The lift truck is a vital machinery to help employees lift and transport heavy weight materials and products with speed and efficiency without injuring their bodies. The way a company uses this machine could considerably affect its productivity.
A common storage technique is Free Stacking Pallets. This is a way to utilize your forklift that is 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 system and is recommended when handling huge amounts of the same product, or numerous pallets of the same height and dimensions. The disadvantage of this system 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 method that involves the stable storage of different sized pallets. Any pallet can be accessed at any time, that allows a First In First Out or Last In First Out technique. It enables the rack to change shape and grow depending upon daily needs. This particular system needs aisles that are wide enough to enable a forklift to freely access the racks and maneuver easily. The disadvantage is that this system means less pallets can be handled within the setting. This might not make a difference if there is sufficient space available.
Narrow aisle racking is similar to pallet racking in that it allows for a Last In First Out or First In First Out technique. The difference in the system is how the special narrow forklift is utilized. This means that smaller areas are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking technique. The advantage is that much more product can be kept in the same area. The disadvantage is that you would have to transition to a different type of truck if you already own a regular lift truck. The expenditure of acquiring special machinery may be a deterrent to implementing this specific technique of storage.
Using your forklift to its fullest capability is essential as it pays to analyze your retrieval costs and storage costs of pallets. After that you could find out whether there are more effective ways to use your lift truck in order to increase the usable area of your units or to accelerate the process. Greater effectiveness means greater profitability.