The lift truck is a very important machinery to help workers lift and move heavy weight materials and goods with efficiency and speed without injuring their bodies. How a company utilizes this tool can significantly affect its profitability.
Free stacking pallets is the most common storage method. Using this storage system is both easy and economical for your lift truck. Free Stacking Pallets involves placing one pallet on top of another to make a stack of goods. This is a stable storage system and is recommended when handling numerous pallets of the same height and dimensions or large amounts of the same goods. The drawback of this specific system is that it only allows access to the items put last, so it does not allow a First In First Out system.
It is important 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 enables the rack to grow and change shape depending upon daily requirements. This specific method needs aisles that are wide enough to allow a lift truck to maneuver easily and to freely access the racks. The disadvantage is that this method means less pallets can be handled in the setting. This might not matter if there is adequate 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 system is how the special narrow forklift is used. This means that smaller spaces are necessary between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The benefit is that more goods can be stored in the same area. The disadvantage is that you would have to transition to a new truck if you already own a regular lift truck. The cost of obtaining special machines might be a deterrent to adopting this method of storage.
Utilizing your forklift to its fullest potential is vital as it pays to consider your storage costs and retrieval costs of pallets. Then you could find out whether there are more effective means to utilize your lift truck to increase the usable area of your units or to accelerate the process. Greater efficiency equals greater profitability.