The forklift truck is a very important machine to help employees raise and transport heavy weight supplies and goods with efficiency and speed without injuring their bodies. The way a company makes use of this machine can significantly affect its productivity.
Free stacking pallets is the most popular storage system. Using this storage method is both easy and economical for your lift truck. Free Stacking Pallets involves positioning one pallet on top of another to create a stack of products. This is a stable storage method and is recommended when dealing with large amounts of the same goods, or many pallets of the same height and dimensions. The disadvantage of this particular technique is that it only allows access to the things put last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
It is vital to have a pallet racking system that involves the stable storage of different sized pallets. Using a First In First Out or Last In First Out system, would allow for easy access of any pallet. It permits the rack to grow and change shape depending upon every day requirements. This specific system needs aisles which are wide enough to enable a forklift to freely access the racks and easily maneuver. The downside is that this technique means less pallets can be handled in the environment. This may not make a difference if there is adequate space available.
Similar to Pallet Racking, the technique known as Narrow Aisle Racking allows a Last In First Out or First In First Out method. It varies in that a special narrow forklift is used. This means that smaller areas are necessary between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking method. The benefit is that more goods could be stored in the same space. The disadvantage is that you would have to transition to a new truck if you already own a typical forklift truck. The expenditure of obtaining special machines may be a deterrent to adopting this method of storage.
It is important to use your forklift truck to its full potential. It pays to analyze your time costs in retrieval and storage of pallets. Afterward you can find out whether there are more effective ways to utilize your forklift to increase the usable space of your units or to speed up the process. Greater effectiveness means greater profitability.