Building up rather than out to maximize space utilization
By Susan Comfort, product manager, narrow-aisle products, The Raymond Corp.
With the demands of today’s economy, plants are optimizing their existing space to help increase efficiency and operational profitability. Loads are becoming taller, and weights are getting heavier.
Plants – and the equipment that supports them – are evolving to meet these heightened demands. By optimizing your space and investing in equipment such as high-capacity reach trucks, you can improve your plant productivity and create cost savings.
Optimize your facility to new heights
Regardless of your industry or company size, space is at a premium. To maximize building capacity, plant managers are being challenged to build higher and leverage every inch of available space to make the most of their facility – from floor level to the top beam.
By building up rather than out, you can maximize the number of pallet positions per aisle, which in turn minimizes the cost per pallet stored. A key product differentiator helping plants reach new heights is high-capacity reach trucks, which are designed to reach taller, lift heavier and run longer. This helps provide greater storage and slotting flexibility at a lower cost for plant managers. With higher-capacity reach trucks, you can meet today’s e-commerce demands by utilizing every inch of available space.
Lower your costs per pallet stored
Standard reach trucks have a 40-foot ceiling height maximum. By opting for a high-capacity reach truck, operators can reach taller ceiling capacities, which expands pallet storage opportunities and reduces annual cost per pallet stored.
Create more-efficient workflows
Leveraging high-capacity reach trucks, plants can optimize their existing facility and create a more streamlined workflow. Benefits warehouse plant managers can gain from using high-capacity reach trucks include:
- Improved cube utilization through storage flexibility
- Faster retrieval times
- Reduced times for letdown cycles
Run better and manage smarter
As e-commerce demands, especially related to the grocery industry, continue to grow, facilities are also starting to build up their cold-storage spaces to maximize the availability of existing buildings and provide for more inventory storage. High-capacity reach trucks can be ideal for these applications. Some trucks with lithium-ion batteries have power packs that include integrated heaters for superior cold-storage needs and thermal controls that reduce the risk of damage caused by environmental extremes.
Optimizing existing plant space to build up before you build out can elevate your efficiency. With today’s equipment technology and capabilities, you can meet ever-stricter demands, increase pallet storage opportunities, and lower the overall facility costs of an expansion.
About the Author
Alexis GajewskiAlexis Gajewski
Senior Content Strategist
Alexis Gajewski is a manufacturing writer and editor with nearly 20 years of experience covering the people, practices, and technologies that keep industrial facilities running. For more than a decade, she served as Senior Content Strategist for Plant Services, creating content for plant managers, engineers, and maintenance professionals on a variety of industrial topics.
During her tenure, Alexis worked to develop the brand’s digital strategy and helped launch and produce Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast. She also created The Lighter Side of Manufacturing, a weekly blog that explored the inventive and sometimes humorous side of the industry.
Alexis co-founded Influential Women in Manufacturing, a recognition program that honored 49 women in its first two years, earned an industry award for Best Product Launch, and received a proclamation from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and a commendation from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
She also led newsroom operations and development at a large media company where she set editorial standards, developed training curriculum, and helped support AI adoption for more than 150 editors across 80+ brands spanning manufacturing, industrial processing, automation, and more.
Additionally, Alexis works as a freelance writer and editor, and her areas of interest include continuous improvement, the skilled workforce, and the role of emerging technology on the plant floor.
Connect with Alexis on LinkedIn