At Clearlift Material Handling, we see every day how the right electric material handling equipment can transform a warehouse or factory – not just for productivity, but for sustainability too.
That’s why we’re delighted to congratulate our customer O&S Doors, Ireland and the UK’s largest manufacturer of kitchen and bedroom doors, on being awarded Sustainable Supplier of the Year 2025 by Ireland’s Kitchen Trade. Their ongoing investment in sustainability includes a move to electric transport across their factory floor – powered in part by an electric order picker and two electric pallet trucks supplied by Clearlift Material Handling.
This article is written for Irish warehouses, manufacturers and logistics operations who want to follow a similar path – reducing emissions, cutting costs and improving working conditions by switching to electric material handling equipment.
Why Electric Material Handling Equipment Matters for Irish Businesses
Across Ireland and Northern Ireland, businesses are under increasing pressure to:
- Reduce carbon emissions
- Improve energy efficiency
- Protect employee health and safety
- Demonstrate ESG performance to customers and supply chain partners
Traditional diesel and LPG trucks are becoming harder to justify. They produce emissions, noise and heat, and they can be expensive to run and maintain.
By contrast, electric material handling equipment – from pallet trucks and stackers to order pickers and forklifts – offers:
- Zero tailpipe emissions on site
- Lower running costs, thanks to cheaper electricity vs. fuel and fewer moving parts
- Quieter, cleaner operations that are better for staff and neighbours
- Excellent speed control and precision, ideal for indoor environments
- A strong sustainability story for tenders, audits and customer communications
For companies like O&S Doors, going electric isn’t just a “nice to have”. It’s now a core part of how they win awards, secure new business and attract talent.
Case Study: O&S Doors’ Journey to Sustainable Supplier of the Year 2025
A long-term commitment to sustainability
O&S Doors have been recognised as Sustainable Supplier of the Year 2025, having previously won the same award in 2022 – clear recognition of a long-term commitment rather than a one-off initiative.
Their sustainability journey has included:
- Reducing waste and increasing on-site recycling
- Installing EV charging points for staff
- Introducing electric vehicles across their operations – both on the road and on the factory floor
Electrifying the factory floor with EP Equipment
As part of this transition, O&S Doors invested in:
- 1 × electric order picker
- 2 × electric pallet trucks
supplied by Clearlift Material Handling.
These pieces of electric material handling equipment now support daily operations on the factory floor, helping move materials efficiently while supporting O&S Doors’ drive to reduce emissions and noise in production areas.
Benefits they are seeing
While every site is different, businesses like O&S Doors typically experience:
- Lower emissions inside and around the factory
- Reduced fuel costs and more predictable energy spend
- Improved operator comfort with low noise and zero fumes
- Enhanced brand reputation, backed up by credible third-party awards
The key takeaway? Electric isn’t a theoretical future – it’s here, it’s proven, and it’s delivering results today in real factories in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
What Is Electric Material Handling Equipment?
When we talk about electric material handling equipment, we’re not just talking about forklifts.
It includes a full range of battery-powered machines designed to move, lift and store goods safely and efficiently:
- Electric pallet trucks – ideal for loading bays, production lines and short-distance pallet movement
- Electric stackers – for lifting pallets to racking in smaller warehouses or tight spaces
- Electric order pickers – perfect for picking individual items or cartons at low, medium or high levels
- Electric counterbalance forklifts – the “all-rounders” for unloading trucks, feeding production and yard work
- Reach trucks and VNA trucks – for high racking in narrow-aisle warehouses
- Tow tractors and tuggers – efficient for line feeding and towing multiple trolleys
At ClearLift, we specialise in supplying and supporting EP Equipment electric solutions tailored to Irish operations – from small local warehouses to large multi-shift manufacturing plants.
If you’d like to explore specific truck types in more depth, visit our pages on electric forklifts and warehouse equipment.
Key Benefits of Electric Material Handling Equipment for Irish Operations
1. Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Compared with internal combustion (IC) trucks, electric machines can deliver:
- Lower energy cost per hour of operation
- Reduced maintenance – fewer moving parts, no engine oil changes, no exhaust systems
- Longer service intervals and less unplanned downtime
While the initial purchase price can be similar or slightly higher, the lifetime cost is often significantly lower, especially in multi-shift or high-utilisation sites.
2. Reduced Emissions and Better ESG Performance
Switching to electric material handling equipment:
- Eliminates on-site exhaust emissions from trucks
- Supports corporate net-zero and sustainability targets
- Creates a cleaner working environment for operators and visitors
For O&S Doors, electric vehicles across their factory operations were a key element recognised in their Sustainable Supplier of the Year 2025 award – tangible proof that these changes are meaningful in the eyes of customers and industry bodies.
3. Improved Operator Safety and Comfort
Electric trucks bring several safety and comfort advantages:
- Smooth acceleration and braking for precise control in tight spaces
- Reduced noise, making it easier to hear alarms, colleagues and other vehicles
- No exposure to exhaust fumes in enclosed areas
- Advanced safety features such as speed reduction in corners, anti-roll-back on ramps and operator presence systems (available on modern models)
These factors can support better retention of skilled operators and fewer incidents on site.
4. Flexible Charging and Battery Options
Modern electric material handling equipment offers flexible energy options;
- Lithium-ion batteries with ultra-fast charging, no battery changeovers and very low daily maintenance
For multi-shift operations in Ireland, lithium-ion powered trucks can remove the need for dedicated battery rooms and manual battery changes, improving both safety and uptime.
5. A Quieter, More Productive Warehouse
Quieter equipment isn’t just about comfort:
- It supports better communication and concentration
- It can reduce fatigue over long shifts
- It’s often welcomed by neighbours or adjoining businesses, especially in mixed-use industrial estates
Many customers find that once they switch to electric material handling equipment in one area, operators quickly push for it across the rest of the site.
How to Choose the Right Electric Material Handling Equipment
Every warehouse or factory in Ireland is unique, but a structured approach helps you make the right investment.
Step 1: Map your material flows
Start by listing:
- What you are moving (pallets, stillages, loose product, trolleys)
- Where it moves (yard to warehouse, goods-in to production, production to dispatch)
- How often, and over what distances
This will quickly reveal whether you need mainly pallet trucks and stackers, counterbalance forklifts, or more specialised order pickers and reach trucks.
Step 2: Assess your space and racking
Measure:
- Aisle widths
- Door heights and widths
- Racking heights
- Any tight turns, slopes or loading dock details
These factors will determine:
- The truck size and turning radius you can accommodate
- Whether a 3-wheel or 4-wheel electric forklift is best
- Whether you need reach trucks or can operate with standard counterbalance trucks
Step 3: Understand your duty cycles and shifts
Key questions:
- How many hours per day will each truck work?
- Is the work continuous, or stop–start?
- Do you operate one, two or three shifts?
Step 4: Factor in charging and infrastructure
We’ll work with you to check:
- Available electrical capacity and potential upgrades
- Best locations for charging points (to minimise travel and cables on the floor)
- Whether you’d benefit from opportunity charging during breaks and shift handovers
Often, customers like O&S Doors combine factory floor electrification with broader EV initiatives, such as installing chargers for their delivery vans and staff vehicles, creating additional economies of scale.
Step 5: Consider ownership model – purchase, lease or hire
You don’t have to buy outright to start your electrification journey.
Clearlift offers flexible options including:
- Outright purchase of new equipment
- Contract hire with full maintenance
You can learn more about these options on our forklift hire and rental and service and maintenance pages.
Practical Steps to Transition from Diesel/LPG to Electric
Moving to electric material handling equipment is often easiest when done in phases:
- Start with a pilot area
- For example, convert your indoor pallet movements to electric pallet trucks first.
- This delivers quick wins in comfort and emissions with minimal infrastructure changes.
- Target the “easy wins”
- Replace older, high-maintenance LPG or diesel trucks working indoors.
- Focus on equipment nearing the end of its economic life.
- Plan your charging strategy
- Work out when trucks can charge without disrupting operations (breaks, shift-change, overnight).
- Decide whether you will use central charging points or distributed chargers near work areas.
- Train operators and supervisors
- Proper driver training maximises the benefits of features like regenerative braking and speed control.
- Supervisors should understand battery care and charging best practices.
- Monitor, review and scale
- Track energy usage, uptime, operator feedback and maintenance costs.
- Use this data to build your business case for extending electric equipment across the site.
Our team can support this process end-to-end, from initial site assessment through to ongoing service support.
FAQs: Electric Material Handling Equipment in Ireland
1. Can electric forklifts match the power of diesel or LPG trucks?
Modern electric forklifts deliver comparable – and in many cases better – torque and control at low speeds, which is exactly where warehouse trucks spend most of their time. For heavy outdoor, long-distance work, we’ll work with you to specify the right truck capacity and battery solution.
2. How long do batteries last on a single charge?
Typical run time depends on:
- Truck type and load
- Duty cycle (continuous vs. intermittent use)
- Battery size and technology
For many warehouse applications, a single charge will comfortably cover a shift. With lithium-ion, you can also “opportunity charge” during breaks to achieve genuine multi-shift capability.
3. What about cold stores or harsh environments?
Electric material handling equipment is widely used in cold stores and chilled environments. With the right specification – such as heated cabins, special tyres and cold-resistant components – electric trucks perform reliably in these demanding conditions.
4. Are there grants or incentives available?
Support schemes change over time, but there are often energy efficiency and sustainability programmes available in Ireland and Northern Ireland that can support investments in low-emission equipment or broader infrastructure upgrades. We recommend speaking with your local enterprise office or energy advisor – and our team can share current insights during a consultation.
5. Is servicing more complicated for electric trucks?
In many ways, it’s simpler:
- No engine oil, filters or spark plugs
- Fewer moving parts
- Longer service intervals on key components
However, it’s essential that your equipment is maintained by trained electric truck technicians. Clearlift offers full service and maintenance packages across Ireland to keep your fleet compliant and reliable.
6. Can I run a mixed fleet of diesel and electric trucks?
Absolutely. Many of our customers, including larger manufacturing sites, operate mixed fleets while transitioning. We can help you segment your fleet so that:
- Electric trucks handle indoor and medium-duty tasks
- Remaining diesel/LPG units focus on heavy outdoor work (where required)
Over time, as confidence grows and equipment reaches end of life, you can gradually increase the proportion of electric machines.
Ready to Electrify Your Warehouse or Factory?
The success of O&S Doors – crowned Sustainable Supplier of the Year 2025 and actively investing in electric transport across their factory floor – shows what’s possible when sustainability and operational performance go hand in hand.
Whether you run a small warehouse in Dublin or a large manufacturing site in Tyrone, electric material handling equipment can help you:
- Reduce emissions and running costs
- Improve working conditions for your team
- Strengthen your ESG and sustainability story
- Future-proof your operation against tighter regulations and customer expectations
Talk to Clearlift Material Handling
ClearLift is here to help you design, deploy and support the right electric material handling equipment for your operation.
- Explore our electric forklifts and warehouse equipment
- Learn about flexible forklift hire and rental options
- See how our service and maintenance keeps your fleet running
- Or contact our team today to arrange a site visit or consultation
Let’s work together to power a cleaner, quieter and more efficient future for material handling in Ireland.
