What You Don't Know About Motive Power Can Hurt You

Dave Altop, maintenance manager at Raley's, was able to exercise battery warranties fully, optimize run times and increase operational productivity using a predictive maintenance program for batteries. Because he had accurate testing documentation at his fingertips, Altop was able to receive more than $140,000 in warranty claims for cells and batteries.

He also takes advantage of cell cannibalizations from spent batteries. Previously, dead batteries were hauled away, good cells and all. “I never actually buy cells anymore,” Altop reports.

“Long life in a battery can only be obtained through a good system of watering, equalizing, proper rotation and charging,” Altop concludes. “With this program in place, and the MCBA to prove it, battery companies honor all my warranties.”

Super Store Industries uses the technology to test every battery regularly. “My tuggers are now getting an extra two to three years of battery life,” says Kevin Selby, facilities manager for Super Store's dry grocery and frozen food division. “That's a 67% increase, straight to the bottom line.” He also reports that equipment maintenance costs have dropped dramatically because low-voltage batteries are addressed before they become problems. “We eliminated 15 minutes of unnecessary daily battery changes for 40 operators, which is 10 hours of gained productivity per day, or 2,500 hours per year,” he adds.

The managers have also used the performance data generated by the technology to plan battery buying more effectively and reduce guesswork. They also operate on fewer batteries today and can identify overheating cells before they fail.

For these professionals, investing in predictive battery maintenance technology was a small price to pay for the ability to optimize the assets that power their lift truck fleets.

Roger Clark is general manager of Battery Test Equipment Co. in Nazareth, Pa. He can be reached at rclark@batterytesteq.com or 610-746-9449. The company's Web site is at www.batterytesteq.com.