The company's subsidiary Hermes Fulfilment stores and picks goods from 14 European countries for Otto at its logistics center in Ohrdruf, Thuringia. To ensure that this runs smoothly over several shifts, the company uses Li-ion technology for the industrial trucks from Toyota Material Handling. At this site, 350 permanent employees ensure that the intralogistics process chain runs smoothly. Various goods are delivered here, stored, picked and handed over to Hermes Germany for delivery. The range includes items from the small and very small electronics sector, such as smartphones, but also large items weighing up to 31.5 kilograms. These include, for example, smaller furniture or home accessories. Returned goods are unloaded and assessed in the returns department. If necessary, they are repaired in the company's own workshop.

New energy technology for longer operating times
"All processes at the site have to be coordinated - otherwise it's difficult for us to cover peak times like before Christmas," says Ronald Ganther, Head of Inbound at Hermes Fulfilment. The site has been adapting to ever shorter delivery times for two years: "We offer Next Day Delivery. Since then, we have been working in two shifts in order picking," adds Ganther. This change in the logistics concept requires longer vehicle deployment times. "We were faced with the question that almost every logistics company asks itself: How can I use my industrial trucks as efficiently as possible?" explains Ganther.
Being able to use an industrial truck over two shifts with as little downtime as possible is not feasible with lead-acid batteries. "Our reach trucks run for around seven hours at a time. It takes just as long to charge the lead-acid batteries for use the following day," says Ganther, explaining the initial situation. However, the devices are needed flexibly, especially during seasonal order peaks. A new type of energy therefore had to be found. Initially, the use of exchangeable batteries was tested - but this did not prove successful because battery handling is time-consuming and cumbersome. The additional space required also proved to be a disadvantage. In cooperation with Toyota Material Handling, Hermes was able to convince itself of the potential of another energy source - Li-ion batteries.

Lower electricity costs thanks to charging management
This technology enables the batteries to be charged quickly, for example during the lunch break. Charging time is always when the appliance is not needed, even for a short time. Battery changes are therefore a thing of the past - and there is no need for time-consuming water refills. The most important factor for increasing the efficiency of the fleet with lithium technology is adherence to the charging cycles: "Toyota calculated the charging cycles according to our needs. The employees have been trained on when to charge. This enables us to ensure that the operating times of the devices can be completed without any problems according to our shifts," explains Ronald Ganther.

Faster charging requires higher charging currents. "Dynamic Power Limitation (DPL)" ensures that a group of chargers does not exceed the specified current consumption. This avoids current peaks that can occur during simultaneous charging. "The use of charge management is very important to us - especially in terms of saving costs due to power peaks," explains Ronald Ganther. There is no additional work involved in setting up DPL. The existing chargers communicate with each other wirelessly, so no additional cabling is required. The current battery status of all devices can be viewed at any time in the fleet management system.

Greater occupational safety through fleet management
Hermes Fulfilment uses the I_Site fleet management system to ensure a consistent overview. Information on battery charge levels, collisions and device access is clearly listed in the web-based application. For the logistics center in Ohrdruf, it is a tool for optimization: for example, users can see where collisions may occur and can initiate preventive measures. In addition, thanks to Smart Access, only authorized employees have access to the vehicles. Each operator receives an individual chip to log on to the device. There are plans to further expand the use of the system in order to make employees more aware of the need to handle the devices with care.

You can find out more about the battery charging system at:

https://toyota-forklifts.de/li-ionen