WKC – Warehouse Insights

Thinking of buying a forklift? Check out these buying tips first and avoid costly mistakes!

If you have been thinking or tasked with buying a forklift, take a moment and read these independent buying tips before you make a costly mistake! You may have read headlines such as ‘You can save 10-15% on energy and get an extra run time of 10%’ but this will not only depend on the type of forklift you buy, you will also need to implement some Eco strategies and look at unexpected ‘knock on’ costs such as insurance!

Buying or Leasing?

Buying involves additional costs such as servicing and maintenance to meet LOLER certification., However, if you lease, most of these costs will be included but you can still make energy savings.

Choice:

Firstly, you need to ensure that your chosen vehicle will meet your operational needs and make sure that the truck you choose is compatible with your storage system. You may also need to consider your warehouse location, for example if your factory or warehouse is closely situated near a residential area, you may want to consider noise and pollution as a factor that you build into your choice.

Energy Source:

Look at the required energy source: Which way should you go? The choices are LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas), Diesel or Electric and if you choose electric what type of battery should you choose, lithium-ion or lead acid? Also watch out for the Hydrogen forklifts which companies are starting to show their protypes at the shows.

ECO-Mode:

Does your chosen model have an ECO-mode function? If so, this can help reduce the energy required by optimising the engine speed and output. It reduces the maximum acceleration and the speed of the lifting, which can reduce the fuel and energy consumption of the vehicle. Some manufacturers claim that by reducing these performance criteria it ultimately conserves energy, lessons noise pollution and reduces emissions. Some can also have a governor fitted which restricts the engine revs. If you don’t have this facility on your forklift, it could make sense to have an eco-mode retro fitted. Eco modes could also include safety modes, where electronic restrictions lower the speed near doorways and around pedestrian routes.

Eco Strategy Implementations:

Strategy implementations need to be undertaken by the user, for example:

When to use an ECO-mode function:

If you talk to anybody that has never driven in Eco-mode and then they try it for the first time, it can be very frustrating as it will definitely have an impact on the driver’s time constraints to meet their targets.
The warehouse operations manager will need to calculate the impact that ECO-mode will have on meeting targets (a saving on energy might have an impact elsewhere) and, if this is the case, you may find that it is only possible to use it in quieter periods of operations (even so, this will still reduce the over-all energy costs).

Tyre pressure:

Generally, this only applies to All Terrain forklifts as most forklifts used inside a warehouse have solid tyres.
So, for them, just like with cars, their tyres are designed to work at their optimal tyre pressure, so weekly checks are advised, especially with trucks in high usage so they don’t affect the energy consumption of the vehicle.
Over inflated: If the tyres are over inflated this can reduce traction, which can be dangerous in wet conditions causing skidding. This is especially important for trucks driving in and outside. The increase of pressure also adds to the risk of increased tyre wear.
Under inflated: If tyres are under inflated, they can lead to an increase in rolling resistance, over-heating and ultimately blow outs.

Smart-driving techniques or Eco-driving

Most Forklift driving schools today are teaching drivers to adopt an eco-driving mindset even when an ECO-mode has not been installed on the truck. They tend to focus on soft braking, gentle acceleration and smooth driving, turning the truck off, rather than idling and using the forks properly without pushing the pallets. Ask your training school about Eco-driving or Smart driving courses Forklift Truck Training Courses that include Eco-Driving Strategies.

Product Retrieval and Product loading routes

It might be worth looking at the routes the trucks are using to load and retrieve the stock from the storage.
Sometimes, a simple change can reap huge benefits and decrease both mileage and time.

Maintenance of the forklift trucks

General Maintenance:

Every year your forklifts should be serviced, (or every six months if your forklift lifts people in safety cages). This not only keeps you legal but ensures energy efficiency and safety.

Battery Maintenance:

Even though the battery represents a third of the price of the forklift, it is still the most neglected in regards to maintenance; which is a surprising fact as a well-maintained lead acid battery can extend the overall life of the battery by 50%.

Top Tips

How to keep your lead-acid battery maintained.

Check water levels:

To keep it well maintained you need to check water levels of each cell after every charge and if they need filling use de-ionised water.

Draining the battery:

Do not let the battery drain below 20% of charge. If you can maintain this battery correctly you will not have to charge it as often and the battery lifetime will drastically increase.

Other Considerations

Insurance costs:

Some Insurance firms will not insure certain types of powered forklifts without specific charging and storage terms; this is mainly down to fire risks and hazards. Certain battery options can increase your premium costs. Our advice is to always call your insurance broker before you buy. If you are still confused, or just need further help, get in touch with us and one of our industry consultants will help you. Contact Us Now!

Conclusion:

If you take these steps that have been suggested, you can make savings on your forklift energy requirements, but, at the end of the day’ it is down to the operator, as it does not rely on any one of the saving tips, it is a combination of them. Making cost savings in some areas can have a ‘knock-on-effect’ on costs elsewhere. This article is to provoke thought and discussion towards being energy conscious within the warehouse environment.

Industry Consultant Isobel Pinsent

Sources:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/puwer.htm

https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/loler.htm

https://www.hse.gov.uk/workplacetransport/lift-trucks/thoroughexamination.htm