The lift truck has become a vital piece of machine that can raise and move products and heavy materials with both speed and efficiency. The way a business utilizes this machinery can considerably affect its productivity.
A common storage method is Free Stacking Pallets. This is a way to use your lift truck which is both easy and economical. Free Stacking Pallets involves positioning one pallet over another to make a stack of goods. This is a stable storage technique and is suggested when handling many pallets of similar height and dimensions or huge amounts of the same product. The drawback of this specific technique is that it just allows access to the objects placed last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
It is essential to have a pallet racking technique which involves the stable storage of different sized pallets. Using a First In First Out or Last In First Out technique, would allow for easy access of any pallet. It permits the rack to change shape and grow depending upon daily needs. This method requires aisles which are sufficiently wide to enable a lift truck to maneuver easily and to freely access the racks. The disadvantage is that this specific system means less pallets can be handled in the setting. This may not make a difference if there is enough space available.
Narrow aisle racking is like pallet racking in that it enables for a Last In First Out or First In First Out method. The difference in the method 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 technique. The benefit is that much more product can be stored in the same area. The downside is that you will have to transition to a different kind of truck if you already own a standard forklift truck. The expenditure of acquiring special equipment may be a deterrent to adopting this specific method of storage.
Using your forklift to its fullest potential is essential since it pays to analyze your retrieval costs and storage costs of pallets. Afterward you can determine whether there are more effective ways to utilize your lift truck in order to speed up the process or to increase the usable space of your units. Greater effectiveness means greater profitability.