Choosing the Best Forklift Batteries for Your Business Operation

Dependable forklift batteries can help you increase your uptime, productivity, and return on investment. However, the incorrect battery (or maintenance plan) might lead to reduced performance or downtime in the worst-case scenario. When the batteries in your forklift malfunction, business comes to a halt. Even a short period of interruption - productivity loss, disruptions, and contract consequences – may easily outweigh the cost of the forklift battery. So, how can you optimize uptime and reduce maintenance costs of such electric forklift batteries? Thus, the optimal strategy combines battery choices with other best practices to provide the highest battery dependability, safety, and effectiveness.

Where to Buy Forklift Batteries?

The forklift batteries are an essential business investment. Begin by choosing the appropriate batteries for your operation, and before you purchase or lease a new forklift battery, consider the following questions:

• What is the voltage of the vehicle?
• How large is the compartment?
• Will I require a cover?

When batteries are designed better, constructed to exact specifications, and combined with a higher-quality component, they last more, need less maintenance and minimize frequent sources of downtime. Orizon Group brings you high-quality forklift batteries South Africa that need little maintenance. Further, they are made locally and are among the best-engineered batteries on the market. So, by adhering to the battery best practice, you may extend the life of each forklift battery and avoid the need to buy a brand new forklift battery.

Considerations When Buying Electric Forklift Batteries, here are a few things to consider when buying electric forklift batteries.

1. Type of Batteries

Currently, there are two types of batteries are available on the market and also with Orizon Group, including:

• Lead-acid batteries
• Lithium-ion batteries

Lead-acid batteries, the most common kind, are liquid-filled and include a detachable top. They generate energy when a chemical process between the lead plates and sulfuric acid happens. However, lithium-ion batteries are the more recent technology of the two. Lithium-ion batteries are now widely utilized in smartphones, tablets, and electric cars. Additionally, they are becoming increasingly prevalent in airport ground support and warehousing equipment, like forklifts.

2. The Service Life

You're making a significant financial commitment, and you want to get the greatest value for your money. So, it is important to consider the full life of your battery. The kind of battery used by businesses influences how often operators must change it - an essential consideration when calculating the entire cost of forklift battery upkeep. The lifespans of lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries are very different. Each has an average service life of:

• About 1,000 and 1,500 cycles for lead-acid
• About 2,000–3,000 cycles

Why are these life cycles significant? A battery's life cycle determines how often it needs replacement. Further, this is a significant aspect to consider when planning a battery maintenance and upkeep budget.

3. Time Spent on Maintenance

As discussed before, if a battery is not maintained properly, its life may be significantly reduced. Further, maintenance time can be expensive. So, certain precautions must be taken with a lead-acid and lithium-ion battery to enhance service life. Lead-acid batteries, on the other hand, demand greater attention.

Final Say

So before investing in or purchasing electric forklift batteries, it is best to weigh down all your considerations and then decide. Orizon Group can assist you in selecting the right type of battery for your forklift operation. Contact us today.

The Top Benefits Of Electric Forklifts

Battery-powered forklifts are fast becoming a staple for facilities across South Africa for a few key reasons. Compared to their fuel-powered counterparts, they offer numerous benefits without sacrificing their core functionality.

 

These benefits vary greatly, but all contribute to a solution that generally lowers the cost of ownership, ensures consistent efficiency, and ensures more sustainability in the long term.

 

So, if you have been on the fence about whether to buy a battery or fuel-powered forklift truck, here are a few good reasons to strongly consider the latter:

                                

 Less Air & Noise Pollution
 
Wherever heavy machinery is being used, there is a concern about pollution, even where the considerably lightweight forklift truck is concerned.

 

Fuel-powered forklift trucks contribute to two major types of pollution in facilities, namely air, and noise pollution.

 

Diesel or petrol engines make a lot of noise during operations, and while the sound of forklift trucks does tend to blend into the background of facilities, they contribute to a more stressful, unhealthy, and unsafe environment purely due to the noise they make.

 

Electric forklifts are much more silent in their operations, which helps to eliminate noise pollution from facilities.

 

The next type of pollution, air pollution, is of particular concern when forklift trucks are being used indoors since they expel harmful fumes into the air, which is unsafe for anyone in the vicinity. Even when used outside, they contribute to overall harm to the environment.

 

Electric forklifts, which produce no such pollution, therefore offer a much safer and more environmentally friendly alternative.

 
Maintenance Is Simple
 
Unlike their fuel-powered counterparts, the electric motors in battery-powered forklifts have far fewer moving parts, which means that they will take significantly less damage from wear and tear over time.

 

At the end of the day, this contributes to a reduction in the time and money spent on maintenance and repairs for electric forklifts, which accounts for compounded savings over time.

 

Additionally, electric forklifts require no oils or lubricants, which accounts for even more savings.

 

Lastly, there is less of a chance of failures and resulting downtime, which means that they offer higher levels of reliability, even with less of a need for maintenance.

Lowered Operational & Ownership Costs
 
The operational and ownership costs of fuel-powered forklifts can be substantial, most of which are not present in battery-powered forklifts, making them a far more attractive alternative for most businesses.

 

Just where fuel consumption is concerned, the cost of operating a fuel-powered forklift can increase by no less than 40%. This coupled with the savings on maintenance, ensures that battery-powered forklifts offer a much more affordable and sustainable solution.

No Need For Fuel Storage
 
For many businesses that use fuel forklifts, one of the biggest challenges to space and organization is how to correctly store the fuel needed for forklifts, which is a concern that obviously doesn’t apply to the use of electric ones, since they don’t require fuel of any type.

 

Fuel storage will increase the operational and ownership costs of forklifts substantially, adds another need for management and admin, and even presents numerous hazards such as risks of fires and explosions.

 

For those businesses opting for battery-powered forklifts, these are not things they need to worry about.

Improved Safety
 
The last major benefit of using electric forklifts is that they enhance the overall safety levels within a facility substantially. We have touched on a few of these already, like not needing to store fuel, having equipment that always operates correctly, and of course, not having harmful fumes and odors in working environments.

 

An often-overlooked aspect of safety here is that there won’t be any oil leaks or hazards present in your facility (at least not from the forklifts), which contributes to an overall safer operational environment.

Contact The Orizen Group For Details
 
If you would like to know more about our offers on electric forklifts for sale, be sure to get in contact with a representative from the Orizen Group today