Constantia Teich

From its base in the Austrian Weinburg district, Constantia Teich GmbH is one of the world’s leading suppliers of packaging materials for a range of industries. Maintaining the flow of materials around the production facility requires a fleet of roughly 110 electrically-powered vehicles, ranging from front-loading forklift trucks and reach trucks to rider-seated and pedestrian pallet trucks, as well as self-propelled vehicles. The working life for these vehicles is a round-the-clock operation and occasionally requires the use of back-up batteries.

At a mere three to four years, the life expectancy of the expensive traction batteries was unquestionably too short. In an attempt to improve the situation, Constantia Teich began to take a much closer look at the charging equipment used. It wasn’t long until inverter technology appeared on their radar. In comparison to the 50 Hz transformer technology previously used, an inverter-based solution reduces the harmful warming of the battery, with an extended battery life as the result. “At first we experimented with products from a different manufacturer, however it was so difficult to program the charging characteristics that equipment ended up being damaged as a result of operating errors,” recalls project manager Franz Schmied. “Then, back in 2001, we tested the first Fronius devices. We were delighted with the results!”

The Selectiva battery charging systems soon impressed with their space-saving design and the ease with which the perfect charging characteristics could be programmed using the built-in display. With the service of life of the batteries dramatically extended, Constantia Teich was able to achieve significant savings, meaning that the procurement costs of the Selectiva devices were quickly paid off. The company has even been able to reduce its electricity consumption for the charging process by 30 percent.