The Material Handling Blog

Cold store operations are one of the toughest material handling challenges. Not only do the sub-zero temperatures affect your trucks’ battery capacity, electronics, lubrication, bodywork and drivers’ ability to operate the truck, the need for high storage density can reduce selectivity and throughput.

However, there are solutions which make it possible to operate trucks reliably, efficiently and safely in these extreme environments.

Building a solid and efficient materials handling operation doesn't start with buying a truck — instead, the process should always begin with a careful analysis of your needs and current operation, so you can see what is being done right, and what needs to change. 

Logistics simulation can help you achieve this, whether you're planning an entirely new warehouse, or just want to improve your current one. In this guide, we've collected some of the main benefits of simulation.

A common question which often pops up when big capital acquisitions are being considered is - 'should we buy or lease?'

If you're looking to bring on new machines on a long-term basis, both options have their advantages, and bring many of the same benefits — but depending on the nature of your company and what your daily challenges are, one solution will likely be more beneficial.

The ‘dead man’s switch’, or ‘dead man’s pedal’ is a standard safety feature on many forklifts, but it hasn’t seen much innovation over the years.

These switches appear on lots of different vehicles and machines, and are designed to stop the machine from operating if the driver isn’t in full control. In the case of a forklift, the dead man’s switch must be held down (usually with the foot) in order for the truck to operate. This makes sure that if the driver becomes incapacitated, isn’t in control of the truck, or even isn’t in it at all, it won’t be able to move.

It’s a smart and simple solution that has prevented countless accidents. But on trucks where the operator is standing, like some order pickers, it’s far from the perfect solution and can even introduce some new safety issues itself. Here’s why:

For many of the most demanding warehouse applications, a stand-in stacker can be a fantastic choice, especially in narrower aisles. In fact, if you want to improve stacking efficiency and safety, there’s no better forklift truck than a stand-in stacker - and no, even though UniCarriers pioneered the stand-in stacker in 1961, we’re not biased!

Many other kinds of trucks can stack pallets just like a stand-in stacker, and if their purchase price is lower, they may seem like more attractive machines. But the stand-in stacker’s creative design offers some major benefits.

If you’re looking to get a new forklift truck which will provide you with years of reliable service, rather than just a short-term hire forklift to help you deal with periods of high demand, your first thought may be to purchase one outright.

In an ideal world, all unit loads would held on standard pallets, in uniform weights and sizes, allowing for easy handling with all kinds of forklift. Unfortunately, that's not the real world - and in many warehouses, standard pallets are the exception.

Many types of goods - for example, pipes, construction materials or metal sheeting - are often quite long, and impossible to fit neatly onto a 1,200 by 800mm pallet. These loads can be difficult to get down warehouse aisles, even if they aren't particularly narrow.

Cantilever racking, as shown in the illustration above, solves the storage problem - this kind of racking is open-fronted, meaning there are no vertical bars to block the placement or removal of long goods.

But when you need to move these goods down an aisle, how do you get around the space problem? The simplest and most versatile solution is - with a multi-directional truck.

Owning and operating a forklift truck naturally involves many different costs. There's naturally the upfront cost of the machine itself, or regular payments if it's financed, as well as costs for routine or avoidable service and maintenance, and downtime.

In this post, Pierre Simonnet, UniCarriers Europe’s International Key Account Sales Manager, explains how the material handling purchasing process has changed in the last couple of decades – and how the modern industry can return to a more flexible system, which benefits both supplier and customer.

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.