Battery Handling Systems, Inc. Boosts Production

January 23, 2017 - St. Louis, Missouri — Battery Handling Systems, Inc., a leading provider of forklift battery handling and warehouse equipment, invested in two major pieces of manufacturing machinery designed to speed up production on their all-steel products. These new purchases include a second laser cutter and another computerized press break.

The new manufacturing equipment will allow BHS to offer made-to-order equipment for their customers, with industry-leading turnaround time for all purchases, said Katy Cortinovis, Marketing Manager at BHS.

"Now we can cut more steel," she said. "Like, double time. We can produce the same great products on a tighter schedule, so our clients can start realizing the benefits of, say, an Operator Aboard Battery Extractor without delay."

Computerized laser cutters interpret engineer drawings, translating them into precise, clean cuts for sheets of heavy duty steel. Press breaks, meanwhile, bend steel along pre-programmed angles, helping to shape BHS components.

Take the BHS Scissor Lift Table, for example. The standard tabletop surface begins as a thick sheet of steel. Engineers program design schematics into a computerized laser cutter, which carves out the exact shape of the tabletop, including narrow tabs at each end.

Then the steel shape is fed into a computerized press break, which bends the tabs of steel to create a reinforced box shape, open at the bottom.

Next, a team of highly trained BHS welders weld all the seams together. After cleaning and polishing, the tabletop is completed with a corrosion-resistant powder coating. Then it's ready to attach to the scissor legs.

Now that the manufacturing floor features two sets of laser cutters and press breaks, BHS can produce more battery handling and warehouse equipment within the same quick span of time. In addition to the new manufacturing machinery, BHS has added two new professional positions at their 128,000-square-foot production facility in St. Louis, MO.

"In an era of increasing automation, we're proud to create high-paying jobs in manufacturing," Cortinovis said. "These folks are experts. They're a driving force in the material handling industry, for sure."

BHS has also doubled the number of welders and welding stations at their manufacturing facility over the past year.

"Orders have increased every year since the recession cleared up," Cortinovis said. "We expect to keep growing, and our new investments in staff and machinery make that growth possible.”