The Benefits Of Vertical Lift Modules For Your Warehouse

Lauded for their safety, efficiency, and durability, vertical lift modules have become a staple in warehouse environments for storing totes, boxes, and other storage containers and materials.

Have you invested in bringing vertical lifts into the warehouse environment? If you haven’t, now could be a great time to begin. Read on to learn more about the value that vertical lifts can bring to a warehouse environment and some of the key benefits that can be realized by implementing them in this post.

What Are Vertical Lift Modules?

Let’s start by discussing what vertical lifts are before we get into some of their key benefits. Specifically, they are fully enclosed automated storage and retrieval units that maximize vertical space in the warehouse environment. Also commonly known as “vertical modular lifts,” they can lift up to 500 pounds at speeds of around 40 feet per minute.

Essentially, they help automate a task commonly performed by manual practices. Let’s explore some of the key benefits of having a vertical lift in the warehouse.

Top 3 Benefits of Vertical Lift Machines in Your Warehouse

1. More Storage Space

What do you do if you run out of space on the warehouse’s ground floor? You go up.

Just as how populated metropolises built up as they became too overwhelmed by residents, the same can be done in the warehouse environment when it comes to supplies. And the result is more functional storage space. By extending upward in the warehouse, you’re likely to free up more crucial floor space for other solutions or supplies. Meanwhile, you’re also likely to significantly increase the storage space that you do have.

2. Better Ergonomics, Safety

This is perhaps the biggest reason to implement a vertical lift machine in the warehouse: safety. Every industrial environment should strive for a safe workplace, and vertical lifts can help.

They’re often equipped with advanced safety features, such as shutter doors to prevent worker interaction with the internal lifting mechanism, overload protection, safety enclosures, and more. What’s more is that vertical lifts are enclosed systems, so there’s little to no risk of any items falling to the floor and injuring any workers beneath them as they’re working to retrieve items. Vertical lifts are designed to meet all safety guidelines for vertical conveyors and also help to eliminate any potential for human error in a task that would otherwise be handled manually. By automating, you’re also able to reduce worker strain.

In addition to improving ergonomics and safety, vertical lifts also offer enhanced security. Unlike conventional systems, vertical lifts are fully enclosed systems and can only be accessed by authorized users.

3. Better Picking Accuracy

As we’ve said throughout this piece, if it was not for vertical lifts, warehouses would be largely dependent on human workers and conventional tools like carts to perform these picks. And while integrating vertical lifts can help enhance safety by taking the potential for human error out of the equation, they can also help streamline productivity. Picking accuracy can help determine whether an order is fulfilled on time or if it’s not. And nobody is perfect and mistakes are bound to be made when performing such tasks manually. The use of a vertical lift can automate picking actions. All users have to do is insert the tray number from a computer console and the lift will do the rest. It can significantly reduce errors, streamline efficiency and lead to better overall fulfillment numbers.

There are plenty of advantages to using a vertical lift machine in your warehouse compared to some of the more conventional technologies used to handle pallets, boxes, and trays. Not only can they help enhance your firm’s overall safety, but when used correctly they can also streamline productivity and help establish an advantage over your competitors.

Be sure to reach out to A-Lined Handling Systems with any questions regarding our vertical lifts for your warehouse or distribution center.