Emerging technologies may be the future of lift truck propulsion, but the lead acid battery will remain the dominant technology in the DC for some time to come.
George Weimer has been covering business and industry for almost four decades, beginning with Penton Publishing's Steel Magazine in 1968 where his first "beat" was the material handling industry. He remained with Steel for two years and stayed for two more when it became Industry Week in 1970. He subsequently joined Iron Age, where he spent a dozen years as its regional and international machine tool editor. He then re-joined Penton Publishing as chief editor of Automation Magazine and in 1993 returned to Industry Week as executive editor. He has been a contributing editor for several publications, including Material Handling Management, where his columns and feature articles regularly generated lively discussion in the industry. He has won various awards from major journalism organizations. He has covered numerous trade shows here and abroad and has spoken to various industrial and trade groups on the current issues and events of the day as they impinge on business. He remains convinced that material handling technology and logistics are two of the major sources of productivity improvement today and in the future for all industries.
In an era of spiking energy prices and mounting "green" imperatives, it's not hard to understand the industry's fascination with the technology of tomorrow—the fuel cells, hybrid power packs, and such that will someday be used to run lift trucks. And there seems little doubt that those technologies will have an important role in the DC of the future.
But right now, lead acid batteries, and the related charging and handling tools, still dominate, and it looks like they won't be going away anytime soon. The technology is proven and reliable, and many experts believe it will remain the standard in warehouses for at least another decade.
It's cost effective as well. Jim Lane, vice president of sales for MTC Worldwide, a Temple, Texas-based manufacturer of battery handling equipment, says that when it comes to technologies for powering industrial trucks, batteries have the clear cost advantage. "Overall, lead acid batteries' cost per kilowatt [makes them] the lowest-priced form of energy available for lift trucks."
And they're becoming more cost effective all the time. The last few years have seen a big push to improve battery efficiency and economics, as well as to simplify maintenance. The emergence of AC technology, for example, has allowed lift trucks to run for longer intervals between charges. Developments like fast charging, improved handling and charging systems, and advanced battery management tools provide DC managers with a host of options to get the most out of their batteries, and thus, their lift truck fleets.
In fact, lead acid batteries and their handling systems are a very much improved technology com- pared to just a decade ago. "Today, battery handling systems are more precisely engineered," says Terry Orf, vice president global sales and marketing for St. Louis-based Battery Handling Systems. Manufacturers have adopted modeling techniques to reduce production issues and improve tolerances, he explains.
On top of that, today's systems make greater use of automation— including tools like lasers for precise battery placement—than their predecessors did. "We see automation playing an increasing role in battery changing," says Dan Dwyer, vice president and general manager for Sackett Systems of Bensenville, Ill.
Among other advantages, automation promises to ease what is fast becoming one of the top challenges for DC managers: finding skilled labor. "The biggest commodity problem facing the industry will soon be a shortage of employees with the right skill sets," says John Pratt, president of Multi-Shifter, a Charlotte, N.C.-based maker of battery handling equipment. "We're going from a people-looking-for-jobs economy to a jobs-looking-for-people economy."
Charge it!
Today's DC managers also have choices when it comes to battery-charging technologies. Traditional battery changing systems have been challenged in recent years by developers of fast-charging and park-and-charge systems.
As for what managers should consider when choosing a technology for their operation, factors include changeover and operational costs, as well as the demands on trucks used in multi-shift operations. Battery diagnostics, maintenance, and life cycles are other issues that come into play.
"The advent of operation-embedded charging has shifted the accountability of battery management from people to the chargers themselves," says Lisa Horiuchi Heiberg, director of marketing and venture development for Monrovia, Calif.-based AeroVironment, whose PosiCharge systems are among the market leaders in fast charging. "The best of these chargers are intelligent rather than just fast, because a high-current charge without sophisticated controllers will result in damaged batteries and compromised run time."
Fast charging, with its sophisticated controllers and high-powered chargers, allows opportunity charging—that is plugging a battery in to charge during breaks, lunch, or other opportunities.
The last few months have seen a flurry of new product introductions in this area. In May, for example, Portsmouth, N.H.-based On Board Solutions introduced a line of multi-stage commercial and industrial grade battery chargers, the ProTech-C Series for 24- and 36-volt DC applications.
On Board Solutions president Bob Unger notes that this new series of chargers reflects another developing trend in the industry. "These new products are what we call global in design; they fit lots of different kinds of equipment used all over the world," he says.
Also in May, Sackett Systems introduced its Centurion Elite Automatic Changing System, a follow-up to its Northstar System, an automated one-minute battery changing, storage, and management system that it launched in 2007. The system allows forklift drivers to change their own batteries, reducing the need for trained specialists, who are in increasingly short supply. "The benefits of this system are labor savings, reduced equipment damage, and improved battery efficiency," says Dwyer.
What the future holds
Though they're certainly not abandoning their traditional battery research and development programs, a number of manufacturers have expanded their programs to include alternative or hybrid technologies. Several of those technologies have already shown great promise. For example, East Penn Manufacturing Co. Inc., maker of the Deka brand industrial batteries, has conducted several successful trials of a new hybrid fuel cell/battery unit, ReadyPower (see "all charged up," DC VELOCITY, June 2008).
Hawker, a major battery maker with a manufacturing plant in Warrensburg, Mo., is developing what it calls the Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) technology for use in forklifts. "TPPL offers great energy densities, accepts higher recharge rates, and ... could make an enormous impact in the future," says Dean Portney, national accounts manager for Hawker, which is an EnerSys company.
In the meantime, Portney says, Hawker has seen growing demand for its high-frequency chargers from energy-conscious DCs. The company says the chargers, which it has sold for 25 years, are able to use a greater percentage of incoming electricity than other charger technologies.
In fact, there's evidence that the nascent green movement is boosting interest in electric lift trucks in general, since electric models are significantly cleaner than their internal combustion counterparts. Lift truck fleet managers face mounting regulatory pressure to reduce emissions, particularly in California. There, rules imposed by the California Air Resources Board last year require reductions in emissions for fleets of four or more vehicles, with the first phase of the regulations taking effect on Jan. 1 of next year. "Actually, we are receiving more calls from customers with LP (liquid propane) fleets who are trying to convert to electric lift trucks for environmental reasons," says Dwyer. "We see this change as a growth opportunity."
Supply chain planning (SCP) leaders working on transformation efforts are focused on two major high-impact technology trends, including composite AI and supply chain data governance, according to a study from Gartner, Inc.
"SCP leaders are in the process of developing transformation roadmaps that will prioritize delivering on advanced decision intelligence and automated decision making," Eva Dawkins, Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain practice, said in a release. "Composite AI, which is the combined application of different AI techniques to improve learning efficiency, will drive the optimization and automation of many planning activities at scale, while supply chain data governance is the foundational key for digital transformation.”
Their pursuit of those roadmaps is often complicated by frequent disruptions and the rapid pace of technological innovation. But Gartner says those leaders can accelerate the realized value of technology investments by facilitating a shift from IT-led to business-led digital leadership, with SCP leaders taking ownership of multidisciplinary teams to advance business operations, channels and products.
“A sound data governance strategy supports advanced technologies, such as composite AI, while also facilitating collaboration throughout the supply chain technology ecosystem,” said Dawkins. “Without attention to data governance, SCP leaders will likely struggle to achieve their expected ROI on key technology investments.”
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
Serious inland flooding and widespread power outages are likely to sweep across Florida and other Southeast states in coming days with the arrival of Hurricane Helene, which is now predicted to make landfall Thursday evening along Florida’s northwest coast as a major hurricane, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
While the most catastrophic landfall impact is expected in the sparsely-population Big Bend area of Florida, it’s not only sea-front cities that are at risk. Since Helene is an “unusually large storm,” its flooding, rainfall, and high winds won’t be limited only to the Gulf Coast, but are expected to travel hundreds of miles inland, the weather service said. Heavy rainfall is expected to begin in the region even before the storm comes ashore, and the wet conditions will continue to move northward into the southern Appalachians region through Friday, dumping storm total rainfall amounts of up to 18 inches. Specifically, the major flood risk includes the urban areas around Tallahassee, metro Atlanta, and western North Carolina.
In addition to its human toll, the storm could exert serious business impacts, according to the supply chain mapping and monitoring firm Resilinc. Those will be largely triggered by significant flooding, which could halt oil operations, force mandatory evacuations, restrict ports, and disrupt air traffic.
While the storm’s track is currently forecast to miss the critical ports of Miami and New Orleans, it could still hurt operations throughout the Southeast agricultural belt, which produces products like soybeans, cotton, peanuts, corn, and tobacco, according to Everstream Analytics.
That widespread footprint could also hinder supply chain and logistics flows along stretches of interstate highways I-10 and I-75 and on regional rail lines operated by Norfolk Southern and CSX. And Hurricane Helene could also likely impact business operations by unleashing power outages, deep flooding, and wind damage in northern Florida portions of Georgia, Everstream Analytics said.
Before the storm had even touched Florida soil, recovery efforts were already being launched by humanitarian aid group the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). In a statement on Wednesday, the group said it is urging residents in the storm's path across the Southeast to heed evacuation notices and safety advisories, and reminding members of the logistics community that their post-storm help could be needed soon. The group will continue to update its Disaster Micro-Site with Hurricane Helene resources and with requests for donated logistics assistance, most of which will start arriving within 24 to 72 hours after the storm’s initial landfall, ALAN said.