The lift truck has become a vital piece of machinery that can lift and move products and heavy supplies with both efficiency and speed. The way a company makes use of this machine could significantly affect its productivity.
Free stacking pallets is the most common storage method. Utilizing this storage technique is both easy and economical for your forklift. Free Stacking Pallets is positioning one pallet over another to make a stack of products. This is a stable storage system and is suggested when dealing with huge amounts of similar goods, or many pallets of the same height and dimensions. The disadvantage of this technique is that it just allows access to the items placed last, so it does not enable a First In First Out system.
Pallet Racking is a technique 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 system. It allows the rack to grow and change shape depending upon daily needs. This particular technique requires aisles that are sufficiently wide to allow a forklift to maneuver easily and to freely access the racks. The downside is that this particular method means less pallets could be handled within the environment. This might not make a difference if there is adequate space available.
Narrow aisle racking is similar to pallet racking in that it enables for a First In First Out or Last In First Out method. The difference in the method is how the special narrow lift truck is utilized. This means that smaller areas are required between the aisles of pallets than in the Pallet Racking way. The advantage is that a lot more product could be stored in the same space. The disadvantage is that you would have to transition to a different kind of truck if you already own a regular lift truck. The expenditure of obtaining special equipment may be a deterrent to adopting this specific technique of storage.
It is essential to use your lift truck to its full potential. It pays to consider your time costs in storage and retrieval of pallets. After that you could determine whether there are more efficient means to use your forklift in order to accelerate the process or to increase the usable area of your units. Greater effectiveness means greater profitability.