The forklift has become a vital piece of machine that can raise and move products and heavy supplies with both speed and efficiency. The way a company uses this machine can significantly affect its productivity.
Free stacking pallets is the most popular storage method. Using this storage method is both economical and easy for your lift truck. Free Stacking Pallets is positioning one pallet over another to make a stack of goods. This is a stable storage method and is suggested when dealing with huge amounts of the same goods, or many pallets of similar dimensions and height. The disadvantage of this 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 essential to have a pallet racking technique which involves the stable storage of different sized pallets. Utilizing a Last In First Out or First In First Out method, would enable for easy access of any pallet. It enables the rack to change shape and grow depending upon every day requirements. This method needs aisles which are wide enough to allow a forklift to freely access the racks and maneuver easily. The disadvantage is that this particular system means fewer 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 allows for a Last In First Out or First In First Out technique. The difference in the system is how the special narrow lift truck is used. This means that smaller spaces are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking technique. The benefit is that a lot more product can be kept in the same area. The disadvantage is that you would have to transition to a new truck if you already own a typical lift truck. The expenditure of acquiring special equipment might be a deterrent to implementing this technique of storage.
It is essential to utilize your forklift truck to its full potential. It pays to consider your time expenditure in retrieval and storage of pallets. Then you could find out whether there are more effective ways to use your lift truck to accelerate the process or to increase the usable space of your units. Greater efficiency means greater productivity.