MONTGOMMERYVILLE, PA, October 9th 2020: It doesn’t look like the increased demand for online retail will subside anytime soon. According to Adobe Analytics, total online purchases across the US for June were up 76 percent compared to last year, totalling $73.2 billion for the month. From the start of the pandemic, e-commerce sales on everything from office supplies to home improvement to daily groceries have boomed.

An article in D Magazine states that “One of the key markers to keep operations running efficiently is to ensure uninterrupted movement of goods and vehicles. The successful execution of an e-commerce logistic centre relies on the ability of the uninterrupted movement of both goods and vehicles…”

The combination of higher demand and increased pressure on the logistics of the operation will ultimately lead to more forklifts and pallet trucks being needed and then batteries to power them.

Lead-acid batteries are still the most cost-effective method of storing energy. The simplicity of being able to be dropped into an existing battery room, with little if any new infrastructure being needed, is second to none. This flexibility makes lead-acid batteries the most efficient and cost-effective solution to increase capacity.

So, with a potential mix of new, rental and existing batteries, the last thing an operation needs is to have batteries that aren’t performing to their maximum.

Philadelphia Scientific have been pioneers within the industrial battery industry since 1983. Over that time, they have seen changes to the economic landscape and witnessed how various factors have impacted battery rooms. This insight and industry expertise have helped to develop a range of products that can ensure that battery rooms run as efficiently as possible and can be easily expanded to meet an increase in demand.

There are three main areas that an operation needs to look at to make sure that they are running as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

Battery Management: Having adequately cooled down and rotated batteries ensures that any new batteries are not over-picked by operators. In an unmanaged battery room, operators will pick new batteries over old ones which will not kill the new batteries early. It also means that the old ones will sit idle, lose capacity and die early too. This will doubly affect an operation negatively.

Battery Monitoring: More batteries means more maintenance, and this can be difficult to scale. In a poorly run, inefficient battery room, there will be a maintenance schedule that’s followed with checks and work being carried out whether it’s needed or not.

Battery Watering: As the maintenance list grows so does the time taken to manually water batteries. If the maintenance schedule isn’t efficient then a lot of time will be wasted carrying out maintenance that isn’t really needed. This means that they might be potentially missing something vital likely a battery running out of water.

Philadelphia Scientific have the gold standard products that solve all these inefficiency problems.

Battery Management: The iBOS or Intelligent Battery Organizing System manages the battery room. The clear indicators tell the operators to take the most charged and cooled battery in rotation with an alarm indicating if the wrong battery has been picked out of sequence. The iBOS also records a whole range of battery room data making it possible to review the entire performance of the battery on-line without having personnel flick through reams of handwritten notes. The iBOS Charger-Splitters allow operations to effectively double the charging capacity by allowing two batteries to be charged per charger, all while maintaining the organization and rotation of the batteries. This means that you can vastly increase capacity without having to install any additional chargers and infrastructure, which is required with other battery technologies.

Battery Monitoring: The award-winning range of SmartBlinky indicators give clear indications when a battery needs watering. This just-in-time indication allows proactive maintenance scheduling for the batteries that need it, only when they need it.

Battery Watering: To help reduce the time spent on maintenance, Philadelphia Scientific have a range of products that make filling batteries as quick, easy and safe as possible. The Injector Classic and Injector Spider battery filling systems can fill a forklift truck battery in under 15 seconds, making it the fastest and most reliable filling system available today. No other system even comes close. This means that battery attendant would be spending less time in the battery area, helping to meet the restriction placed on a post covid-19 workplace.

With a range of options available to help expand an operation to meet increased demand, the systems and products Philadelphia Scientific have introduced into the marketplace are some of the most cost-effective, economical and environmentally friendly options available. Not only will they help to scale any operation, but they can also help maximize the performance of established battery rooms too.