The forklift has become a vital piece of machinery able to lift and move products and heavy materials with both efficiency and speed. How a business uses this tool could considerably affect its productivity.
Free stacking pallets is the most common storage technique. Utilizing this storage method is both easy and economical for your lift truck. Free Stacking Pallets is placing one pallet over another to create a stack of products. This is a stable storage method and is suggested when handling many pallets of the same dimensions and height or huge amounts of the same product. The disadvantage of this specific technique is that it only enables access to the items placed last, so it does not allow a First In First Out system.
It is vital to have a pallet racking method that involves the stable storage of various sized pallets. Using a First In First Out or Last In First Out method, will enable for easy access of any pallet. It enables the rack to grow and change shape depending upon every day requirements. This particular method needs aisles that are wide enough to enable a lift truck to freely access the racks and easily maneuver. The downside is that this specific system means fewer pallets can be handled in the environment. This might not matter if there is sufficient space available.
Narrow aisle racking is similar to pallet racking in that it allows for a First In First Out or Last In First Out method. The difference in the technique is how the special narrow forklift is utilized. This means that smaller spaces are necessary between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking method. The benefit is that more goods can be kept in the same area. The downside is that you will have to transition to a new truck if you already own a typical forklift truck. The cost of obtaining special equipment might be a deterrent to implementing this specific system of storage.
Using your forklift to its fullest capability is important because it pays to analyze your storage costs and retrieval costs of pallets. Then you can determine whether there are more effective means to utilize your forklift to speed up the process or to increase the usable space of your units. Greater effectiveness equals bigger productivity.