 A LiFT pack from Flux Power |
Flux Power has secured its first commercial order for an 80V 600 amp airport ground support equipment (GSE) pack from a major GSE OEM, likely for delivery to a global shipping/logistics customer. The order is one of three with a total value of approximately USD165,000.
The deal is disclosed in a Plug Power market update which notes growing demand for its lithium-ion LiFT Pack batteries to power Class III walkie pallet jack forklifts.
The USD165,000 forward booking includes two orders for a total of 45 LiFT Pack units. The latest LiFT Pack purchase orders are from a leading multinational provider of water and air treatment and energy services, and a multinational confectionery, food and beverage company.
Flux reports that the pace of its LiFT Pack production and sales in the current quarter has been significantly impacted by delays in the receipt of lithium cells for Flux's most popular 135 Ahe LiFT Pack model. The lithium cells, which were shipped from Asia, were delayed as a result of the bankruptcy of Hanjin Shipping Co. and the related halt of shipping activity in the region for many weeks.
Cells anticipated for arrival by early October will only received by Flux in late November.
Flux is now in the process of accelerating production in an effort to catch up with its targeted production pace of 100 packs per month.
Meanwhile, Flux says it has secured several new distribution partners and that it is seeing increasing in-bound interest in its LiFT Pack product line. The company is also ramping its sales and marketing outreach to re-engage with customers who had previously piloted its earlier generation packs and have been waiting for Flux to be able to support their needs on a timely basis.
CEO Ron Dutt explains that customers to date have been keen to replace their old batteries in real-time with LiFT Packs. "Having implemented our model changeover and finally put in place a high-quality assembly and design process at our Vista factory, Flux is positioning itself to be able to meet ramping customer demand for our lithium solution.
"Of course, there are bumps along the way - such as the Hanjin supply bottleneck - but with each passing week, our production team is building its capacity to grow our production volumes with both efficiency and high quality."