How do you make the best use of your limited truck shipment preparation space?
I often hear complaints about how cramped shipping areas can sometimes make it hard to operate. In manufacturing and warehouse applications where floor space is at a premium, you have to make every inch count – and that may be as easy as changing your floor scale.
One great option is the Yellow Jacket U-Shaped floor scale, which allows material handlers to capture the weight of standard and non-standard pallets and skids without removing the pallet jack.
Operators simply move the pallet into place over the scale, lower the pallet jack so the load is resting on the scale, capture the weight, and then raise the pallet jack to easily move the pallet or skid to its next location. This reduces weighing times by up to 50 percent by eliminating the time-consuming step of pulling the pallet jack out from underneath the pallet, which can be difficult with traditional ramped floor scales.
The scale is only 2.4 inches tall and does not require a ramp or pit, so installation is fast, economical and easy. Accessories offered include a portable wheel kit and a quick-disconnect cable (between the scale and the readout), which make it very easy to move. The built-in handles, used to move the scale, were specifically designed for optimum comfort and to avoid stress and injury.
That ergonomic factor proved to be a plus for a major toy distribution center in the Midwest that ships using parcel, less than truckload (LTL), and full truckload modes. The company had reduced the area devoted to shipping as part of an overall facility space reorganization. Unfortunately, they found that the reductions had a major impact on the LTL department, leaving the area with limited space dedicated to the preparation of truck shipments.
The company had one older floor scale, and about 10 table scales for UPS-type parcel shipping. They decided to look into using the new Yellow Jacket U-Shaped Floor Scale to see how it could help them make the best use of their shipping area. What they found was that it really helped them manipulate their space better. Not only did it reduce square footage needed for the floor scale, they were able to move the scale around easily, so they did not have to find a permanent space for the scale.
They especially like the fact that the new scale does not require going through all the motions of going up the ramp, removing the pallet jack, replacing the pallet jack under the load, and then going down the ramp. It is far more ergonomically friendly to just roll in the jack, release the jack and weigh the skid. Employees no longer have to tug it uphill or up an incline.
So if you have a packaging application where pallet jacks are primarily used to move product, this scale option may save hundreds of man-hours by eliminating the time required to remove the pallet jacket from the scale to capture the weight.