Can Driverless Forklifts in Lafayette, LA Increase Productivity?

As forklift technology continues to evolve, one of the questions facing the industry today is whether or not the widespread use of driverless forklifts in Lafayette, LA and beyond could increase productivity in their workplaces.

There are advantages and disadvantages to relying on the use of driverless forklifts, beyond just productivity and operational efficiency. Let’s take a closer look.

Advantages of using driverless forklifts

The biggest advantage of driverless forklifts is that they do not have the physical limitations that people do, or the potential for laziness that could cut down on productivity. As long as they have a charge, they can operate without getting tired or deciding they need a break. In addition, one can program driverless forklifts so that they take the most efficient routes to their destinations each time, providing the most efficient flow of traffic possible in a warehouse or work setting.

There are plenty of other options for increased productivity with the use of driverless forklifts as well. There’s no need for shift changeovers, holidays or breaks when using driverless forklifts—they can be programmed to run any time for as long as you need them to, only stopping to be refueled, recharged or repaired. This means that even if driverless forklifts operate more slowly than traditional forklifts in Lafayette, LA, they’ll still significantly increase productivity because they operate continuously.

There are also some safety benefits to consider. Removing humans from manual handling equipment reduces the potential for injuries and severe accidents. In addition, cutting down on the human error element of accidents also increases site safety, reducing the chance of injuries or lost inventory caused by forklift damage to items in the warehouse. Lifting extreme loads also is safer with an unmanned forklift.

Disadvantages of using driverless forklifts

However, there are still some significant benefits associated with using human operators for forklifts in a warehouse. Driverless forklifts don’t always react well to breaks in routine or other sudden changes that may come up during the course of a day. You may get more efficiency with your operations, but you lose quite a bit of flexibility in this way. By using manual forklifts, operators are able to make necessary changes on the fly in a way that driverless forklifts cannot.

In addition, human operators are always going to be better at pinpointing potential issues in the immediate area and finding potential problems with picking orders. Automated systems won’t necessarily pick up on these problems in the same way human operators can, or be able to then make any necessary changes.

Finally, human operators are not going to have the same limitations that driverless forklifts do with regard to noticing obstacles or hazards. Driverless forklifts are outfitted with scanning features that allow them to pick up on some of these potential hazards, but humans’ ability to notice them is still much more reliable and sophisticated.

For more information about driverless forklifts versus traditional forklifts in Lafayette, LA and to determine which might be better for your situation, contact George’s Lift Truck Service, LLC today.

Categorised in: Driverless Forklifts, Traditional Forklifts

This post was written by Writer