Spalding, UK: Fowler Welch has reduced cost with more effective handling equipment battery charging.
In a three-way partnership involving Fowler Welch, Hoppecke and the materials handling specialist Linde Material Handling, the warehouses have been fitted with new and upgraded equipment after Fowler Welch carried out a expansion programme. The company’s business had been growing steadily and it needed greater capacity and the ability to turn orders around faster than ever.
Fowler Welch has moved away from counterbalance and fork lift equipment to more pallet handling equipment. At its warehouse in Spalding, Lincs, where it picks just short of a millio cases, the company expanded from having 25 pieces of materials handling equipment to 40. These include five new reach trucks and four pallet transporters.
Hoppecke supplied all the power solutions based on its Trak air traction energy systems which cut energy costs by up to 30% and increases availability of fork lift trucks and other handling equipment. The system consists of batteries that use electrolyte circulation and high frequency chargers for rapid battery charging. Fowler Welch retained its existing Hoppecke chargers, saving the cost of investing in new units, and upgraded them to work with Trak.
The system is monitored to ensure the correct battery is available and to reduce downtime. Trak monitor has been installed in the Heywood depot and a warehouse in Washington, Tyne and Wear.
Dave Dillon, warehouse manager at Fowler Welch’s says that before the changes were made, opportune charging was common in the warehouses which had a detrimental effect on batteries. “With the upgraded Hoppecke system charging is much faster and the control of the batteries is much better,” he says. “There is no guesswork in terms of battery changing.”
