The Material Handling Blog

In a climate of rising costs, it’s important to uncover the solutions that will save you both time and money. That brings us to the question: How can I combat rising costs and positively impact my TCO (total cost of operation)? The answer is to improve the efficiency of your material handling operations.

Ride-on and stand-in pallet trucks are some of the most widely used pieces of equipment in the material handling world. In order to optimise your warehouse operations without compromising the safety, comfort, and efficiency of your operators, you need to ensure that the machines you’re investing in are reliable, robust, and ergonomically focused.

Are you thinking of going electric, or having a healthy mix in your fleet? Electric counterbalance forklift trucks can positively impact your TCO, have a greater residual capacity and are more environmentally friendly than their internal combustion engine counterparts.

Investing in a forklift fleet is no simple procedure. With the wide and ever-increasing volume of forklift trucks on the market, how can you know which ones are the right choice for you?

You will likely find yourself querying key factors such as the condition of the vehicle - is it used, new, or refurbished, and considering whether you want to buy, rent or hire. But there are other, very important factors to take into account, namely; do you choose an electric counterbalance forklift or an internal combustion (IC) Engine?

In this article, we’re going to discuss these two primary options and how they fare in terms of sustainability, cost, downtime, size, comfort, and noise pollution. This direct comparison will help you to gain a deeper insight into the advantages and disadvantages of each forklift truck and decide which is the best option for your material handling operations.

A question our customers have asked us several times, your forklifts reach higher and heavier, but … ‘Can it do the job, will it do the job, and how will it fit into my operation’ – a similar question asked by many warehouse and Logistics companies when hiring new personnel. A little like hiring your operational staff, it’s a big decision and commitment taking on new overhead costs. How can you ensure you are making the right decision when purchasing your reach truck?

Whilst many food service businesses are in the process of returning to work, there has been much to consider and think about whilst planning the reopening and adapting of their food business during the pandemic. Having to plan the implementation of important guidance from the government, and put into place any procedures to reduce the risk of infection as much as possible. Conversely, for those businesses that use materials handling equipment, there are added challenges concerning health and safety; and equipment availability due to changes in demand.

The world of materials handling and logistics is constantly changing, but at the moment, things are more uncertain than ever.  The COVID-19 crisis began at the start of the year, but already it’s caused huge changes to manufacturing, consumer buying habits and ways of working. On top of all this, the UK’s approaching withdrawal from the European Union continues to create uncertainty for businesses on both sides of the channel, especially those that move components or finished goods between the two markets.

There’s one sentence which may be preventing your materials handling operation from reaching its full potential – “that’s the way we’ve always done it.”

An off-the-shelf forklift from a good supplier should be able to provide you with years of faithful service.

However, the winter season is always challenging if you have forklifts that operate outdoors. Ice, rain and snow pose risks to operators and make it harder for these trucks to operate safety and efficiently.

As the COVID-19 crisis continues all over the world, materials handling professionals are focusing on how to make it through the crisis and ensure their businesses returns to full strength once things return to normal.