UK industry has changed beyond recognition in the last three decades, and so have our needs for battery traction power. Back in 1978 you couldn’t buy anything more than a newspaper on a Sunday, and most of industry ‘clocked off’ at five and only worked weekends as and when required. Since then, consumers’ increasing desire to shop at any time has driven the retail trade to be open for business 24 hours a day and put the burden firmly on the supply chain to keep the shelves filled.
It’s also put the spotlight firmly on smarter battery handling practice for the forklift fleets in Britain’s warehouses and distribution centres, as Adele Nightingale, Managing Director at battery handling experts Total Battery Management Ltd, explains:
“The knock-on effect of Britain moving to 24/7 retailing has driven supply chain and distribution professionals to review their warehouse operations, in particular how they run their materials handling to cope with the ever increasing consumer demand. Operations are finding themselves being pushed to take an average 1.7 batteries per truck, to ensure forklift trucks are available for use during any 24-hour period. This in turn has prompted huge technological developments in trucks, batteries, chargers and changers.”
Adele continues: “With more and more markets being driven down the 24/7 route, Health & Safety Issues to consider and warehousing space at a premium, the need for fast, safe, reliable battery change within the smallest footprint possible is now of major importance to the end user, and that’s where we come in.”
TBM – First for battery room solutions
Total Battery Management Ltd is the UK and European dealer for BHS Global Ltd., the UK arm of Battery Handling Systems Inc. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, BHS has nearly 30 years’ experience providing battery handling products and has shipped over 700 large-scale battery extractor systems worldwide.
TBM offers battery room solutions to international markets based on BHS’s world-renowned products, including battery extractor system design, installation and health and safety products. TBM provides total battery room management packages as well as a comprehensive line of products to meet customers’ battery changing needs. The BHS products represented by TBM range from battery and charger stands right through to man-aboard battery extractors. Each BHS product is the result of established manufacturing and engineering processes to provide the required quality assurance.
In today’s tough business environment the benefits of investing in better battery management are indisputable, says Adele Nightingale. She points out that a site using one hundred trucks, double shifting, working six days a week, will change batteries approximately 53,040 times per year. If the site could speed up each battery change by just one minute, this would give a possible saving of 880 man-hours per year.
Spare truck batteries need storing, charging and changing in a safe, ventilated environment, with a quick turnaround. TBM’s Battery Extractors give a speed of change time of around two minutes, thus ensuring maximum operation time during each shift for both forklift truck and driver.
It doesn’t stop there, as Adele points out: “By changing batteries with the correct battery extractor and using a battery management system, or computerised battery call forward system, you can improve your battery life by up to twenty percent. And by considering battery room requirements at the build stage of a new warehouse, or by converting your existing battery change facilities to a purpose designed battery room with a Battery Extractor system, you can save up to sixty or seventy percent of the original space used, giving you more available room for your valuable product.”
Health & Safety requirements now play a huge part in the changing of batteries -from small applications with a couple of batteries to a site with hundreds of batteries, the same Manual Handling Regulations apply. Moving to the correct battery changing system to suit your site reduces the risk of injury to personnel and ensures you are complying with current guidelines.
Making it happen – the Total Battery Management team
When it comes to helping you achieve better battery management, the TBM senior team has a depth of knowledge second to none. MD Adele Nightingale has 14 years’ materials handling experience, eight spent in the forklift truck industry, in rentals, sales and service and the last six working exclusively in the battery change sector. Sales Director Malcolm Pearson has over 40 years’ battery industry experience, much of it spent in engineering, sales, service and applications and has been heavily involved with battery room design and equipment for the last 10 years. Technical Director Ian Brazier has over 16 years in the battery industry behind him, including time spent in service, sales, applications and technical support. For the last nine years he has focused purely on battery room design, equipment, installation and project management.
Total Battery Management
Tel: 0560 294 1382
Email: sales@totalbatterymanagement.com
www.totalbatterymanagement.com
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