The lift truck has become a vital piece of machinery able to raise and transport products and heavy supplies with both speed and efficiency. The way a business uses this machine could significantly affect its profitability.
Free stacking pallets is the most popular storage technique. Using this storage method is both economical and easy for your lift truck. Free Stacking Pallets is placing one pallet over another to make a stack of goods. This is a stable storage method and is recommended when dealing with numerous pallets of similar height and dimensions or huge amounts of the same product. The drawback of this particular method is that it just allows access to the objects placed last, so it does not allow a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a method which involves the stable storage of different sized pallets. Any pallet can be accessed at any time, which allows a Last In First Out or First In First Out technique. It enables the rack to change shape and grow depending upon daily requirements. This technique needs aisles which are wide enough to allow a forklift to maneuver easily and to freely access the racks. The disadvantage is that this particular technique means fewer pallets can be handled within the environment. This might not make a difference if there is enough space available.
Like Pallet Racking, the technique called Narrow Aisle Racking enables a Last In First Out or First In First Out method. It differs in that a special narrow forklift 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 downside 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 adopting this particular technique of storage.
Utilizing your lift truck to its fullest potential is important because it pays to consider your retrieval costs and storage costs of pallets. Then you can determine whether there are more efficient ways to use your forklift to increase the usable space of your units or to accelerate the process. Greater effectiveness equals bigger profitability.