Flux Power's key takeaways from ProMat 2019 in Chicago:

ProMat 2019 offered a great opportunity to see all the leading-edge products and services that the material handling industry has to offer. In addition to demonstrating our lithium-ion battery solutions, the expo provided a dynamic forum for meeting with customers and suppliers and learning about new trends in the industry. Below are four of my key takeaways from ProMat 2019.

1. New Technologies: There is tremendous movement toward modernizing supply chain operations as IoT, AI and other new technologies take hold. Insights from the collection and analysis of data can lead to big process improvements. And products and solutions that seemed like science fiction only a few years ago are being put to work today.
   
   
2. Increased Budgets: Manufacturing and material handling leaders are projected to increase supply chain spending in 2019 and 2020, by as much as 95%. Investments in new technology and equipment today can mean significantly improving ROI.
   
   
3. Safety and Efficiency: Companies are increasingly considering 'soft costs' associated with safety and maintenance when evaluating the total cost of ownership for their material handling equipment needs. Reducing or eliminating maintenance requirements can allow an organization to reallocate resources (dollars, people, warehouse space) to more effective areas.
   
   
4. Transition to Lithium-ion Forklift Batteries: Many organizations have moved past the question of 'should we adopt lithium-ion battery technology' for their material handling equipment, and instead, they are much more focused on finding the right partner who can provide a complete line of safe and reliable lithium-ion batteries. They’ve conducted the cost-benefit analysis and identified that lithium-ion batteries are the right choice for their application.