With a specific aim to move to more sustainable technology solutions to support its plans to become a carbon neutral plant by 2025, Vaillant is collaborating with Jungheinrich to introduce a new 26-vehicle Lithium-ion fleet to its operations. The new fleet involves a combination of ETV 216i reach trucks as well as conventional counter balances, increasing the capacity on some of its larger trucks from 2.5 tonnes to 3.5 tonnes to cater for the pressed steel works and tools.
According to Jungheinrich, the rapid interim charging times offered by Lithium-ion powered trucks enable a virtually continuous operation of fleets on a 24x7 basis with no dangerous gases or acids emitted, meaning that charging stations equipped with expensive and toxic exhaust systems are no longer necessary. Manual handling is reduced too, with no need for frequent battery changing for charging, giving Vaillant increased uptime to meet high demand at a greater speed. This also provides Vaillant the opportunity to eliminate the need for spare batteries during changeover and reduce the overall fleet size by two trucks because of lift opportunity and charging availability.
Adrian Ancliff, head of production logistics and scheduling, Vaillant Industrial, comments, “Not only will Lithium-ion-powered vehicles provide huge sustainability benefits in terms of energy efficiency and carbon reduction, the transition will also reduce the health and safety risks associated with the removal of lead acid batteries, which is another huge bonus for us. We’re very pleased to be doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint and we are confident that we’ve purchased the best fleet on the market.”
In addition to introducing a new fleet, Vaillant has signed up to Jungheinrich’s Power By The Hour initiative, in which rents forklift trucks which allows warehouse operators to only pay for the hours it uses the truck. For Vaillant, this means that it can have commercial flexibility during spikes in demand, short term peaks or another truck requires servicing, with an extra reach truck available at its convenience.
Jungheinrich will also be deploying a state-of-the-art logistics and racking system, which will involve a new warehouse design to ensure the upgraded fleet matches the warehouse system. The new racking system will enable optimised storage up to 11 metres and accommodate the three new ETV 216i trucks which can reach up to 10.7 metres. The new optimised warehouse will therefore increase capacity from 1,100 pallet locations to almost 4,000, trebling their capacity within the same space it currently operates.
Ancliff continues: “By introducing innovative racking concepts and optimising the height and layout, the support from Jungheinrich has exceeded our expectations. The team ensured that the new fleet complements the racking design, and the whole intralogistics system has been streamlined and linked together. The new warehouse design has been factored and designed around the building due to its restrictive entry and exit points and we have been able to work closely with Jungheinrich during the entire process.”