The lift truck is a very important tool to help employees lift and transport heavy weight supplies and goods with efficiency and speed without injuring their bodies. The way a company uses this tool can significantly affect its productivity.
A common storage technique is Free Stacking Pallets. This is a way to use your lift truck that is both easy and economical. Free Stacking Pallets involves placing one pallet over another to create a stack of products. This is a stable storage technique and is suggested when dealing with numerous pallets of the same dimensions and height or large amounts of the similar goods. The disadvantage of this particular system is that it only enables access to the objects placed last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
It is important to have a pallet racking method that involves the stable storage of various sized pallets. Utilizing a Last In First Out or First In First Out system, will allow for easy access of any pallet. It allows the rack to change shape and grow depending upon every day needs. This method needs aisles which are wide enough to enable a lift truck to freely access the racks and maneuver easily. The disadvantage is that this particular method means less pallets can be handled within the environment. This might not make a difference if there is enough space available.
Narrow aisle racking is like pallet racking in that it enables for a First In First Out or Last In First Out method. The difference in the system is how the special narrow lift truck is utilized. This means that smaller spaces are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The advantage is that a lot more product can be stored in the same space. The downside is that you would have to transition to a new truck if you already own a typical lift truck. The expenditure of obtaining special machines may be a deterrent to implementing this specific method of storage.
It is important to utilize your forklift truck to its full potential. It pays to consider your time costs in storage and retrieval of pallets. Afterward you could determine whether there are more efficient ways to use your forklift to accelerate the process or to increase the usable area of your units. Greater efficiency equals bigger productivity.