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Logistics and Used Forklifts
“Logistics” is the big buzzword in the materials handling world today. Originally defined as the “moving, housing and supplying of military troops”, the term first caught on in the private sector after the Vietnam War when the container shipping industry took off as a direct result of the war effort. More recently, UPS, the package delivery giant, has made “logistics” a big part of its marketing campaign. Why should a small company thinking about buying a used forklift be interested in logistics?
Does a hand truck really save your business money? Image courtesy of Forklift Accessories. Click image to visit site.
If you are looking for ways to make your business operate more efficiently and profitably, you’re thinking about logistics, no matter how large or small your operation may be. Let’s say you have a small manufacturer with a dozen employees and have been making do with a hand truck for years. One day you sit down and calculate how many hours per week you have to take a quarter of your crew away from their duties to move heavy boxes from one end of the factory floor to the other, and then manually load them onto delivery trucks. As soon as you do that, you’re thinking about logistics — and it’s a good thing you are!
What does it cost your business per week to manually move those boxes? What does that add up to in a year? In 5 years? Now, look into the cost of a reconditioned forklift. How much is that going to cost you over a 5-year period? Odds are, it will be far less than the wasted man-hours your manual labor is costing you.
A used lift truck will help your business prosper in good times and bad. If there’s an upswing in orders, it will help you keep up with demand. If the business is slow and you have to lay off workers, the forklift will help you maintain productivity; if it has to sit idle through the tough times, it costs you nothing.
The Importance of Logistics
The importance of logistics increases exponentially the larger a business becomes. In the immediate aftermath of the 2008 recession, one sector of the materials handling industry, robotics, experienced growth at the same time many others were experiencing a decline. The reason was simple: huge warehousing and manufacturing companies were looking for ways to reduce costs and increase productivity.
At the same time, both supply and demand for used powered industrial trucks increased as larger companies downsized and smaller companies looked for ways to trim costs without sacrificing productivity. Interestingly, demand for used forklifts remains high even today. Why is this so?
Image courtesy of Pexels – Photo by Photo by Mathias
One reason is that many materials handling businesses have not fully recovered from the recession. But there’s another reason as well: having discovered that a used forklift can be just as productive as a new one, many companies no longer see any reason to invest in new lift trucks.
While logistics is arguably even more important today than it was in the past, you needn’t hire an expensive consultant to know how to improve the logistics of your business. What it all boils down to is value for money. If a reconditioned forklift or other pieces of equipment will boost productivity and save money at the same time, it’s a good investment. You are the expert when it comes to managing your own business, right?
