Hydrogen fuel cells eliminate charging downtime
A parts manufacturer had a fleet of 16 Yale lift trucks. The company's operation included three shifts per day, with more than 3,000 hours logged on each fork truck annually. Â
Using lead-acid batteries to power trucks with "fast charging" methods was burning through battery life cycles quickly, which lead to shorter shelf life.
As demand increased, battery charging created operating limitations. They were unable to keep the lead-acid batteries fully charged for optimum performance and it squandered productivity.
Everytime the facility was visited, there were four forklift operators sitting on their truck in the charging area. The company was losing valuable uptime to charge batteries.
INITIAL CHALLENGE
A parts manufacturer was experiencing issues with battery charging, resulting in low productivity. Although the company was using fast charging methods, they were unable to keep the battery charged above 40%.
OUR SOLUTION
We recommended replacing the lead-acid batteries with Nuvera hydrogen fuel cells to eliminate battery charging pains and increase productivity. This would also open warehouse space by replacing multiple charging stations with a single refueling station - with minimal upfront costs. Hydrogen cells can be refueled to full capacity in three minutes - as opposed to lead-acid batteries which take 10 minutes.
THE RESULTS
Operators noted increased productivity throughout their shifts and quick refills under three minutes. The customer's trucks are running at 100% capacity with minimal downtime. Additionally, the customer downsized its fleet from 16 trucks (plus rentals) to 14 lift trucks and no longer requires multiple batteries per truck.
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