Measure and model motive power performance

Selecting the right chargers for lift truck fleets is important, now that many operations are looking to switch to new types of batteries and opportunity charging.

While lift truck dealers can provide guidance on appropriate batteries and charger equipment, another source of insight is motive power energy management software that takes in data from connected chargers, including data coming from the battery management system (BMS) layer found in some battery types.

Cloud software for motive power energy management can spot issues with charger health or poor charging practices, and with BMS-level data it can also reveal broader trends about fleet usage, such as underutilized batteries and trucks, says Kevin McCusker, manager of advanced solutions at Stryten Energy.

McCusker says Stryten Energy’s InCOMMAND software, formerly called GNB Cloud, handles this combination of monitoring motive power trends and modeling future needs for different roles within the fleet.

“You’re not only getting information on the charging trends, but from the batteries and the BMS layer, as to how that battery on a piece of equipment is being operated,” “We’re able to look at many trends besides charger metrics, from run times and how a piece of equipment is being operated, to what type of application it’s in, the energy being consumed and demanded by that application, and how operators and maintenance teams are handling that battery. Overall, inCOMMAND gives them insight into the motive power needs of their business and helps them become more efficient.” - says McCusker.

At each site using the system, communications modules outfitted with secure cellular connections relay data from chargers and assets to the cloud, and from there, various stakeholders can use the software to monitor trends, dig into specifics on a particular battery or charger, or model what-ifs in case battery and motive power needs are changing. The metrics used vary by role, explains Bryan Norris, application manager with Stryten Energy.

“Managers in operations will typically want to see metrics that help them with fleet right-sizing and asset utilization decisions”“They can see if they have some equipment that’s sitting around and not being utilized much, so maybe they move some assets around to spread the workload more evenly. People in maintenance will be looking at trends on battery temperatures, and state of charge and plug-ins [charge events], or to see if watering and equalization schedules are being followed. The metrics used will vary by role to help an operation monitor its assets and make sure their applications are running properly.”  - says Norris.

If a company is thinking of adding a shift, expecting much higher volumes, or wanting to switch to opportunity charging with lithium-ion batteries, the software has various “Model” functions that can make projections from existing data, says McCusker, or it can be used to conduct a power study.

“The Model capabilities can help find a solution that is going to meet their needs,” says McCusker. “It’s not just for monitoring what exists today, but it helps see what’s coming next.”

In some instances, metrics can help reveal problems before they lead to operational downtime, says Norris. For example, a maintenance manager can use metrics to spot if load voltages are starting to drop for a battery, even though the battery’s run time has not increased. This might be a sign of a battery cell starting to fail. Or, if a lower-than-expected amperage level is returned to a battery during a charge, this could be a sign of a problem with a charger component.

“Being able to have that kind of data allows you to more easily diagnose issues and keep your assets performing at peak capability,” says Norris.

Some operations will use the software in combination with telematics and fleet software from their lift truck provider to gain a complete view of fleet operation and motive power trends on one dashboard. The software can also track how much energy is being consumed during charging and at what times of day, which can be used to assess if adjusting the charging schedule could lead to lower energy costs by avoiding peak charge times from utilities.

The system can be used for a single site, but some companies use it on a multi-site basis, with online tracking and alerting of when a battery moves over to a different site.

Motive power performance management software in the cloud, concludes McCusker, ultimately helps an operation be more profitable by avoiding downtime for batteries and trucks or by extending the lifespan of batteries with proper maintenance.

“Everyone is looking to improve their operations in some way, starting with uptime, which if you can protect that on a daily basis, that really helps to improve the bottom line. That helps pay for a system like this,” says McCusker. “Or, if you can extend the life of a battery by a year, or by two years, by improving charging or watering practices, that saves costs, too. And finally, by better modeling future solutions that either increase uptime or reduce maintenance requirements, or both, that’s a benefit to the operation. It all comes back to getting more work done with your motive power assets to help improve the bottom line.”