The lift truck is a very important tool to help workers lift and transport heavy weight materials and goods with efficiency and speed without straining their bodies. The way a business uses this machine could considerably affect its productivity.
Free stacking pallets is the most popular storage technique. Using this storage system is both easy and economical 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 handling numerous pallets of similar dimensions and height or large amounts of the similar product. The disadvantage of this method is that it just 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 different sized pallets. Any pallet can be accessed at any time, that allows a First In First Out or Last In First Out method. It permits the rack to change shape and grow depending upon daily requirements. This specific system requires aisles which are sufficiently wide to enable a lift truck to freely access the racks and maneuver easily. The disadvantage is that this particular method means fewer pallets can be handled within the environment. This may not make a difference if there is enough space available.
Like Pallet Racking, the technique referred to as Narrow Aisle Racking enables a Last In First Out or First In First Out method. It varies in that a special narrow forklift is utilized. This means that smaller spaces are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The advantage is that more product could be stored in the same area. The disadvantage is that you will have to transition to a new truck if you already own a typical forklift truck. The expenditure of acquiring special machines might be a deterrent to implementing this technique of storage.
It is important to use your lift truck to its full capability. It pays to analyze your time costs in storage and retrieval of pallets. After that you could determine whether there are more efficient means to use your lift truck in order to increase the usable area of your units or to speed up the process. Greater efficiency equals bigger profitability.