Research on forklift power battery is an important real-time data for warehouse
For many forklift fleet managers, batteries may be one of the most challenging components of management and understanding. It can be particularly difficult to accurately determine the performance and overall life of a battery. Forklifts consume different amounts of power depending on the application, operator and driving mode. Operators and warehouse managers often know little about the health of forklift batteries until the forklift stops working. The best way to gain insight into battery performance is to conduct power studies.
Power research combines monitoring, data analysis and expert insights to provide fleet managers with recommendations and best practices to improve forklift battery performance. By cooperating with forklift suppliers and adopting battery monitoring technology, real-time data can be widely collected from frequently used forklifts. These data can then be used to reveal how your fleet regularly consumes and replenishes electricity. Modeling considering applications, power usage, and different charging schemes can also help determine the optimal charging process, including the number and location of charging stations.
The following are four ways of power research to help bring standardization and predictability to forklift battery projects and improve forklift performance.
(1) Lithium battery
In some applications, the correct combination of lithium battery and charging location can bring many benefits. Power research can help you determine whether switching to lithium battery is the right choice for operation, and can also provide suggestions for charging location and process. For example, a study of a fleet using lead-acid batteries may show that idle time is high and power consumption is low, but the battery cannot last the entire shift. In such applications, there may be good reasons to switch to lithium-ion power supply. Lithium battery can not only charge faster and more effectively, but also provide power for the forklift for the whole shift, and finally improve its normal operation time.
(2) Understand your motivation needs
Another result of the power study is to determine the size of the forklift fleet based on the collected battery utilization information. This study monitors the amperage per hour of each battery to compare power usage and forklift utilization for different applications and shifts.
Such a comparison can reveal which applications or operator behaviors consume the highest ratio or total power. Predictably, this is often an application that requires additional devices or lifting and lowering heavy objects. It may be that the operator uses a bulldozer to load and a forklift to push rather than carry the pallet. Understanding the power used by forklifts and the power discharge mode can improve the operator's sense of responsibility and battery management practice.
Electric power research may also be more than a "one hundred" requirement. It is important to understand the power demand as the operation changes, especially when the pallet moves, the shelf, or even the weight of the moved product changes.
(3) Optimize charging practices
A power study can determine the correct charging method or combination of methods to suit the forklift fleet and operation.
There are three types of forklift battery charging methods: conventional, opportunistic, and fast charging. The most common method is conventional charging, which is usually used for lead-acid batteries, allowing full charging after partial or complete discharge of the battery during normal operation. Generally, this method is preferred when the battery has the ability to charge for several hours and then has an appropriate cooling period. Power research may find that opportunistic or rapid charging of lead-acid batteries is allowed in the application, although the impact of these charging methods on the overall battery life needs to be considered.
However, opportunities for lithium batteries or fast charging allow for more flexibility. Power research may find that idle time -- perhaps more than you realize -- when batteries can accept these alternative charging methods. For example, the warehouse can use the opportunity charging station anywhere the operator has downtime to plug in the battery for at least 10 minutes. These opportunities can include work breaks, scheduled lunches, and shifts. It has been proved that lithium batteries are more efficient through opportunistic charging without adversely affecting the overall life of the battery. Similarly, fast charging uses a longer time interval to charge, but it also has its own rules and requirements, and power research can help determine.
(4) Improve operational performance
Establishing battery best practices makes it easier for you to implement and comply with standardized processes as you grow and add to your fleet. As the pressure for higher throughput increases to meet growing and changing demands, there is almost a constant need to increase the productivity of the existing forklift fleet and warehouse facilities. Through power research, operators and warehouse managers can have a deeper understanding of their power needs and possible battery problems, and ultimately improve the overall performance of forklifts.
