The Material Handling Blog

When your leased materials handling equipment reaches the end of its contract, it’s often difficult to decide what your next steps should be. Is it best to invest in new equipment that you haven’t used before, or should you just extend the contracts of the trucks you already have on site?

The correct answer will depend completely on the needs and requirements of your operation. But in many situations, bringing on new equipment can often be the best decision in the long run, once you consider the benefits that technological advances can bring.

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.

On 1 January 2019, IFRS 16 Leases will come into effect, and it's going to have a big impact on the material handling industry. 

Having efficient, reliable and safe vehicles is essential for effective materials handling, and there's a range of different ways to get them. Here, we give you our guidance on that difficult question - should you rent, buy or lease your next forklift truck?

“In a situation of changing requirements, is your forklift truck fleet flexible enough for optimally supporting your material handling?” Several times a week I hear colleagues discussing with our customers about how to optimise fleets when requirements change. My take on this is that at workload peaks there may be a shortage of forklift trucks – or they may be of the wrong type – while at idle periods redundant forklift trucks stand still at unnecessary cost.

When you need a new forklift truck, one issue to consider is whether it really has to be new. Of course a brand new truck is an easy and trouble-free choice, but from a cost and benefit perspective, will it pay off? Depending on your operations, a used forklift may be the way to go.