Why Add An Order Picker To Your Warehouse's Forklift Fleet?
While traditional forklifts are a good way to move stock around a warehouse, they have some limitations. If you fulfill smaller orders, then forklifts might not be the best solution. You will see some benefits from adding one or more order pickers to your lift truck fleet.
What are the benefits of using order pickers?
Improve Order Fulfilment Speeds
Customers typically like to get their orders fast. If your shipping times are slower than the norm, then people are less likely to use you in the future.
If you use regular forklifts to pull ordered items off your storage racks, then you take more time to get an order ready for shipping. Your drivers will have to take down a whole pallet and remove an item from it first.
Order pickers speed up this process. A worker can position the picker at the rack, lift themselves up on its platform, and take the item off the shelf manually. They don't have to work with a pallet. You get an order ready for shipping much faster.
Increase Worker Productivity
If your workers use forklifts to pick items off racks, then they won't be as productive or efficient as you need them to be. They need time to fulfill each individual order.
For example, they have to find and remove the relevant pallet. They then have to remove the ordered item and get it to your shipping area. They also have to put the pallet back in place.
If you use order pickers, then your workers' efficiency and productivity increase. They can fetch an order much more quickly. They can complete more orders in a shorter space of time. So, your productivity levels will increase.
Increase the Size of Your Storage Space
If you are running out of space in your warehouse, then order pickers could help. Regular forklifts are relatively large compared to order pickers. They need more space in rack aisles to work. The number of racks you can install is affected by the aisle space you need.
If you set up some racks for individual products and order pickers, then you can reduce your aisle widths. Order pickers fit in smaller spaces. If you reduce aisle sizes, then you can install more racks. You get more storage space in your warehouse without extending it.
To try out an order picker to see how it works for you, contact your forklift supplier and ask if they have an order picker lift truck for sale.
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