NEW LOGISTICS PRODUCTS & SERVICES
EDITED BY DIANE RAND rollouts
SPOTLIGHT ON ….
BATTERIES AND CHARGERS
“Smart” 80-volt battery
charger: Advanced Charging
Technologies Inc. (ACT),
a manufacturer of battery
and charging solutions, has
announced that it has completed the UL/cUL certification for
its 80-volt Quantum charger.
The new 80-volt charger will
allow ACT to meet growing
demand for 80-volt forklifts.
The Quantum charger, which ACT describes as the industry’s
first “smart” battery charger, was designed with Wi-Fi connectivity to allow for seamless cloud integration. ACT’s cloud application with simplified dashboard allows end users to centrally
manage their charger assets with 24/7 access from their desktop,
mobile phone, or tablet, enabling real-time smart warehouse
management. Two-way communication allows remote firmware
and software updates for continuous improvements and provides
for remote commands to be sent to the Quantum charger to
solve problems before they happen, the company says.
The Quantum charger also communicates with the ACT
BATTview battery monitor to capture battery utilization and performance data for even more cloud-based real-time optimization
of forklift charger and battery fleet efficiency.
The Quantum charger features modular technology for uninterrupted operations, ease of service, and scalability. Power modules with a plug-and-play interface can be added or replaced easily as operations and power needs grow. The Quantum charger
is backed with a five-year warranty by ACT. (Advanced Charging
Technologies, www.act-chargers.com)
Lithium-ion battery for walkie pallet truck: Mitsubishi
Caterpillar Forklift America Inc., the provider of Jungheinrich lift
trucks and narrow-aisle products in the United States, Canada,
and Mexico, has introduced a lithium-ion (110 Ah) 24-volt battery option for its Jungheinrich EJE 120 walkie pallet truck.
The Jungheinrich maintenance-free battery features a life
expectancy of up to 3,000 discharge cycles, the company says. By
comparison, the average service life for lead-acid batteries ranges
from 900 to 1,200 cycles.
Some of the unique benefits of the Jungheinrich EJE walkie
pallet truck with lithium-ion battery include unrestricted usage
and quick charging capacity; increased vehicle availability and
high level of energy efficiency; optimized charging processes with
high-frequency charger; no battery maintenance requirements;
and an integrated battery management system. (Mitsubishi
Caterpillar Forklift America Inc., www.mcfa.com/en/jungheinrich)
Battery maintenance service: Flow-Rite now offers Battery
Steward reporting services, a cloud-based solution that helps
operations managers proactively identify neglected, misused, and
abused industrial batteries.
The 14 new reporting services include four main reports: a
missed task report that helps identify what battery maintenance
tasks have not been completed; an equipment age report that
delivers relevant age information on the customer’s fleet so managers can make better financial decisions; a battery condition
report that offers insight into the status of the client’s battery
inventory; and an activity report that digs into specific tasks to see
what maintenance activity was completed and when.
The reporting-services offering is one of several new subscription packages that Flow-Rite recently introduced. (Flow-Rite,
www.flow-rite.com)
Battery and battery/charger combo:
Hawker Power Source has introduced
two new battery products—the Flex battery and FlexPak battery/charger combo
pack. Suitable for a variety of light- and
medium-duty applications, Hawker Flex and
FlexPak batteries were designed to provide flexibility and never require watering.
The Hawker Flex battery line includes a range of motive power
batteries (consisting of either two-volt cells or monoblocs) that
offer opportunity charging with no battery changing and require
practically no maintenance. According to the company, this provides significant operational benefits at a lower cost of ownership
compared with traditional flooded, gel, or air mixed batteries.
FlexPak is a battery and charger combined into one tray. This
combo pack includes an IP66-rated high-frequency onboard
charger that incorporates a charging profile specifically designed
for the TPPL (thin plate pure lead) batteries. The pack is designed
and intended for light- to medium-duty single- and two-shift
operations and should be opportunity charged as often as possible during work hours. For ease of charging, the FlexPak chargers
are factory installed with a standard 110V AC plug on the end
of the tray.
Both batteries can help eliminate routine maintenance efforts
and may reduce operating expenses, Hawker says. There is no
need to water these batteries, and corrosion issues have been
eliminated. Shorter recharge times mean quicker battery availability; operators only need to schedule one full charge and
equalization per week.
Hawker Flex and FlexPak batteries can be used whenever needed and can be recharged when time allows—during breaks or at
the end of the shift. Designed to be the ideal power source to an
opportunity charge application, the batteries can go from 40- to
80-percent state of charge within one hour with the appropriately sized Hawker Flex charger. All Flex and FlexPak batteries are
equipped with low-voltage alarms (LVAs) to automatically alert
the user when the battery should be charged. (Hawker Power
Source, www.hawkerpowersource.com)
