Order pickers with Rising forks Promote better Ergonomics and Productivity

Optimizing warehousing processes and streamlining their costs is what many industries often juggle with. According to some of the reports a large part of the cost in warehouses arises owing to work-related injuries and work related illness of the workers. Works that require lifting of heavy goods and performing repetitive movements are often associated with health issues.  

Order picker is one of the extensively used machinery in warehousing facilities that helps to maintain proper flow of inventory. An important factor in streamlining supplies chain movement, order picking is a labor-intensive process that requires the operators to remain continuously on their toes. Order pickers who spend their entire time working along the aisles, removing goods from the racking and placing them on the pallets are prone to developing health issues in the absence of proper ergonomic principles. Hence, human-centric organizations are now focusing on introducing ergonomic discipline in their warehousing activities.

Even a smaller change can make a lot of difference.  An additional feature like rising forks could result in huge benefits in the long run by curbing health related risks, and promoting efficiency and productivity.

Linde MHE is one of the renowned companies offering top quality range of material handling equipment, including order pickers, reach truck, electronic forklifts and more. Their warehousing solutions are equipped with ergonomic features that facilitate greater efficiency and hassle-free operations. Their new versions of order picker ensure reduced logistics costs and error rates and most importantly contribute in curbing health-related absence of employees.

How Rising Forks Promote Ergonomics and Productivity?

Rising forks are a very useful feature that enhance the comfort level of the operators and significantly reduces their stress level. Rising forks allow the operators to raise the height of the pallet to a considerable height so that they can easily and conveniently place items on the truck quickly. It saves the order pickers from the monotonous movement of repeatedly bending down for placing the goods on the pallet.

Bending down to pick reasonably heavy items may not seem to be a problem for any healthy person. But, when done on regular basis and multiple times a day, over the course of weeks and months it definitely takes a toll on the muscular system of the operators in the long run. In fact it has been reported as one of the causes behind injuries at work, which leads to time off work for the worker, and higher costs and deteriorating productivity for the business.

Investing in rising forks may seem a bit expensive to you as it marginally increases the cost of the forklift as compared with a standard model. However, this initial investment will pay you dividends in form of ergonomic benefits that will ultimately have positive impact on your ROI. While rising fork is an essential component in any Electric forklift and order picker that help you achieve smoother and efficient warehousing operations, there are several other similar smaller but smart features that contribute towards making an order picker more ergonomic and effective in material handling operations.

In order to reduce risk of strain and injury at work in warehousing facilities following changes can be really helpful:

• Raising the height of pallets to a comfortable position from the ground.
• Installing pallet racking drawersif the goods are heavy, so that the pickers don’t need to reach into the racking.
• Using order picker with rising forks as discussed above.
• If there is a lot of picking, placing pallets with the long side towards the pickercan help reduce the reach distance.

The gist of the matter is that a lot of efforts and strain can be saved if goods are placed at comfortable heights that facilitate easy accessibility. Making such changes boost productivity and ultimately boost your bottom-line and keep your order pickers healthy and happy.

So, next time you plan to buy forklift truck or order picker make sure to keep the above mentioned points in mind and witness inflow of desired incentives!