Forklift battery firm creates new visitor centre

These days, many forklifts are powered by electricity and one of the firms that produces batteries to go in such vehicles is Hoppecke. Recently, the firm engaged in a novel technique when creating a visitor centre.Managers at the organisation, which was founded in 1927 by Carl Zoellner, decided that rather than dismantle a stand they had at an engineering exhibition in Birmingham, they would transfer the whole construction to the company’s offices in Newcastle-under-Lyme to form the attraction.

In order to get the structure along the M6, a number of forklifts were used and a high-profile police escort was also required. The firm opted to undertake the challenge as a way of saving costs and minimising harm to the environment.
At the centre of the visitor centre is the enterprise’s trak® air system, which is used for battery recharging. According to Hoppecke, it enables owners of vehicles, whether they are new or used forklift trucks, to reduce their carbon footprints, cut battery replacement costs, save on energy bills, use less water and keep downtime for their trucks to a minimum.

Meanwhile, those looking around the centre can also see high frequency chargers that are fitted with a micro-processor that acts as a data management system and cuts battery charging time by up to two-and-a-half hours.Commenting on the decision to move the stand, non-executive director of the firm Bernard Molloy remarked: “We’d always planned to recycle our exhibition stand in this way because it is a very cost-effective solution. These structures are expensive and would normally be thrown away so re-using this and extending the lifetime of it makes financial and environmental sense.” Among those keen to see the visitor centre in the north-east of England may be company bosses looking for more efficient ways to power their new or used forklift trucks.