Efficiency boost for charge and change area
July 1st 2008 Halfords has reduced the
battery charge and change
area at its Redditch national
distribution centre by more than
75% since introducing Hawker
equipment from EnerSys Motive
Power. The extra space will allow
Halfords to consolidate high value
and ecommerce stock into one
area to promote greater efficiency.
The company has eliminated
manual handling of batteries and
expects battery efficiency and
lifetimes to be improved.
The battery area occupied about
840m2 in a corner of the
warehouse. This was used to park
and charge up to 70 pieces of
materials handling equipment
overnight. Halfords recognised that
space could be reduced and
battery management and handling
improved. EnerSys designed the
new area so that battery positions
are close together along both sides
of a narrow aisle. Chargers are
mounted overhead.
Enersys' Hawker management
system works with the 'intelligent'
diagnostic capabilities of the power
sources to oversee every aspect of
battery use. Batteries are allocated
in strict rotation so the best
available unit, the one with the
most charge, is always used. A
wall-display indicates which battery
should be used and where it can
be found.
The lift trucks are configured so
that a battery change is required
when the charge reaches a 20%
threshold. This leaves enough
energy for the truck to get to a
designated zone ready for battery
changing.
Most batteries are handled using
EnerSys' Hawker ProSeries BBH
semi-automated change cart which
runs, rail-guided, along the aisle
between charging stations. More articles from Enersys Motive Power: | 
