The forklift truck is a very important machinery to help employees raise and transport heavy weight materials and goods with speed and efficiency without injuring their bodies. How a business utilizes this machine could considerably affect its profitability.
A common storage technique is Free Stacking Pallets. This is a way to utilize your lift truck which is both economical and easy. Free Stacking Pallets is placing one pallet on top of another to create a stack of products. This is a stable storage technique and is suggested when handling large amounts of similar goods, or numerous pallets of similar dimensions and height. The disadvantage of this system is that it only allows access to the objects placed last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a system that involves the stable storage of different sized pallets. Any pallet can be accessed at any time, that enables a Last In First Out or First In First Out method. It permits the rack to grow and change shape depending upon daily needs. This system requires aisles that are sufficiently wide to enable a forklift to freely access the racks and maneuver easily. The disadvantage is that this method means less pallets could be handled within the setting. This might not matter if there is enough space available.
Similar to Pallet Racking, the method referred to as Narrow Aisle Racking enables a Last In First Out or First In First Out system. It differs in that a special narrow lift truck is utilized. This means that smaller spaces are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking technique. The advantage is that more goods could be stored in the same area. The disadvantage is that you will have to transition to a different kind of truck if you already own a regular forklift truck. The cost of obtaining special machines may be a deterrent to adopting this particular method of storage.
Using your lift truck to its fullest capability is important as it pays to consider your retrieval costs and storage costs of pallets. Afterward you could find out whether there are more efficient means to utilize your forklift to accelerate the process or to increase the usable space of your units. Greater efficiency equals greater productivity.