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Efficiency is Electric

Member-owner Bayer Built Woodworks recently completed two efficiency projects with the help of Stearns Electric Association. Learn more about the company’s new electric forklifts and LED retrofit lighting project.

When employees at Bayer Built Woodworks in Belgrade noticed increased Carbon Monoxide levels in certain areas of their warehouse, the leadership team knew they needed to do something to keep their employees safe. In December 2017, Bayer Built added the first electric forklift to its fleet. After positive trials, the second electric forklift was added in January 2018 and three more units were introduced last November.

ELECTRIC FORKLIFTS: INITIAL CONCERNS, UNEXPECTED BENEFITS

Unsure if replacing a few internal combustion engine (ICE) forklifts with new electric forklifts would help with the Carbon Monoxide levels within the warehouse, leaders at Bayer Built decided to do a test run and purchase one electric forklift to start.

“Initially we had some concerns about how the electric forklifts would perform when traveling outdoors between buildings,” Scott Duchene, process improvements, Bayer Built, said. “But they have performed well traveling outdoors and we have not needed to restrict their usage.”

Once the company confirmed that the functionality of the new electric unit would work for Bayer Built, additional units were added to the forklift fleet.

“Electric forklifts cost more up front but we have seen a reduction in Bayer Built’s Carbon Monoxide levels which make that cost worth it,” Paul Weller, operations manager, said. “In fact, the unexpected benefits of the new units far outweigh any concerns our leadership team initially had.”

“The new electric units actually offer a smaller turning radius, higher lifting ability, better functionality and more operator friendly controls,” Duchene said. “Our forklift operators do not like having to go back to a gas-operated forklift once they get used to electric.”

Overall, the noise level in areas of the shop where electric forklifts are used has decreased significantly, another unexpected benefit.

“The units are so quiet, we’ve had to stress the use of horns to alert pedestrians who might be walking in the warehouse,” Duchene continued. “Pedestrians have also been made aware of the need to take extra care before stepping into aisles because a forklift could be moving by, making very little noise.”

Additionally, the electric forklifts are very easy to charge and battery life has not been a problem for employees at Bayer Built.

“Charging is as simple as plugging in the unit and walking away,” Duchene said. “Charging time from a dead battery to 100% is only six hours, so right now, we are able to charge overnight after second shift with no problems.”

CHARGING FORWARD
Bayer Built’s current fleet of forklifts now include 27 ICE (internal combustion engine) units and 5 electric units. With such great feedback and benefits of the new electric units, the company plans to transition to mainly electric over the next three to five years.

Company leaders are currently working on a project to maximize the battery life through an internal study. “Our manufacturer recommends using the full battery before charging. We are conducting an internal study to see how much battery life we use during the day to determine when the best time to charge is and if we can get through both first and second shift without fear of the batteries running out,” he said. “We have also added an indicator light to alert the operator when the battery needs to be filled.”

CONTINUED EFFICIENCIES
Bayer Built recently completed an LED retrofit lighting project and replaced 8,300 fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs.

“The continuing maintenance for our fluorescent lighting led us to explore better lighting options,” Weller said. “Our research determined it would be more cost effective in the long run to buy all LED lights and replace the old fluorescents. Our energy savings alone will outweigh the cost of the overall LED bulb purchase.”

According to Stearns Electric’s calculations, Bayer Built will save 441,437 Kilowatt hours of energy every year. “Additionally, maintenance time should reduce as we only need to change the bulbs at the end of their life instead of determining whether or not the ballast was the problem,” Weller continued.Bayer Built has already completed installing the new LED lights in the production, warehouse and trucking areas of its facility and is now working on finishing the office areas, outdoor lighting and some mechanical spaces.

“The only comment we have heard so far regarding the LED lights, is that in some office areas they are much brighter. It’s taking time for employees to adjust,” Duchene said.

THERE’S A REBATE FOR THAT
Stearns Electric Association was a proud partner for these projects, offering rebates to Bayer Built for their efficiency improvements. “Working with Stearns Electric Association to complete the efficiency rebates for these projects was extremely easy,” Tyler Kochmann, assistant controller, said. “We were easily able to download the rebate forms from the Co-op’s website. We answered a few questions and Stearns Electric helped us calculate our energy savings.”“Our electrician actually made the connection back to Stearns Electric for us as we completed the LED lighting project,” Kochmann said. “Through the relationship we created with James Pachan, manager of energy services at Stearns Electric, on the lighting project, we learned of the rebates that were also available for our electric forklift project.”

WHAT’S NEXT?
“In the past we’ve completed a few efficiency projects with Stearns Electric, including a previous lighting project and a variable frequency drive (VFD) project to help us understand our energy usage peak. Although
we don’t have plans set in place for our next efficiency project yet, as technology changes, we try to keep up on our awareness in order to stay on the cutting edge,” Weller concluded.

Stearns Electric Association is committed to helping our members use energy both safely and wisely.  We offer a variety of rebates to help our commercial, industrial and agricultural (CI&A) members be more energy efficient. Rebates are available for LED lighting projects, electric forklifts, electric HVAC upgrades and robotic milking units, among other things. Please visit our website, www. stearnselectric.org, or contact our Energy Services Department at (320) 256-4241 for more information.