Swedish forklift and facility power systems provider Concentric has surpassed 250,000 battery swaps using PowerHIVE, its autonomous forklift battery management system.

Concentric aims to help facilities accelerate their transition from lead-acid to lithium-ion batteries by eliminating expensive charging infrastructure, cutting downtime and reclaiming floor space. Lithium batteries require expansive electrical installations yet still require operators to manage charging and deal with idle forklifts and ancillary equipment, Concentric noted.

The PowerHIVE system standardizes batteries to a single size and centralizes charging in a compact footprint. Standardized batteries often enable a 10% reduction in fleet size while freeing as much as 80% of battery room space for revenue-generating storage, Concentric said.

Operators do not need to touch a 3,000-pound battery, and reloads take two minutes, increasing pallet throughput by up to 15%. Facilities realize a 5-12% increase in their throughput KPIs across receiving, shipping and production processes, according to the company. Customers report up to 37% reductions in energy usage.

“Reaching 250,000 forklift battery swaps in such a short period reflects what our customers already know: PowerHIVE works,” said John Winter, President and CEO of Concentric. “The first 100,000 swaps took 20 months. The next 150,000 happened in seven. That is exponential growth fueled by simplicity and results.”

Source: Concentric