Lithium: looking good

Flux Power Holdings, a developer of lithium-ion batteries to replace lead-acid power in forklifts and other industrial equipment, has reported increased sales of its LiFT Pack batteries for Class III “walkie” pallet jack forklifts for its first financial quarter of 2017.

Company CEO, Ron Dutt, commented: “The industry response to our UL listed LiFT Packs continues to build in scope and excitement, with new enquiries, proposal requests or distribution interest being demonstrated almost daily. At this point our growth trajectory over the next few quarters is principally a function of our production, operations and sales execution because anticipated demand from our existing customers and the available market is substantially greater than our planned production levels.

“Having completed design, testing, and OEM certifications early in calendar 2016, we have built out a high-quality assembly and testing capability that now supports the production of over 100 packs per month with a wholesale value of approximately US$300,000. We are now working to ramp production to 200 packs per month, or roughly US$600,000 per month, during the third quarter of 2017. We also completed the first step in a series of planned sourcing, economies of scale and design cost reduction initiatives that will put our LiFT Pack business on a solid and profitable gross margin footing.

“While our current focus is on the lead-acid replacement opportunity, our longer term vision is to position Flux LiFT Packs as a distributor/dealer or OEM option for new equipment sales.

“Additionally, the airport ground support equipment industry offers future growth opportunities in the next few quarters. A major airline carrier recently completed testing of our GSE Pack, and initial discussions have commenced with the carrier and our distributor regarding a significant purchase order. Flux is being supported by a leading ground service equipment distributor that has arranged other trials.”