Forklifts and their deployment have been getting smarter ever since they began harnessing information technology (IT) over 30 years ago but is much of their potential for enhanced efficiency still being ignored and is the issue of attachments likewise being neglected? The IT aspect of forklifts can said to be of two kinds: the static, which involves an officebased function like analysing fleet management programmes, maintenance issues, etc, and the dynamic or mobile involving IT devices on the trucks like radio data terminals and barcode scanners.
The mobile aspect of forklift IT can dramatically raise productivity by eliminating trips without loads. At the printing machinery manufacturer, Koenig & Bauer, there are 70 Hyster forklifts with a display in the cab which shows the next job directly to the driver and also the optimum route to keep the number of empty runs to a minimum. But true double cycling, where a truck never moves without a load, may need to consider the type of forklift and its link from a yard to the internal warehouse racking.
When unloading lorries in a yard, for example, the usual approach is a counterbalance (cb) forklift to remove the load to a drop point in the warehouse and then return empty to the lorry for another pallet load. Within the warehouse a different forklift type, usually a reach truck or dedicated VNA truck, will remove the deposited load to within the narrow aisle racking allotted slot, where conventional cb trucks cannot go. Even if the narrow or VNA trucks can double cycle by depositing and retrieving loads time is still lost when interfacing with the cb trucks. In such a situation would it not be better to use a more versatile, RDTfitted forklift like the articulated kind which could go straight from the yard lorry to deposit directly within the racking and then, guided by the on-board RDT, remove a load from the racking to go directly to another waiting lorry?
Forklift attachments, which have been around for over 50 years, may still be overlooked partly because users may be unaware that they, too, have undergone recent developments that open up not only a less damage-prone opportunity but improved productivity. Take, for example, Meijer Handling Solutions’ (formerly MSE Forks) telescopic lift truck forks. Many companies still load and unload lorries from both sides, which means the lift truck driver has to drive around the truck repeatedly. Additionally, in cramped yards or loading bay areas, space could be a problem. By using telescopic forks it is possible to load and unload pallets from one side only, saving up to 25% of time. More time can be saved through less handling by using these telescopic forks to carry two pallets at once. Cutting internal handing by half also cuts fuel consumption and maintenance costs.
When looking to redesign large handling processes that may or may not involve a meld of manual and automated equipment the task used to be potentially more fraught because it usually involved integration of a mixed bag of kit suppliers all independently owned. Time was when one could appoint a main contractor to oversee the whole investment who may not be manufacturing all of the key hardware and software issues, so smooth integrated control was more difficult.
Another option was to appoint a systems integrator that had no vested interest in specifying a particular piece of kit. Today, however, the behemoths of the handling industry tend to own all of the hardware and software kit needed and provide the necessary forensic examination of a customer’s needs to understand their business model before a suggested solution can be offered. They will be able to say whether or not automation is right for a specific customer. Even so, the kit users should make themselves aware of the pros and cons of the many different truck types on the market because your chosen supplier, however big they may be, cannot necessarily be relied upon to recommend the most effective forklift type because it is not in their own portfolio of trucks. A good example of this could be the articulated forklifts provided by only three relatively small UK forklift manufacturers.
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