Marble Hall Citrus: Pack House Fleet Electrification
Updated: 7 minutes ago
Marble Hall Citrus, one of South Africa’s largest citrus pack houses, operated a mixed materials handling fleet of approximately 20 forklifts — 14 diesel and 6 electric lead-acid.
The fleet had grown organically rather than by design, with equipment specified machine by machine rather than against the work each machine actually performed.
Our approach
Rather than conduct a like-for-like replacement exercise, Orizen began with a full fleet and operational assessment built on measured data:
Time studies across the pack house operation
Pallet movement counts to establish real handling volumes and flow paths
Space optimisation techniques applied to demarcate distinct working zones.
Equipment type and specification were then matched to the work carried out in each demarcated zone. The governing objective was set as cost per pallet handled, not cost per machine — a distinction that drove every subsequent decision.
Why lithium-ion over lead-acid
Lithium-ion was specified for three operational reasons:
Fast and opportunity charging — removes the battery change-out routine and dedicated charge room infrastructure that lead-acid demands, allowing machines to top up during natural breaks in the shift.
Indoor-outdoor capability of the EFL series — single machines work both the pack house and the yard, rather than requiring separate fleets for each environment.
Minimal battery maintenance — no watering, equalising or associated daily labour.
The solution deployed
A fully electric, lithium-ion powered fleet of 14 units, comprising counterbalance forklifts and powered pallet trucks, with single and double pallet handling attachments fitted to selected forklifts to increase pallets moved per trip. The fleet was reduced from 20 machines to 14 — a 30% reduction in unit count — while increasing throughput capability. Diesel was removed entirely from the pack house environment.
Existing Press Releases and Case Studies
This project has already been documented publicly across several channels. Marketing may draw on all of the following:
LinkedIn video series — a multi-part series filmed on site at Marble Hall Citrus, published on the Orizen Group LinkedIn page and my personal profile.
EP Equipment case study — “From Diesel to Lithium: How Marble Hall Citrus Transformed Their Operations with EP Equipment,” published September 2025.
Features Marnus Fleischmann, Asset and Cold Room Manager at Marble Hall Citrus, on record. ep-equipment.com/blog/2025/09/04/ Note for marketing: the EP Equipment piece already carries named customer testimony and the EU cold room compliance narrative — usually the hardest material to source. It is the strongest single starting point.
Technical Information and Measurable Results
Fleet configuration
Before: approximately 20 units — 14 diesel, 6 electric lead-acid
After: 14 units, 100% electric lithium-ion
Composition: counterbalance forklifts (EFL series, indoor-outdoor capable) and powered pallet trucks
Attachments: single-double pallet handlers fitted to selected forklifts
Operating season: 6 months
Orizen Group,
+27 (0) 82 685 6065,
Comments