As a specialist forklift and material handling equipment manufacturer, we understand more than most the importance of maintaining a high level of workplace and warehouse efficiency. Since our inception in 1963, our founder, Peter Dobson, recognised the need for efficient handling equipment in factories, warehouses, and other facilities where manual handling was necessary.
Synonymous with long-term reliability, Sidetracker aims to provide straightforward and innovative solutions to help improve your factory and warehouse efficiency.
What is Material Handling?
Material handling is the process of transporting, controlling, storing and protecting stock and goods; typically involving short-distance movement within the confines of buildings and/or transportation vehicles to their next point of use in the supply chain. A wide variety of manual, automated, and semi-automated equipment is utilised to ensure that your material handling is efficient, and adheres to health and safety codes of practice.
Efficient material handling is essential for improving productivity, reducing costs, accidents and injury, and ensuring seamless operations within various manufacturing facilities.
How Can I Improve Material Handling Efficiency?
There are various ways in which you can improve your warehouse efficiency and handling systems quickly and safely…
Ensure Your Equipment is Always Operational and Maintained Properly
One of the best ways to ensure that efficient handling processes within your workplace are upheld is to make sure that your handling equipment is maintained properly. By carrying out routine services, safety and pre-shift checks, and cleaning, you can ensure that your manual handling equipment is always operational. Supply chain inefficiencies can be avoided by ensuring routine checks and maintenance are implemented; significantly reducing your equipment’s downtime, and preventing faults, breakdowns, and accidents.
Put in Place Effective Workplace Practices
By ensuring your workforce is trained correctly and provided with correct and operational equipment, you can significantly improve the efficiency of your material handling processes. The workforce you employ has a massive impact on the productivity of your business, so it’s essential that you employ experienced, reliable and well-trained personnel. Not only this, but by implementing codes of practice, such as consistent training, pre-shift checks for arriving employees, and assigning a sufficient amount of employees to labour divisions, you can streamline your operations, and maximise output.
Utilise Warehouse Management Software (WMS)
Warehousing efficiencies can be greatly improved through the implementation of Warehouse Management Software (WMS); allowing complete visibility of your business’s inventory, resource optimisation, and effective supply chain management; supporting the entire process from start to finish. Subsequently, Warehouse Management Software helps to maximise workforce labour and warehouse/factory space to its full potential.
Improve Your Workplace Layout
By optimising the layout of your warehouse/storage facility, you can ensure swift and efficient product handling; whether that be manually or with automated lifting equipment. To ensure productive product handling, it’s important to make sure that your aisle widths accommodate enough space for your lifting equipment, and that you have sufficient storage available for the stock and goods you have on site. With consistent material movement in mind, you should configure the layout of your business so that stock, equipment, and foot traffic are as optimised as possible; this helps to maintain efficiencies, keep stock secure and safe, and prevent accidents, machine failure, and injury.
Invest in a Specialist Sidetracker Forklift
Sidetracker offers a range of specialist material handling solutions to help maximise your business’s productivity, secure your assets, and keep your supply chain running at optimum levels. With our series of Side Loader Forklift Trucks, 4-Way Reach Trucks, Order Picker Forklifts, and Electric Platforms, you can improve your workplace efficiencies, and increase supply-chain production, all whilst keeping your workforce, stock, and equipment secure, and safe. Furthermore, with Sidetracker’s manual handling solutions being fully battery operated, you can utilise your equipment both inside and outside, in all weathers.
Looking to Improve Your Warehouse Efficiency? Get In Touch For a Free Site Survey!
For more information regarding our manual handling solutions and how to improve your warehouse efficiencies, get in touch with the team at Sidetracker today.