In today's e-commerce boom, there are warehouses around the world to store hundreds (even hundreds of thousands) of products. Warehouse workers are scrambling to organize, package and ship products to help meet the demanding deadlines of electronic retailers. What do you think about Amazon delivering things to people within 24 hours?
Moreover, in each warehouse, there are a large number of important and easily overlooked machines-forklifts, which can help achieve all these productivity. Traditionally, for indoor warehouse applications, lead-acid batteries and liquefied petroleum fuel (LPG) provide energy for forklifts.
"It's not clean. It's dirty. Eric Yi, chief operating officer of Wisdom Industrial Power Co., Ltd., said it is a very old technology. BSLBATT® is an energy technology company that produces advanced batteries for the automotive, material handling and energy storage industries .
He and his colleagues believe that lithium-ion battery technology is a cleaner and more efficient option. For him, there is no better time to participate in the forklift business. According to an article published by Material Handling & Logistics in 2018, North American forklift sales reached a record of more than 250,000 units in 2017, of which electric forklifts accounted for 64% of this number.
Lithium-ion battery market continues to grow
Battery supply BSLBATT® lithium ion battery
The improvement of productivity and efficiency is usually the driving force of new technology. Although lithium ion batteries in the market ten years later are hard to say new technology, the reasons for adopting this technology are still the same. In the United States, the adoption rate of lithium-ion technology in the materials processing market in 2018 was 2.5%. The most common complaint of lithium batteries is the high initial cost, but as Koen Bilcke, coordinator of the Belgium Battery Supply Technology Center, explained: "Although the investment in lithium-ion batteries is more than double that of other traction batteries, if you consider that the battery is used throughout its The total energy stored in the lifetime, the energy throughput is more than four times higher. The energy density of lithium ions is very high. You can easily increase the capacity and autonomy of the application. For example, due to the low emission zone in the Netherlands, we see The demand for electric cranes in the historic city center has increased. Lead-acid batteries cannot be used for this application because it does not have enough capacity to complete this work. Lithium-ion batteries have a high energy density, so they can be used throughout the day Increase the autonomy of the crane within a period of time. "Bilcke said.
"The shift to cleaner energy solutions includes the use of newer technologies such as electrification and lithium batteries to replace fossil fuel engines," BSLBATT® said. "This is a better solution than gasoline, especially from the point of view of fleet management, where you need continuous uptime." The duty cycle of lithium batteries is two to three times higher than lead-acid batteries. They do not need to replace the battery, and during the shift process, because there is no voltage drop, their performance is more stable, especially at high voltage. Similarly, lithium batteries can be charged in an hour or less, depending on the depth of charge; in two- to three-shift applications, one lithium battery can replace two, three, or three lead-acid batteries. Both charge management and battery performance can be managed through battery telematics. This can bring a better return on investment. "BSLBATT® added that safety, environmental impact and ease of use are also areas that customers want to improve," BSLBATT®'s design motivation is safety. BSLBATT® chose the prismatic "all-water system" design, which is the safest technology in forklift applications. Our chemical lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) is the most stable chemical used in forklifts, "BSLBATT® said.
Whenever new technologies are put on the market, time and a stable training program are needed to ease the concerns of potential customers. Thomas Duck, vice president and general manager of US forklift dealer Tri-Lift NC, said that fear and reason are the reasons why customers are reluctant to adopt new battery technology. "The main work we do is to provide a comprehensive introduction to the product, and provide an analysis of operating costs (usually 12 to 24 months ROI) and product demonstrations, so customers can see BYD battery charging ease due to the IC Forklift-related costs, new engine standards, high maintenance costs and high fuel costs, most customers have converted to lithium-ion batteries. "
For example, the owner of a fleet usually requires at least three industrial lead-acid batteries per forklift to complete a day's work. When the juice runs out, they must stop to change the juice, which is a difficult and time-consuming feat, resulting in a lot of downtime. However, when they switched to a lithium-ion battery, it was able to enter once and never leave the forklift due to the fast charging during normal working breaks. They achieved 100% fleet availability with fewer batteries and fewer related equipment (chargers, etc.).
One of Tri-lift NC ’s customers is a food manufacturing plant and warehouse. There are currently 24 BYD lithium-ion phosphate battery-powered forklifts in operation, and another 16 are on order. “The customer operated both IC forklifts and battery-powered forklifts. Since switching to lithium batteries, his efficiency has improved, and drivers have spent more time shipping products and less time replacing fuel tanks. Check the oil or replace or water. In fact, the fleet of 16 forklifts has been reduced. "Duck said.
Bi Guozhong, general manager of the forklift division of Chinese manufacturer BYD, believes that technological innovation will attract lithium-ion battery users and converters. Junior High School believes: "Innovation will contribute to customers doing more with less money. What customers want most is the right thing that can solve problems and create value for them at the same time." BYD is the early stage of lithium-ion technology One of the innovators played an important role in the development of lithium phosphate battery and one of the first forklift trucks designed to use lithium battery technology. BYD's ECB18C won the 2016 IFOY Award with a balance truck of up to 3.5T. ECB18C is an 80v lithium-ion stacker. In the judges ’opinion, the forklift has solved one of the biggest problems of electric forklifts-long working life,
Adrian Martin, general manager of quality and product support at Fork Force, an Australian dealer, said that lithium-ion batteries bridge the gap between internal combustion engine forklifts and electric forklifts and have been modified to meet European standards, but many operations are due to reduced power to meet emissions requirements. Unacceptable. Martin said: "Lithium battery forklifts have shorter charging times, comparable cost of ownership, and are safer, cleaner, and longer-lived." He added that easy charging and elimination of daily battery maintenance have important occupational health and safety advantages.
BSLBATT® said: "Looking forward, I think that lithium-ion battery technology will be adopted more quickly in the industry." "We are truly and in-depth on how to help manufacturers electrify their fleets and achieve better overall cost advantages. 'S dialogue opened the door. "
In a complete material handling system, we believe in simple and effective products. Our vision is to build simple and powerful tools to support customers' daily operations at a reasonable price. Regardless of your business needs, we can provide a variety of forklift batteries in high-frequency distribution centers, from occasional use to multi-shift applications.
Contact our friendly staff to learn more about lithium-ion batteries for forklifts or other forklift products
