The lift truck has become a vital piece of machine that can lift and transport things and heavy supplies with both efficiency and speed. The way a company utilizes this tool could considerably affect its productivity.
Free stacking pallets is the most popular storage method. Utilizing this storage method is both easy and economical for your lift truck. Free Stacking Pallets is positioning one pallet on top of another to make a stack of products. This is a stable storage technique and is recommended when handling large amounts of similar product, or numerous pallets of similar dimensions and height. The drawback of this technique is that it just allows access to the things placed last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a system which involves the stable storage of various sized pallets. Any pallet could be accessed at any time, which allows a Last In First Out or First In First Out system. It allows the rack to grow and change shape depending upon every day requirements. This specific technique requires aisles which are wide enough to enable a lift truck to freely access the racks and easily maneuver. The disadvantage is that this method means less pallets can be handled in the setting. This might not make a difference if there is enough space available.
Narrow aisle racking is like pallet racking in that it allows for a First In First Out or Last In First Out technique. The difference in the system is how the special narrow lift truck is utilized. This means that smaller areas are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The benefit is that more product could be stored in the same area. The disadvantage is that you will have to transition to a new truck if you already own a regular forklift truck. The expenditure of acquiring special equipment might be a deterrent to adopting this system of storage.
Using your forklift to its fullest potential is essential since it pays to analyze your retrieval costs and storage costs of pallets. After that you can determine whether there are more effective ways to use your lift truck to speed up the process or to increase the usable area of your units. Greater effectiveness means bigger profitability.