60 | Sector Focus: Handling & Storage
SUMMARY
■Shipping and receiving is where the greatest opportunity for forklift electrification is currently
■Physically, electric powered forklifts are the same rugged vehicles that mills have long known
■Mills must consider grid stability when evaluating a shift to electric
TAKE FIVE
Lucien Robroek, president technology solutions for Hyster, suggests the five questions timber operations should be asking about forklift electrification
Operations in the wood industry such as sawmills and timber yards have long relied on internal combustion engine (ICE) power for their forklift fleets to keep product moving. But as electric options advance and expand, delivering performance comparable to diesel- powered material handling equipment, timber operations have new questions to ask about clean power and its ability to deliver the productivity that they need.
1. WHICH APPLICATIONS AT TIMBER MILLS HAVE THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR FORKLIFT ELECTRIFICATION? Shipping and receiving – that’s where the greatest opportunity is currently. These mill
applications typically have their forklifts, often with lift capacities of around seven tonnes, operating for about a shift and a half per day, or 1,500 to 1,800 hours annually. Because these trucks are running for only 12 hours per day, the battery for electric trucks can be charged while the truck is already out of use anyway, enabling a shift to electric equipment without impacting productivity. For production workflows, the shift from diesel to electric forklifts is generally on the more distant horizon. That’s because the production departments at mills typically require forklifts to run more continuously than shipping and receiving operations. In production, it’s not uncommon for heavy-
duty forklifts with a 16-tonne lift capacity to be used to push 200+ tonnes of timber into kilns. While electric trucks are available in this capacity range, the duty cycles for these mill applications are not always compatible with the charging cadence required to keep the trucks powered. Forklifts pushing timber into kilns are often running 4,000-plus hours per year. Operators typically all take their break at the same time, and it can be a challenging cultural change to move operators to staggered breaks. So, mills considering electric for these workflows may need one charger per truck so that operators could have the opportunity charge their batteries simultaneously during the break. At this point, the business case usually does not favour the cost of both charger and electric truck relative to an ICE alternative, though that calculation is evolving. Advanced electric-powered equipment is expected to become more cost-competitive over time, and some grants can help bring the cost closer to that of a comparable ICE model. Local organisations and government offer various grants, funding, tax incentives or carbon offset credits.
Above: Lucien Robroek is president technology solutions for Hyster TTJ | November/December 2024 |
www.ttjonline.com
2. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT OUT OF ELECTRIC-POWERED TRUCKS? Physically, they are the same rugged, dependable forklifts that mills have long known and trusted. Take as an example the Hyster electric and diesel models in the seven to nine tonne capacity range. With the electric truck, the engine and transmission of the diesel model are replaced by two motors, one for drive and one for hydraulics. These efficient, high-power electric motors, paired with the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries, deliver performance comparable to an ICE and batteries maintain consistent power delivery throughout the full battery charge.
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