The forklift truck is a very important machine to help employees lift and transport heavy weight materials and goods with efficiency and speed without straining their bodies. How a business utilizes this tool could considerably affect its productivity.
A popular storage method is Free Stacking Pallets. This is a way to utilize your forklift that is both economical and easy. Free Stacking Pallets is placing one pallet on top of another to create a stack of products. This is a stable storage method and is recommended when dealing with numerous pallets of the same dimensions and height or huge amounts of the similar goods. The drawback of this specific technique is that it only enables access to the objects put last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a technique which involves the stable storage of various sized pallets. Any pallet could be accessed at any time, which allows a First In First Out or Last In First Out method. It permits the rack to grow and change shape depending upon every day requirements. This system needs aisles which are sufficiently wide to allow a lift truck to freely access the racks and easily maneuver. The downside is that this particular method means fewer pallets can be handled within the environment. This may not make a difference if there is enough space available.
Narrow aisle racking is like pallet racking in that it allows for a Last In First Out or First In First Out technique. The difference in the technique is how the special narrow forklift is used. This means that smaller spaces are necessary between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The advantage is that more product could be kept in the same area. The downside is that you would have to transition to a new truck if you already own a regular lift truck. The expenditure of obtaining special machinery may be a deterrent to adopting this particular system of storage.
Using your forklift to its fullest potential is vital as it pays to consider your storage costs and retrieval costs of pallets. Then you can determine whether there are more effective ways to utilize your forklift to increase the usable area of your units or to accelerate the process. Greater efficiency equals bigger profitability.