1 | Challenge:
Double area needs double power
Faced with increasing demands, logistics company NX Logistics Europe had to expand its charging station and introduce a new and improved concept for battery replacement, especially for large batteries.
In 2021, the German logistics industry had a turnover of around 294 billion euros. The companies that account for the largest share of this are not only characterised by optimal management of their fleets and logistics centres, but also usually have huge storage areas. This in turn requires large forklift fleets, which need to be appropriately equipped and constantly available.
This appealed to NX Logistics as well: the transport service provider had to double the warehouse space to 60,000 m2 in a relatively short space of time - the fleet of reach trucks therefore had to be increased in performance accordingly.
The charging and changing station that had been in place for 12 years was to be replaced in order to be able to charge more and larger batteries; for the same reason, the electric battery changer was to be replaced by a newer model. The existing power strip could not be replaced, which meant that the new concept had to be adapted to it.
As HOPPECKE had already equipped the customer with over 60 batteries for industrial trucks and various charging stations in the past, this project was also to be carried out with our support.
2 | Solution:
Modular charging station with efficient battery change
After several discussions with the NX Logistics, it was possible to achieve increased efficiency, particularly with an enlarged charging station.
The primary aim was to increase the performance of in-house transport by expanding the charging station. HOPPECKE installed the trak | Xchange BS charging station including a busbar with 11 spaces. The station consists of several charger pedestals that are mounted on the wall with a plug holder.
HOPPECKE complemented all this with the changing trolley trak | Xchange PU. With its electrical functions, this can not only lift the batteries forwards and backwards, but also move them away accordingly, making the use of a forklift truck or crane superfluous. The roller conveyor facilitates battery replacement and reduces the time required for this. The built-in battery fuse increases user safety.
The high level of user-friendliness of the previous system was one of the reasons for using the same models as before. The sturdy construction of the racks also allows them to be moved to another hall in the future without any great effort.
The modularity and flexibility of the charging station reduces investment and energy costs in the long term, as the amount of space can be easily increased. If required, the station can be expanded to include a monitoring system, which ensures optimum charging and utilisation of each individual battery and increases the transparency of work processes.
After more than 20 years of successful collaboration, NX Logistics was able to put its new charging station into operation on completion of this project and easily manage the extended storage area with its fleet. The battery changeover remained fast, safe, simple and user-friendly as desired.
3 | Products
