Increasingly, companies are mandating the move to forklift free production floors on the basis of visible macro issues such as safety improvements, reduced forklift lease and maintenance costs.  However, there are many other less visible advantages with direct and secondary benefits that may play an important role in reducing costs and improving customer response.  Identifying these benefits requires a big picture overview of the project as well as an understanding of how each department and suppliers, both internal and external, will be impacted.

    Implementation of the forklift free factory plan can be challenging and frustrating.  Many familiar habits of both the material handling support and production assembly personnel will be changed.  Physical plant, assembly line and storage constraints, packaging changes, budget limits, ergonomic issues and project completion time add additional complexity.  Working through these problems will require unabridged input from top management, the affected departments and suppliers who will share ownership of the plan.  

The case for forklift free

    There is no question human loss and liability cost relative to forklift injuries has been the number one driver for forklift free (also referred to as forkfree) plant floors.  Each year in the United States, nearly 100 workers are killed and another 20,000 are seriously injured in forklift-related incidents.  Forklift overturns are the leading cause of fatalities involving forklifts; they represent about 25 percent of all forklift-related deaths.

    The Hyster Company estimates that businesses waste more than $1 billion in unnecessary operating costs associated with material handling equipment.  A recent study suggested that unfortunately, only 6 percent of end-users actually know their real maintenance costs. Fewer have programs in place to reduce...

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