The Material Handling Blog

Since they were first introduced as a material handling tool, forklifts have become ever more effective at lifting and transporting pallets. Standardisation has occurred across the world of logistics, meaning (with several major exceptions) that many goods are formed into unit loads and placed on pallets of a uniform size, allowing a wide range of goods to be transported and stored more easily.

But what happens the goods you handle don't fit neatly on a pallet? Items that are particularly large or long won't fit on a standard pallet, and they can be harder to handle with a standard forklift. One company that works with goods like this is Mac Messe- und Austellungscenter Service GmbH, a German designer and manufacturer of trade fair stands.

Cold stores are some of the most challenging environments that forklifts can operate in — temperatures as cold as -35°C are not unusual in these facilities, which are an absolutely vital part of the modern supply chain.

In these sub-zero conditions, steel can become more brittle, condensation can cause problems for a truck's mechanics, and operators must either wear insulating clothing or be protected inside heated cabins for their safety.

One of the biggest issues, however, is the cost involved with keeping the large area of the store colder than the North Pole. A lot of power can be needed to maintain the low temperature, and that's why it's important to maximise storage space as much as possible. This allows you to store more unit loads in a smaller space, and reduces the amount of energy needed to keep the store at these very low temperatures.

But what type of storage system allows for the densest storage?

Forklifts have existed for over 100 years — but it's only in more recent decades that ergonomic design has become a important question for manufacturers to answer.

That's unsurprising when you consider that today, the biggest cost you'll have to pay over your truck's lifetime isn't the service, or the financing costs — it's the cost of the driver. Therefore, making sure that they can do their jobs safely and efficiently is essential if you want to stay financially competitive.

But what does a truly ergonomic truck look like? Plenty of forklifts on the market claim to be ergonomically designed, but features such as these examples really make sense from an ergonomic perspective.

When your product can mean life or death for your customers, a solid forklift fleet and reliable logistics operation is an absolute must. Johnson Controls, a manfacturer of fire safety products, is one of these companies. The international firm not only makes fire detection and alarm systems, but also fire supressions solutions as well. These are important products, and the company needs to get them to the customer as smoothly and quickly as possible.

Loading and unloading goods as they come into the warehouse can be one of the more expensive and potentially problematic processes in the materials handling process.

To make life more difficult, a range of different trucks can be used at this stage - pallet trucks, stackers and counterbalances all have their benefits and drawbacks in different situations. 

Most people in this industry will have heard of the 80/20 rule, or Pareto Principle, as it's sometimes known. It's a basic theory that claims that around 20 per cent of any process is responsible for 80 per cent of the results of that process.

In manufacturing, for example, it is said that around 20 per cent of the defects in a product are responsible for around 80 per cent of the problems. The rule can apply to sales as well — in this case, 80 per cent of sales often come from 20 per cent of customers. 

Densely-packed, high-bay warehouses are excellent at using floor space efficiently. However, they’re not necessarily easy to work in – lifting 1000kg+ weights to heights of well over 10 metres is a challenge, and places high demands on both drivers and forklifts.

But it is possible – and some companies haven’t just made this system work, they’ve seen major benefits.

As anyone who's been responsible for costs in a warehouse knows, order picking is often the most expensive warehouse operation.

Loading and unloading naturally has associated costs, and stacking can be expensive - but neither come close to the cost of order picking.

Moving goods around inside your warehouse and storing them in a rational way is a major challenge - but the process of actually getting the goods inside in the first place is also filled with potential problems. High costs, queueing and inefficiency can all arise when you're not unloading optimally. That's why making the process as smooth and quick as possible can have a positive 'knock-on' effect on the rest of your operation.

Forklift safety is vital in the modern warehouse. If you want to keep efficiency high and staff happy, making sure that forklift drivers know the rules is essential. Paying attention to the regulations also reduces the risk of breaking the law, too.

Accidents can harm your bottom line and damage your company's reputation - so keeping the best practice at the top of your mind is important.