The lift truck has become a vital piece of equipment able to lift and move things and heavy materials with both speed and efficiency. The way a business makes use of this machine can significantly affect its profitability.
Free stacking pallets is the most common storage technique. Utilizing this storage method is both economical and easy 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 system and is recommended when handling large amounts of the same product, or numerous pallets of the same height and dimensions. The disadvantage of this particular system is that it just allows access to the items placed last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
It is important to have a pallet racking method which involves the stable storage of various sized pallets. Utilizing a Last In First Out or First In First Out system, will enable for easy access of any pallet. It enables the rack to grow and change shape depending upon every day requirements. This technique needs aisles which are adequately wide to enable a lift truck to maneuver easily and to freely access the racks. The downside is that this specific method means less pallets can be handled in the environment. This may not matter if there is enough space available.
Narrow aisle racking is similar to pallet racking in that it enables for a Last In First Out or First In First Out system. The difference in the method is how the special narrow forklift is utilized. This means that smaller areas are necessary between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The benefit is that more product could be stored in the same space. The downside is that you would have to transition to a different type of truck if you already own a typical lift truck. The expenditure of acquiring special machinery may be a deterrent to implementing this system of storage.
It is essential to use your lift truck to its full capability. It pays to consider your time costs in storage and retrieval of pallets. After that you can determine whether there are more efficient means to use your lift truck to accelerate the process or to increase the usable area of your units. Greater effectiveness equals bigger profitability.