Pallet handling in manufacturing facilities involves various tools such as pallet racks, forklifts, hand jacks, and pallet trucks. Forklifts are used to stack pallets high off the floor, while hand jacks and pallet trucks are used to move them around. Specialized storage is required for non-standard pallets, and some facilities have entire pallet handling systems with conveyors.
Pallet handling is done through many methods in a manufacturing facility. Pallet racks, forklifts, hand jacks and pallet trucks are just some of the tools used in the pallet handling regime.
Pallets are a necessary component of most production. There are many methods and means of handling pallets in the modern workplace. Most pallets are stacked neatly on large steel racks in a manufacturing plant. When necessary, pallet handling falls under the responsibility of forklift personnel. Typically, pallets are stacked high off the floor, which requires a forklift operator to place them on the floor in small stacks.
Once on the floor, the task of handling the pallets is left to the personnel operating the hand jacks. A hand jack is a dolly-like implement that has two long forks used to impale the pallet like the tangs on a forklift. Once the operator has driven the tabs into the pallet openings, a few handle pumps cause the jack to lift the pallet off the floor. This makes it easy for an operator to pull the pallet anywhere within the facility.
A pallet truck is very similar to a forklift in that a pallet is clamped to a set of forks that protrude from the rear of the machine. Often, workers fill customer orders from warehouse within the manufacturing plant. In this scenario, pallet handling becomes an essential skill to master. Typically, the operator drives the pallet truck up and down the stock islands looking for specific items in the customer’s list. Once located, the item is placed on the pallet and the operator begins searching for the next item in the customer’s list.
While most pallets are the same size, sometimes non-standard smaller or larger pallets find their way into a facility. In order to achieve proper pallet handling methods, these odd pallets require specialized storage. Typically, a special dedicated storage location within the pallet racking is maintained for these particular pallets. Proper pallet handling requires these odd pallets to be removed as soon as possible.
Some of the larger manufacturing facilities incorporate an entire pallet handling system into the building. Specialized conveyors carry the pallets off the production floor and into a storage area on a separate floor. Since a pallet is needed, a message sent to a worker in the storage area causes a pallet to be sent to the correct location via the conveyor system.
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