The first step to understanding the Total Cost of Ownership of your Forklift fleet is to gather the overall cost of your equipment including any related costs such as fuel and maintenance.
From there, as a Materials Handling Solutions provider and official Doosan dealer, we can offer advice and support in identifying where you could potentially save money.
To begin with, here are a number of common areas to review;
Review your existing Equipment
Are your Forklifts and Warehouse Equipment still the right solution for your operations? Loads come in all shapes and sizes, therefore, ensuring your equipment is still suitable to transport and store these goods is essential.
By not reviewing and making sure your Forklift Trucks are still up to the task means productivity and more importantly safety will suffer. Making sure your operators have the right equipment will not only improve the efficiency of your operations but will also minimise accidents and costs in the long term.
Identifying the right battery for your applications
As more and more businesses turn to Electric Forklifts and Warehouse Equipment, the importance of selecting the right battery for your requirements is essential. With a wide variety of battery options available, understanding the pros and cons of these solutions will help you reduce the TCO of your fleet.
Lead acid batteries are one of the most common battery solutions on the market. Offering a higher capacity than the likes of lithium batteries, lead acid options operate for longer periods. However, standard lead acid batteries require a full charge meaning operators can’t opportunity charge during break periods. However, lead acid batteries with air circulation does support opportunity charging should you wish to look at this as an option.
Lithium batteries on the other hand have a lower battery capacity but allow for regular charging during break periods, ensuring maximum uptime of your fleet. By being able to ‘opportunity charge’, Lithium solutions also don’t require additional batteries for changing during shifts saving both time and money.
In addition to lithium, alternative solutions such as NiCd batteries mean the truck is available 24/7 and offer quick, regular charging when the truck is not in action.
Reducing the downtime of your fleet
Downtime of Materials Handling Equipment contributes to a substantial loss of revenue, year in, year out. As a result, maximising the uptime of your fleet through selecting the right battery solution or regular maintenance all help towards achieving this goal.
For example, multi-shift operations using batteries suitable for opportunity charging during break periods negate the need for time-consuming battery changes.
Additionally, regular safety checks and planned maintenance will not only minimise downtime and extend the life of your equipment but also help maximise safety on site.
Prevention is better than cure and by implementing the right safety measures, businesses can protect both operators and the company from costly incidents.
Does your business know the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of your forklift fleet?
Speak to our experienced team of Materials Handling experts by contacting us on sales@solutionmhe.com or calling 0117 938 2012.
If you’re thinking about upgrading or replacing your existing forklift fleet, browse our comprehensive range of Forklifts and Warehouse Equipment here.
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Managing Director Frank Smith founded Solution MHE in 2000! Read our story.
