The forklift truck is a vital machinery to help employees lift and transport heavy weight supplies and goods with efficiency and speed without straining their bodies. The way a company makes use of this machinery can significantly affect its profitability.
A popular storage method is Free Stacking Pallets. This is a way to utilize your forklift that is both easy and economical. Free Stacking Pallets involves placing one pallet on top of another to make a stack of goods. This is a stable storage technique and is recommended when dealing with huge amounts of the same goods, or many pallets of the same dimensions and height. The drawback of this specific system is that it just enables access to the items put last, so it does not allow a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a technique that involves the stable storage of various sized pallets. Any pallet can be accessed at any time, that allows a Last In First Out or First In First Out method. It enables the rack to change shape and grow depending upon daily requirements. This particular method needs aisles which are adequately wide to enable a lift truck to maneuver easily and to freely access the racks. The disadvantage is that this particular technique means fewer pallets could be handled within the setting. This might not matter if there is sufficient space available.
Like Pallet Racking, the method called Narrow Aisle Racking allows a First In First Out or Last In First Out technique. It differs in that a 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 more product could be stored in the same area. The downside is that you would have to transition to a new truck if you already own a typical forklift truck. The cost of obtaining special machines might be a deterrent to implementing this technique of storage.
It is important to use your lift truck to its full potential. It pays to analyze your time expenses in storage and retrieval of pallets. Then you could find out whether there are more effective ways to use your forklift in order to accelerate the process or to increase the usable area of your units. Greater effectiveness equals bigger productivity.