CMP looking to charge forward
May 1st 2005

Ian Clay visited Chloride Motive Power in Bolton and found the market leading motive power company on the verge of taking a step forward in terms of products, technology and just as, or perhaps even more importantly, the services that it is going to be able to offer its customers

Walking around CMP’s large manufacturing site with Nigel Harris, product support manager, export, training manager, UK and Ireland (what a title) it becomes apparent that this is a facility that is being invested in and is continually evolving to meet demands for new products and new volumes of product. In the first few minutes of our tour Nigel points out the two million pounds of investment in the red oxide processing plant, the most recent change to the site.

Then he goes on to discuss another two million that has been invested in frech casting (the company is testing robotic automation in this area) before casually adding that a new gauntlet manufacturing machine (gauntlets are fitted over the spines in the positive plates) saw an investment of £300 000.

Another noticeable fact is that the factory is very busy with a great number of forklifts movements. I make the above point because I often think when I visit manufacturing sites that the pace seems relatively sedate, but not here. CMP’s site is a ‘proper’ manufacturing facility seemingly dirty with spilt product being washed into drains, smelly with the acid used in the process and hectic because of the number of products that are manufactured. We should be under no illusions, the manufacture of batteries is conducted in an aggressive atmosphere where the lead levels in the workers’ blood is monitored carefully and where personal protection equipment is used constantly.

However, having said all the above CMP takes all the precautions necessary and I was very impressed to hear from Nigel that the company is accredited to ISO 14001 and has its own waste management plant on site.

My visit to CMP was well timed as the company is on the verge of unveiling its new rationalised product and service range across every area of its motive power business. I have written recently in IP&E that batteries are very much a commodity product and despite the fact that both Nigel and Tony Summer, Industrial Energy Group, marketing manager will defend the benefits of CMP batteries above all others they still point to the future as being associated services. As Nigel said during our factory tour “The sophistication of the solution that CMP is now able to provide is something that will really benefit users”.

The thinking behind CMP’s new product/service offering is to simplify the choices for customers and to formalise the direction that the company is taking i.e. to offer power solutions as opposed to simply selling batteries, chargers and ancillaries. As Tony Summer says “End users and OEM’s are not turned on by products, they are turned on by solutions and getting added value from their suppliers. This has a huge impact on their businesses in terms of increased uptime, less maintenance and higher productivity.

By adding value through integrated technology CMP is offering a total business solution – batteries and chargers are our bread and butter, but CMP can do more.” As part of this simplification the Liberator package will now be available in three guises – Silver, Gold and Platinum: • Liberator Silver offers up to 120 days between maintenance intervals. The range consists of a choice of DIN and British Standard (BS) cell options in a low maintenance design. This package has a slightly higher initial purchase cost than for a standard motive power battery and charger but this will be out-weighed by the reduced long-term running costs. A typical user will achieve a minimum saving of 20% on whole life costs when linked to the matched HF charger, Aquajet watering and air ancillaries.

• Liberator Gold offers up to 200 days between maintenance intervals from a range of DIN cells with reduced plate height and low antimoney alloy. Low maintenance is achievable due to the reliable tubular plate technology and low plate height, that results in a greater electrolyte reserve. Like Silver, the Liberator Gold is also supplied with a battery monitoring sensor and refilling system.

• Top of the range is the Liberator Platinum that offers a hands-off solution in which CMP service technicians will carry out every aspect of the maintenance and servicing regime. It has features found in the other low-maintenance packages as well as a monitoring system. Packages can be tailored to a users needs after an on-site survey, that covers equipment and logistical aspects as well as health and safety.

One interesting point about the new packages is that the Platinum option obviously removes any responsibility for the battery from the end user. This means that in order to meet customer satisfaction requirements the service fleet of CMP has to perform. The service team with 100 operative on the road is, according to Tony Summer, the biggest in the industry. But he refuses to be drawn on ‘first time fix’ rate statistics by making the valid point that as they are not quantifiable across the industry then they are of no use. He also makes the point that end users should be wary of such statistics.

Chargers The Liberator packages are designed to be used with CMP regulated or high frequency (HF) chargers.

CMP’s range of HF chargers have, according to Tony “Been designed and built with batteries in mind” which means that the charging profile is optimised. CMP has carried out a review of its charger range and as a result charger selection in the future will be less complex and changes to the designs will further improve reliability and reduce whole life costs. The new HF range of chargers will comprise of a number of core models covering the materials handling and motive power marketplace.

According to Tony Summer “ It is incumbent on us, as market leader to tell our customers about the benefits of HF.

2005 As such we are going headlong into HF and hope to effect a change in the market”.

With the UK market increasingly geared towards 24/7 operation and the inevitable ‘sweating of assets’ that this brings, plus the inexorable rise in the price of all forms of energy the benefits of HF will soon become very important.

Plug and play As well as rationalising its hardware CMP is also able to offer software and monitoring/management solutions to the user that can help to dramatically reduce whole life costs. Tony spoke of a recent (un-named) example of where the integration of CMP’s hardware, battery monitoring unit and CMPnet software demonstrated a saving to the customer of £300 000 over a five year period. “The whole idea” says Tony “is to liberate our customers and what we are offering them is a true Plug and Play solution.” Again, in order to make the process of system specification as simple and pain free for the user as possible, all CMP representatives are now equipped with system configuration software that can assist in specifying (and costing) a complete system. Alongside this will come an increasing investment from the company in terms of training, both for its people and its customers so that systems are used to their potential for the maximum benefit of the customer.

CMP, as market leader is bullish about the future and excited about the benefits that its products will bring. The capacity of the manufacturing facility is being stretched as the company looks to increase production to cope with demand.

Just as when I was looking around the plant and Nigel pointed out another bespoke machine courtesy of the engineering design department so this idea is carried through to the company’s newest offerings to its users. “We are developing our own solution” concludes Tony Summer.

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