Star Trek reinvented, but not lift trucks

Just saw the new old Star Trek movie. Kirk, Spock, “Bones,” and Scotty were all reinvented for a new generation of nerds—FANS! Pardon that slip, but I’ll admit to being a nerd when it comes to materials handling. I bet I was one of the few in the audience to notice the lift trucks used in the Enterprise loading bay.

That’s right, lift trucks! No beaming of material from one place to another, but real lift trucks. These weren’t rigged up to look futuristic. These were Airtrax lift trucks, and they’ve been on the market for years. If you’re a trade show goer you’ve probably seen them. They don’t have regular rubber wheels, but roller wheels that allow them to be “omnidirectional,” moving diagonally if necessary or over obstacles. And they are operated by real people.

The film makers were wise in this casting. Whether they knew it or not, they made an important statement: no matter how sophisticated material handling technology gets, you’ll never eliminate the flexibility a human being adds to your operations. Even the enablers of materials handling automation will tell you that. In fact, one told me, during a recent conversation about automation.

Steve Aamodt, motor vehicle market manager for SICK Inc., makers of intelligent sensors, says his company is starting to talk to lift truck vendors to make collision avoidance a value added feature. The idea is, when the operator is looking back or if they’re distracted, the sensors can sound an alarm if there’s a pallet of goods in the way or a pedestrian walking in front of the vehicle. Is this worth an extra $5,000-$10,000?

“Measure it against the cost of the driver backing into a pallet of goods that can be worth hundreds or thousands,” he said. “Do that a few times and your ROI is paid for, especially considering the cost to fix the lift truck as well. There are also insurance implications. If you can show you’re taking proactive steps to make your vehicles safer and to limit damage I would guess the insurance companies would work with you on their rates.”

Hmm. Imagine an insurance salesman pressuring Capt. Kirk in the next Star Trek installment. Set phasers on stun.

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Here’s an update on the announcement the other day that the DOE was cutting funding for fuel cell R&D.

First, Jennifer Gangi, program director for Fuel Cells 2000, told me DOE still sees the potential and promise of fuel cell forklifts. It has pledged about $11 million in the stimulus package to several companies so they can either purchase new fuel cell-powered forklifts or convert their existing fleet to fuel cells. 

She added that although this cut in funding doesn’t look like it will have a direct impact on developments in fuel cell forklifts, it might hamper progress with hydrogen fueling and other components that might spill over to the forklift market. She recommends that anyone with an interest in those developments should contact their state and local representatives to ensure that money gets reinstated to the hydrogen budget.

Let’s face it, forklifts are probably not high on the priority list when it comes to funding the hydrogen infrastructure. Fuel cells used in power plants seem to be priority one for any future funding. So if fuel cells lose momentum in the industrial truck world, what’s left to reduce that sector’s carbon footprint?

Don’t count propane out—with a healthy blend of dimethyl ether (DME).  Tim Cornitius,
editor of the Zeus Syngas Refining Report, told me we shouldn’t be surprised to see a propane/DME blend starting to be used in forklifts. He points out that DME is an ultra-clean burning, environmentally benign alternative fuel that can be used as a blendstock for propane. He directed me to an AP article appearing in the Houston Chronicle, noting that DME production is growing in China, and more than 90% of it is blended with propane for heating and cooking applications. Blend ratios of propane to DME could range from 80-20% down to 95-5%.

Sounds pretty green and efficient to me.

Tom Andel–
tandel4315@aol.com