Rethink Your Forklift Accessories

A forklift without forklift accessories is good for only one thing. Image from Forbes article cited in this blog.

A recent article in Forbes, Spur Company Growth By Simplifying Your Logistics, didn’t mention forklifts accessories, but the photograph that accompanied the article was of a forklift operating in a warehouse environment. What better example of “simplifying your logistics” could there be than a forklift at work?

The photograph was there to emphasize a point made in the second paragraph of the article. A warehouse manager asks, “What is your process for filling customer orders?” and goes on to ask if you send someone out to dig through a pile of boxes until you find the right one. Obviously, the answer is no. Logistics in the warehouse means clearly marking boxes, stacking them on pallet racks and accessing them as needed with a forklift.

That’s great if you’re a large warehouse that does only one thing, but what if using a forklift for moving pallets of finished goods is just part of your business. What if, for example, you manufacture small custom parts and accessories for motorcycles? Are you going to have your machinists walking from one end of the shop to the other to take the materials they need out of boxes while your forklift sits idly by waiting until a pallet is loaded with neat stacks of boxes before you put it to use?

Forklift accessories improve logistics in workplaces where multiple tasks are being carried out on a regular basis. If your forklift sits in a corner doing nothing while your workers spend their time performing unskilled manual tasks when they could be doing the productive jobs they’re trained to do, it’s time to rethink your forklift accessories. For example:

• Do members of your crew knock off early to sweep the floors?
• Do your workers load raw materials into boxes on hand trucks or trolleys and walk them across the floor?
• Are your trash receptacles manually emptied?

If you sat down for a day and tallied up the time it takes workers to do these simple tasks, you’d probably be surprised by how much of their valuable time is wasted. There’s a forklift accessory for each of these tasks that can greatly improve workplace logistics and efficiency:

• Forklift mounted sweepers can do the work of several manual sweepers. Designed to pick up even fine metallic shavings, they are even more efficient than standard brooms.
• Inexpensive low profile hoppers are perfect for transporting all kinds of loose materials and can be tucked away under a table or workbench when not in use. Handy wheels allow workers to manually move them short distances.
• Put your warehouse or plant trash in color coded self dumping hoppers and let your forklift operator make short work of emptying the trash.

These are just a few examples of how forklift accessories can be used to improve efficiency and productivity. If you think it’s time to rethink your forklift accessories, take a few minutes to look through our catalog on forkliftaccessories.com. Then, when you’re out on the floor, think about how you could put them to work in your workplace.