60 Seconds With Maxim Khabur, MHI’s Advanced Energy Council

Maxim Khabur

MHI’s Advanced Energy Council

Title: Marketing director

Location: Garden Grove, Calif.

Experience: Eight years in the energy efficiency industry, the last four with lithium-ion battery company OneCharge. The past six months, chair of MHI’s Advanced Energy Council.

Modern: It sounds as if the Advanced Energy Council is just getting launched. What is it, and why is it important?

Khabur: The council officially became an industry group of MHI in May. And like the trade association’s other industry groups, it’s dedicated to promoting the use of certain technologies essential to efficient and effective materials handling.

The council’s focus is sustainable power sources for lift trucks. These include new technologies such as lithium-ion batteries and hydrogen as well as the industry’s current standard, lead-acid batteries.

Our members are suppliers of the power technologies as well as lift truck suppliers. We also want to have charger and cell manufacturers as part of the group as well as recycling services providers. This is a diverse group and will take us some time to pull together.

Meanwhile, our efforts are important because as these new technologies move into the market, end users need information and standardization to make the new technologies effective. The power of the council is to have all the players advocating for the industry, not just their individual brands and technologies.

Modern: How will that happen?

Khabur: Right now, it’s a bit of a zoo of solutions out there. So, the council is initially focused on establishing standards for everything from terminology to best practices and compatibility of the equipment itself.

We’re also focusing on devolving myths about the various power sources so end users have the best opportunity to benefit from advanced power technologies.

Modern: What can end users access right now to help them better understand these technologies?

Khabur: At the ProMat show, several of the members presented a seminar called ‘Types of lithium forklift battery integration.’ The idea behind it is to demystify the power industry and set the ground work for common knowledge that all understand and use to make good buying decisions and improve safety in industrial facilities.

What we have to get away from is companies that try lithium-ion batteries, for instance, but didn’t follow a set of best practices and the effort failed. By standardizing knowledge and equipment, we will all benefit, users as well as suppliers. It’s all about building trust for all involved. That’s the essence of the Advanced Energy Council.

Modern: What other activities is the council pursuing?

Khabur: The state of adoption of different power technologies and use of energy is important for everyone, especially in DCs, warehouses and manufacturing. But no one can confidently say what is the share of lithium batteries in today’s market.

So, the council is interested in building a data bank of industry statistics as a report card for advanced energy technologies. Selecting and using the most efficient power source in the best way possible is not only good for the bottom line but for reducing companies’ carbon footprint and advancing their sustainability efforts.

We hope that the Advanced Energy Council will be a catalyst for a more sustainable use of energy in materials handling.