NCMS Member Navitas Systems Announces Dedicated New Building For Starlifter Lithium Material Handling Battery Production
Ann Arbor, MI, April 8, 2019 – Navitas Systems LLC (www.navitassys.com), a leading provider of lithium energy storage products for commercial, industrial and government customers, announced today that it has secured a new building near its current 48,000 square foot Ann Arbor Michigan R&D and Manufacturing facility to focus solely on production of its popular StarlifterTM line of lithium forklift batteries.
“We are seeing very strong growth in both of our main businesses—the commercial Starlifter product line, as well as our Government and Defense lithium cell business,” said Kevin Hykin, President and Chief Operating Officer. “Securing this new 100,000 square feet Starlifter manufacturing center enables us to provide site-specific focus and a growth path for each of these lines of businesses”.
Navitas has witnessed an almost 200% year-over-year growth in Starlifter revenues. Its leadership in the field of lithium material handling batteries was recently further strengthened by securing the UL-ListedTM mark, making it the industry’s only family of 24, 36, and 48-volt lithium batteries with this top accreditation. “We see the forklift market taking a significant turn toward lithium, particularly in two and three shift applications,” said Mil Ovan, President and Chief Marketing Officer. “The new Starlifter Manufacturing Center will enable the company to rapidly scale its production to meet expected high demand of our North American customers”. The move of Starlifter production from its current location will start immediately, and the new building–located at 5949 Jackson Street in Ann Arbor–will be phased-in so that production deliveries are not impacted.
The move also enables the company to expand the footprint of a recently installed automated lithium custom cell production line at the current R&D and manufacturing center–located at 4880 Venture Drive–to handle the increased demand coming from government agencies like the US Navy and US Army. “The advanced lithium cell production line is one of the most flexible lines in North America,” said Craig Allman, Director of the Government Aerospace and Defense division of Navitas Systems. “The freeing up of floor space in our current building will enable an even better manufacturing flow of the cell production line and battery pack systems as we continue to grow”.
Navitas Systems is featuring its Starlifter lithium material handling batteries starting today through Thursday at the major industry conference called the ProMat Show at McCormick Place in Chicago. “We are excited to showcase at ProMat how pervasive Starlifters are becoming in the material handling industry, by demonstrating Starlifter powering an Automated Guided Vehicle at the Yale booth (#S-3603), while also powering a sit down/counterbalance lift truck at Toyota Material Handling’s booth (#S-1003), as we well as powering a lift truck at Clark Equipment’s booth (#S-4541)” said Samer ElShafei, Vice President of Commercial Products and Business Development. Navitas Systems booth number is S-335. Further details can be found at www.promatshow.com.