The Material Handling Blog

Keeping warehouse staff happy, satisfied and motivated is a challenge which warehouse managers face every day. A big part of this challenge is safety - protecting staff from injury is one of the most basic requirements, and the industry has improved greatly in this area in the last few decades.

Getting the right equipment, staff and suppliers can help you achieve your goals, but there's one factor which is just as important - ergonomics.

The material handling trends of the last few decades have helped keep safety high and workplace accidents low, reducing downtime and increasing productivity. But protecting drivers from strain, repetitive movements and unnatural driving positions through forklift truck ergonomics can give similar rewards. 

If you want to find out:

• How an ergonomic forklift can improve driver health and warehouse efficiency
• What the experts say about ergonomic design in the material handling industry
• Where essential controls should be positioned for maximum comfort

 
Then you should click the button below to download the full article. Happy driving!

The traditional lead-acid forklift battery is a tried-and-tested technology. However, Li-ION (lithium ion) batteries, which power your laptop, smartphone and maybe even your car, are now a viable energy solution for forklifts. But what advantages does this new technology offer?

You can have a fleet of the most technologically-advanced trucks on the market, but if you don't have a decent service partner to rely on, your operation will really suffer.

If the surface you step onto, to get into your forklift is well-designed, you probably won't even notice it at all. But a lack of care from the manufacturer when it comes to this small detail adds to the strain that drivers experience on the job, which will ultimately affect your operation and increase costs.

Picking, packing and dispatching 3,500 customer orders every day in a 118,000m² distribution centre is a constant challenge. However, Skechers makes it happen at their facility near Liège, Belgium, with a fleet of UniCarriers trucks to help.

Cold stores, warehouses where frozen goods are stored, can reach temperatures as low as -35°C and are some of the most demanding environments that forklifts can operate in.

Fortunately, most forklift suppliers offer machines that are capable of working reliably in such cold temperatures. Freezing environments can make steel more brittle, make the oil and lubricants more viscous and reduce the truck's battery capacity, but adaptations can be made to forklifts to reduce the impact of these issues, ensuring both safety and reliability.

Since the advent of containerisation and the forklift truck, the pallet has become vital for the storage and transport of goods around the world. Palletising goods make a lot of sense - pallets are a consistent size, meaning businesses can be sure they will fit in their racking, and ensuring that all kinds of forklifts will be able to pick them up.

Pallets are also lightweight and strong in comparison to other storage and handling solutions. Pallets are everywhere, but what happens if the goods you handle are much, much bigger than the standard Europallet?

When purchasing new forklift trucks, it's tempting to get caught up comparing different options on the purchase price alone. The graphic above should hopefully show you why that's not the best option. 

When it comes to making efficient use of space in your warehouse, mobile racking is one of the leading options. With this storage system, the racking itself stands on motor-driven wheels which move in rails built into the floor.

All trucks require maintenance sometimes, especially in high-intensity materials handling operations. The important thing is how quickly you can get the truck back in operation afterwards. This is where your service supplier's first visit fix rate becomes important.