Special
Delivery
cialist at Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc.,
reports that Toyota is seeing the most interest in
lithium-ion among customers using smaller pallet
trucks, and several are using this type of battery in
4,500-pound-capacity equipment. But they are still
limited to certain specialized applications, as not all
customers would realize a favorable return on investment, he says. That could soon change: Several of
our sources predicted that in the next one to
three years, the price of lithium-ion batteries
will come down enough to make them more
widely accepted for pallet trucks.
Onboard technology is helping pallet
trucks become complex machines with an
array of sophisticated capabilities. Just a
few examples cited by the experts we contacted include technology that automatically slows the unit during cornering for
better control and load stability, software
that forces pallet trucks to
travel with elevated forks,
and onboard diagnostics
and displays that provide
feedback on truck and battery
performance directly to the operator.
Another example: Toyota offers an operator
keypad that allows up to 10 unique operator logins.
Each operator login can have its own maximum speed
and acceleration settings, customizing the pallet truck
for operators with different skill levels or for different
operating areas within a facility.
Telematics solutions, which wirelessly send data
and instructions to and from lift trucks, are incorporating electric pallet trucks into the industrial Internet
of Things. Just as the technology has done for fleets of
larger forklifts, telematics systems such as Raymond’s
i Warehouse, Yale Vision, Hyster’s Tracker, and others
are opening up a trove of previously unavailable data
about pallet trucks. For example, Crown Equipment
Corp.’s InfoLink, which is available on all of its electric pallet trucks, “provides customers with information to make better business decisions and improve
the bottom line, particularly around asset utilization,
safety, and productivity,” says Steve Harshbarger, the
company’s marketing product manager.
Pallet trucks are also pioneers in the robotics revo-
lution. Crown’s semiautomated QuickPick Remote,
controlled by a wireless signal transmitted from a spe-
cial glove, follows alongside an operator, eliminating
the need for the worker to step on and off and boost-
ing picking productivity. Raymond’s Courier, Yale’s
“Driven by Balyo,” Linde’s T-Matic, and a number
of other robotic pallet trucks go even further, func-
tioning like automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and
moving around the warehouse independently to pick
up and drop off pallets. They use a variety of technol-
ogies—lasers, vision guidance systems, GPS, or other
methods, depending on the manufacturer—to map
and navigate their environment.
An interesting question is whether the
growing sophistication of pallet truck design
and technology has had an appreciable
impact on the equipment’s price, reli-ability, and maintenance costs. Both
Pedriana and Rice say modern pallet
trucks’ initial price, maintenance
costs, and lifespan have been relatively consistent with those
seen in recent years. They also
suggest that the equipment’s
added utility, value, and
operational cost savings are
the most important metrics. Others have a different
take. McNeill’s opinion is
that, generally speaking,
an increase in capability will
mean an increase in initial product
cost. “However, thanks to reduced maintenance needs
and other operating expenses, the end user ultimately
receives a more cost-effective solution over the life of
the product,” he says.
One feature was cited more than any other as having had a beneficial impact on maintenance costs
and productivity: the introduction of three-phase
AC motor technology in pallet trucks. AC motor and
controller technology, combined with the proper
industrial batteries, helps manage the energy used
and provides controlled acceleration when operators are moving materials throughout a warehouse,
says Perry Ardito, general manager of warehouse
products at MCFA, which provides Mitsubishi, Cat,
and Jungheinrich lift trucks throughout the Western
Hemisphere. Such an increase in efficiency often
results in longer operating times that can be extended with different battery options, he explains. And
because the AC drive motor has no carbon brushes,
it reduces the need for maintenance, ensuring significant long-term reduction in downtime for routine
service and maintenance.
