Report Time Again?

I know it is hard to believe, but there is now another report card you need to worry about. No, you are not going to have to show this report card to your parents, but it is something you do need to be concerned with. The report card I am referring to is your Sustainability Report Card. Currently there is not a government standard that you need to worry about, but when companies like Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble and Kaiser Permanente are taking the lead and releasing their own grades. They have chosen to lead instead of having to comply. With the economy still in recovery mode, companies cutting costs at all levels of their organization, and CFO’s monitoring every paperclip used, you would think companies would not consider integrating any Sustainable initiatives at this time. But you would be wrong. Although company’s current and future Green Initiatives are being heavily scrutinized for ROI, they are still being deployed. Although the current business climate is volatile, the desire to save money and deploy “green” technology at the same time still attracts companies of all sizes. So the question is are you a leader or a laggard?

What does it cost to charge the batteries on my electric forklift?

Sorry I have not posted a blog in some time. I have just been busy with sales training, presentations, traditional work stuff and honestly took some time to focus on some life stuff. However, now I am back and will be sharing a short blog today about how to calculate how much you spend per month in electricity to charge your forklift batteries.

If you are like most companies, your electric bill is not broken out into office bill, plant bill, battery room bill, etc. So when you ask a client about their electricity use, they normally have that confused deer in the headlight look. It's like I just started speaking German to them and they speak french. However, if you can go in there confidently and share with them your knowledge of batteries, chargers and what it cost to charge (1) battery, you will be that much further along than the other guy!

So where do we start? Well first you have to obtain some simple info: (1) How many battery's do they use per truck? (2) What is the amp hour of the battery? (3) How many volts is the battery? (4) How many shifts do they have or how many times per day they change the battery? (5) How many days per year they work?

OK, so for this example lets say they have a 36V battery, 1000 ah, 3 shift operation & they change the battery every shift and they work 360 days per year. So to determine the amount of electricity they use per truck per year, here is what you do: Take the battery voltage x amp hours = Total Watts... so 36v x 1000 ah = 36,000 watts. Then you take your watts divide it by 1000 = kw... So 36,000 / 1000 = 36 kw. IS that it? NOPE!! Now we have to figure out battery charger efficiency. What is that? Basically it tells you how much power goes into the battery after it comes out of the wall and goes through the charger. Another way of looking at it is out of every dollar you spend how much of it is lost and how much is used. I will post another blog about charger efficiency tomorrow. So now that we have our kw, we need to divide that number by the charger efficiency. I normally use .65 - .75 or 65 - 75% efficient. Lets use 75% efficient. So take 36 divided by .75 = 48kw. Since you have to put more power in the battery due to energy loss, you have to put 48kw in to get the battery back above 80% charge.

So now what? Well if you live in TN where I am at, we use .095 cents per kw hour. So take 48 x .095 = $4.56 So the cost to charge (1) battery out of the (3) battery's for the truck in the example is $4.56 So the cost to charge (3) battery's x 360 days = $4,924.80 So (1) truck, in a (3) shift operation cost $4,924.80 per year in electricity. So if you have 25 electric trucks with the above listed specs, it will cost you $123,120.00 per year to charge them. That is operating cost, money you will never get back. This is why alternative power sources, fuel cells, high frequency, are so attractive to companies. The less they are dependent upon the electric company, the better off they are.

I hope this gives you a better understanding about how to figure up battery costs and how to apply it to your customers fleet. Most customers do not know what they spend each year in electricity. Now you know how to help them figure it out!

Do We Really Spend That Much?

Before I ask the question, I will tell you the answer is YES! Here is the question now. In a business that is dependent upon electric material handling products for their day to day activities, are labor and electricity? Now that you know the answer, let me dive into this a little bit.

The average time to change a battery is 20 - 25 minutes plus 3 - 5 minutes to get to the battery changing area. So on the low end, in a 2 shift operation, you are looking at 46 minutes of battery changing time. So if your forklift operator makes $20.00 per hour, you have a 2 shift operation working 360 days per year, you are spending roughly $165,000.00 just in labor.

Now a quick look at the electricity. The cost to charge 2 batteries every year on a 2 shift, 360 day operation with just 30 electric walkie riders is a little under 60k per year. So labor and electricity is about $220,000.00 per year. This is what I like to call "Unrecoverable". Money you will never see. This blog is just to get you thinking. I will write more later about how I calculate these numbers so you will be able to look at your fleet and begin analyzing your finances.

Did We Really Overlook Safety?

If you tell a warehouse manager who takes pride in his work that you think he might have overlooked a critical piece in his safety assessment you might just find yourself thrown out on your ear. But if you ask the question in a way that is not offensive, you might be surprised at what you find out. What is that question you might ask? Ready? Here it is: "What does your forklift operators yearly safety training consist of?"

There it is. I don't believe this is offensive and is presented in such a way as not to come across like you think they are an idiot if they don't do this. You are saying, I am sure you do this already Mr. Prospect, so what does it consist of? If they are not currently doing it, then you will get the BLANK look of "You Got Me" and they will say they don't currently have a program in place and ask if you have anything like that? The company I work for, Barloworld Handling, has probably the best operator training and train the trainer training out there.

This is a great ice breaker for accounts you have been struggling to get into or looking for that "in" to show them what you can do. DON'T pass up an opportunity to shine. This one commonly overlooked area costs most company's thousands per year in medical claims and product damage. Help save your customers money today! Ask them about their safety training!

Everything Data Plate

Most people do not know where or what a data plate is. They usually find out the hard way with a fine from OSHA if they are not present or if there is a discrepancy. Recently I was having lunch with a client, talking about their business and he told me how they had recently changed the forks on their forklift to a longer set to handle new pallets they began to receive. I casually said, "I'm sure you ordered your new data plates, correct?" His face at that moment told the entire story. He never even thought about it.

I had another client that was telling me about all the forklifts they had acquired from other DC's that had been closing. I asked him as well about his data plates and if he checked them to make sure they reflected what was on the forklift. He also had one of those moments where you knew you had brought something up in general conversation that was never a thought to them.

So now I am telling you so you will go and double check your data plates on your forklift fleet. Companies are constantly swapping out forks, putting attachments on forklifts, taking off side shifts and going with a non shifting carriage. So take the time out of your busy schedule and make sure your data plates are accurate. You might just save yourself a steep OSHA fine.

Does Social Media Apply To What I Sell?

OK. I have made a commitment to myself to begin using social media outlets as part of my sales process. I have to say this commitment has led me down some interesting roads and enabled me to find some great books, podcast, sales professionals and opened my eyes to a new way of doing business. I first started off with linkedin. As I type this I am now seeing just how behind I was in the process, but you have to start somewhere right? So linkedin was first. Then I put twitter on my cell phone. This was the fun one for me. I found a "non iPhone or droid" app to use on my windows mobile device and I began tweeting. This was very easy for me to begin doing at first. It's actually harder to keep yourself from over tweeting than under tweeting. I love posting about pre/post meeting events, forklift info and ideas I have. I have not re-tweeted anything yet, but I am sure that is coming.

Next I tried to create a fan page in facebook. This was by far the hardest one of them all. Not so much a time guzzler, but a beat down on the ease of use scale. I am still not totally set up. I am trying to use that technology to the fullest potential but feel like I am falling short.

Finally as you can see here I began to blog. I am not sure if anyone besides me have read my posts, but I am not going to stop. I am sure soon someone will say they are following my blog. If not, I will post.

Today I heard an interview the Gitomer and he said something that is really sticking out in my head. That was that "Social Media is the new Cold Call". If this is the case I am not doing well or putting much into my pipeline. But I am doing as much as I can. If you are not thinking about how Social Media can help you close sales, just try it for Thirty Days. I am going to give it a good couple of months and see what happens. I will keep you all posted. So far I think it is worth it. I have made a ton of connections and hope for more to come.

Regardless it keeps me thinking of content and ways to be relative. Take care.

Go Green Or Go Home?

In today's industrial market, you would have to have your head buried in the sand not to notice how many of the larger, more established companies, are finding ways and trying out new technology to go "Green". In the may issue of Packaging Digest, it was no surprise to see several articles in there about various companies desire to or how they are doing business in a more Eco Friendly way. For example 1800 Tequila is not introducing a new eco-friendly cocktail packaging. They went on to say "An innovator in the spirits industry, 1800 Tequila recognizes that fighting climate change is a global responsibility and that package choice can have a significant impact on CO2 emissions through the value chain." Also Aveda, the cosmetics company, has a new product out that is in a (HDPE) High Density Polyethylene jar. This jar is 99% post consumer recycled (PCR) content. That is AMAZING! Also company's like Wal-Mart are also extremely aggressive with their "Green" stance and holds a expo to highlight companies that they do business with and their packaging of their product. This is huge and I applaud them for thinking outside the box and being proactive. There is also a big write up about electricity use and how to lower your bill. Big industrial plants are really beginning to watch their power consumption and taking note of their carbon foot print. What I am getting to is this: Take NOTE! Companies are looking for solutions to be "Green", to have that "X" thing that not only saves them money but is good for the environment. So, are you offering your customers that "X" product?

Managing Resistance

How do you manage resistance? I mean how do you handle someone speaking something about you, your passion or your job, and they really don't know what they are talking about. Today I found myself in this place. What to do, what to do. I will tell you I almost did. Luckily a co-worker challenged my thought process and saved me from going to a level I did not need to go to. I received a negative email about something that I believe in and something I am extremely passionate about. This person made incorrect statements about something they clearly don't know anything about. But they tried to pass themselves off as an expert. When I read the statements in an email I received I immediately went to type a reply. FIRST MISTAKE = Never reply to an email that angers you. It will come across in the email. I could not believe what this person was saying. I had to reply!!!! I did not.

Why am I telling you about this? I don't want someone to make the mistake I almost did today. I don't believe it would have gotten me fired, but it would have brought me to a level I choose not to go to. I am an expert in this field. I know the comments that were made were wrong. I also know that one day this person will be in a class that I will get to teach and will get to help bring them to a point where they won't be able to dispute the facts. Until then, I will just sharpen my pencil and keep pursuing my passion. Thank you for listening. Sorry this has nothing to do with forklifts today. I just needed a good sounding board.

Setting Up A Warehouse

Today I was in a 300,000 - 400,000 square foot warehouse to conduct a "site survey" to suggest to the customer what forklifts we felt would help them bring their new product in and out efficiently. This warehouse was naked except for the new racking they were installing. So just like a painter we were looking at a blank canvas. I love this part of my job. But with any good thing, there is always a negative side. First lets look at the negative. The negative is simple. We can't see the product, we don't know the number of shifts, or how or what it will take to get the product off the shelves and out to their customers. Now we can use our experience, the customers experience and common sense and on paper get pretty close to what it will look like. But until the product and forklifts are in place in the facility, it is still just all theory. The good? Well, we have a chance to solve a customers problem and implement our solution. If we are able to offer a good solution and it saves the customer time and money, then we look like the hero. This type of heroism causes life long customers. This is what every salesman wants and dreams of. But with this type of opportunity, a great amount of pressure comes with it. Also a great amount of trust from your customer. Now ultimately, it is the customers decision. However, they will lean very hard on your recomendation. This is where your experience and your instinct must guide the way. Hopefully I will make the right decision with this customer and gain a new client.

Break Without Breaking

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking I have lost what mind I had. But seriously Hyster has the technology in their Fortis trucks that use the transmission to help slow the truck down. This transmission is called "DuraMatch." This technology is literally money in the bank. It saves on your brakes, your tires, your floors and operator fatigue.

Well lets start with the brakes. First off the feature that helps with brake wear is called "Auto Decel." Basically when you let up off of the accelerator, the truck uses the transmission to slow itself down. It is fully adjustable to stop quickly or just coast. The beautiful part of this technology is that it wont stop so quickly that the load stability is compromised. This is a huge benefit.

The second feature is the a feature is called "Controlled Power Reversal." What this does is it prevents the wheels from spinning when you go from fwd to rev or rev to fwd. This save big money on tires and also it prevents the unsightly floor scuffs that make the warehouse look like the floors are dirty.

Finally the final benefit of a duramatch transmission is the "Controlled Ramp Roll Back." When a truck that does not have this technology is on a ramp and you let off the brake, the forklift will roll backwards. This technology will prevent this from happening creating a safe work environment.

I hope you found this post to be helpful and educational. The Hyster Duramatch transmission is an amazing advancement in forklift technology and is saving company's thousands of dollars per year.

Propane Vs. Electric Forklift

I feel like I should be starting off with the quote "To Be or Not To Be, That Is The Question." But in my world it's Propane or Electric, that is the question. The reasons behind going one direction or the other varies on industry, warehouse manager and/or personal experience. Some like the convenience of simply swapping a tank of LP at the end of the shift while others like the ease of just plugging up the forklift's battery to a charger and going home for the day. But is it really that simple? If it was I would not be writing this blog.

Many people like the idea of electric forklifts because of their "green" factor. In other applications, such as food distribution centers, propane is not allowed so electric is their only choice. The other side of the coin is companies that don't want to lose valuable floor space with battery and charging stations. So which is right and which is wrong?

Lets take a different approach. What is the cost factor on each style. Traditionally, simply in maintainence, electric trucks are always cheaper. They are cheaper to maintain, and to charge 1 battery you are looking at $2.50 - $5.00 per day. LPG is $14 - $33 per day depending upon the size of tank you use. In the past companies did not want to use electric forklifts because they felt they could not make a full 8 hour shift with an electric truck. Now with battery technology and truck's being more efficient on power use, companies are having no problem making 6 - 7 hours on 1 battery. Now with the introduction of the OojraPac On Board Charging System, redundant batteries and chargers are a thing of the past. So now companies that would have considered electric forklifts before can not sacrifice floor space to bring in a cheaper/greener solution for their material handling needs.

I am not saying electric forklifts are the way to go always and to run out and drink my Kool-Aid. I am saying that companies that normally had to depend only on LPG forklifts now might have a good solution to help them save money and help their P & L statements. This can only be a good thing.

Hope you found this post helpful. More to come.