The lift truck is a very important machinery to help employees lift and move heavy weight supplies and goods with efficiency and speed without injuring their bodies. How a company uses this machinery could considerably affect its profitability.
Free stacking pallets is the most common storage method. Using this storage method is both economical and easy for your forklift. Free Stacking Pallets involves placing one pallet on top of another to create a stack of goods. This is a stable storage system and is suggested when handling numerous pallets of the same dimensions and height or huge amounts of the same product. The disadvantage of this specific system is that it only allows access to the items put last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a method that involves the stable storage of various sized pallets. Any pallet can be accessed at any time, that allows a First In First Out or Last In First Out technique. It allows the rack to grow and change shape depending upon every day needs. This technique requires aisles which are sufficiently wide to enable a forklift to freely access the racks and easily maneuver. The disadvantage is that this method means less pallets can be handled within the environment. This might not matter if there is adequate space available.
Similar to Pallet Racking, the technique referred to as Narrow Aisle Racking enables a Last In First Out or First In First Out technique. It varies in that a special narrow lift truck is used. This means that smaller spaces are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The benefit is that more goods can be kept in the same area. The disadvantage is that you will have to transition to a new truck if you already own a standard lift truck. The cost of acquiring special machinery might be a deterrent to implementing this technique of storage.
It is essential to utilize your lift truck to its full capability. It pays to consider your time costs in retrieval and storage of pallets. After that you could determine whether there are more efficient ways to utilize your lift truck in order to speed up the process or to increase the usable area of your units. Greater efficiency equals bigger profitability.