Forklift Trucks
•Forklift trucks can move loads of master cartons both horizontally and vertically.
•A pallet or slip sheet forms a platform upon which master cartons are stacked.
•A slip sheet is a thin sheet of solid fibre or corrugated paper and are used for situations when product is handled only a few times.
•A forklift truck normally transports a maximum of two unit loads i.e. two pallets at a time
•High stacking trucks are capable of up to 40 feet of vertical movement.
•Even trucks capable of operating in aisles as narrow as 56 inches ar also found in warehouses.
•The significance of narrow-aisle forklift trucks has increased as warehouses seek to increase rack storage density and overall storage capacity.
•Forklift trucks are not economical for long distance horizontal movements because of high ratio of labour per unit of transfer.
•Most effectively utilized in shipping and receiving and placing merchandise in a predetermined storage space.
•Common sources of power are propane gas and electricity.
•Many forklift operations are utilizing radio frequency data communication to speed up load put away and retrieval assignments.
•Under the above system, workers receive their assignments through either handheld or vehicle –mounted RF terminals.
•RF technology provides real-time communication capability to central data processing systems, and when combined with bar code scanning of cartons and pallets,it allows fork lift operators to receive and update item status inquiry, material orders and movement and inventory adjustments.
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