The forklift has become a vital piece of machinery able to lift and transport things and heavy supplies with both efficiency and speed. How a company makes use of this tool could significantly affect its profitability.
A common storage technique is Free Stacking Pallets. This is a way to utilize your lift truck which is both economical and easy. Free Stacking Pallets involves placing one pallet over another to make a stack of products. This is a stable storage system and is recommended when dealing with many pallets of the same dimensions and height or huge amounts of the same product. The drawback of this system is that it just enables access to the things put last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a method which involves the stable storage of different sized pallets. Any pallet could be accessed at any time, which enables a Last In First Out or First In First Out method. It allows the rack to change shape and grow depending upon every day requirements. This specific technique requires aisles which are wide enough to allow a lift truck to freely access the racks and maneuver easily. The downside is that this system means fewer pallets could be handled within the environment. This may not matter if there is sufficient space available.
Narrow aisle racking is like pallet racking in that it allows for a First In First Out or Last In First Out technique. The difference in the method is how the special narrow forklift is used. This means that smaller areas are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking method. The advantage is that more goods could be stored in the same space. The downside is that you will have to transition to a different type of truck if you already own a typical lift truck. The cost of acquiring special equipment might be a deterrent to implementing this system of storage.
It is important to utilize your lift truck to its full capability. It pays to analyze your time expenditure in retrieval and storage of pallets. Then you can determine whether there are more effective ways to use your lift truck in order to increase the usable space of your units or to speed up the process. Greater efficiency equals bigger profitability.