Converting to opportunity charging at Valassis

Valassis was looking for a solution to free up valuable space in their facility by eliminating their battery changing area. They were also concerned with the safety of their employees changing batteries and the time required to do so.

What were the challenges / alternatives?
The company uses sit down forklifts on two extended shifts and would swap batteries before/after each shift. They were charging their batteries with conventional Ferroressonant chargers and conventional batter changing equipment in order to keep their trucks running at their current schedule. We performed and reviewed the results of the power study and determined they were a candidate for opportunity charging and could eliminate the need for more than one battery per forklift. However, because of their extended shifts and increased demand during peak periods of the year, a standard opportunity charger would not return enough power to their fleet.
Other challenges included location of the opportunity chargers. With eliminating the charging area, Valassis needed the chargers to be located in areas convenient to each department. The ultimate goal was to reduce equipment costs, improve efficiency, increase safety, and free up real estate inside the facility.

What was the solution?
Based on the increased demand during peak periods, the Infinity High Frequency R30 Zip Chargers were installed to provide charges of 30 amps per 100. This Infinity Opportunity Charger allowed Valassis to meet their goals of one battery per forklift and had adequate power to keep their batteries charged to run through their most demanding shifts. Flow-Rite single point watering kits were added to each battery to increase productivity. Because of the lightweight engineering of the chargers, the Infinity chargers were mounted to the end of racks and were strategically placed in each department for convenient opportunity charging when the forklifts were not being used.

How is the solution working?
Valassis is more than pleased with the outcome. The net effect has been to reduce the amount of batteries by half, improved forklift operator productivity, a drastically reduced repair expense (compared to their previous chargers), and they were able to utilize the newly freed up battery changing/charging area.