Neff GmbH
In order to avoid incomplete charging cycles and insufficient idle periods for the batteries – both of which significantly impair service life – the company decided to introduce a comprehensive charging management concept. Neff replaced the battery charging systems delivered as standard with Selectiva chargers, and has so far been impressed with Fronius’ technology: for one, this allows batteries to be charged flexibly with different voltages and capacities. What is more, thanks to the Ri charging process, the charging quality is higher and energy consumption lower than with comparable technologies.
In order to further improve the utilisation of the battery pool, Fronius has installed the information and management system Cool Battery Guide Easy on some of the charging stations. The system processes the signals from the chargers and uses a blue LED strip to show which battery has been fully charged the longest and is therefore the coolest. In this way, Neff has been able to implement the desired FIFO principle (First In, First Out) in the battery pool.
Looking at it as a whole, this has opened up significant savings potential in terms of the operating costs for our forklift fleet. There has also been a considerable drop in the number of operating faults recorded, as well as damage to batteries and battery chargers since we have been using Fronius technology.