truck that focused on operator comfort, which is known as the XM generation of trucks.

The evolving needs of Hyster's clients, led by changes in supply chain management, required Hyster to constantly innovate and make investments in new production technology during the next few decades. Acquisitions and investments were made in the US, Italy, Netherlands, and a lot of other places throughout the world. All of these investments have made Hyster a world leader in the lift truck market. In 2009, Hyster celebrated its eightieth anniversary as an industry leader of materials handling equipment, which consists of over three hundred different versions of lift trucks.

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