On Today's Menu: Orderpickers

Boelter wanted to ensure that lift truck operators were able to pick orders and put away product with as much ease as possible. Platform extenders are installed on each side of the orderpicker. The platform extenders are designed to adjust the platform width consistent with Boelter's pick-aisle size. They help operators reach into the 48-inch racks. Boelter's extenders add an extra 6 inches to each side of the orderpicker platform and still keep it within the width of the narrow aisles. The lift trucks also are equipped with a lift limit switch, which ensures that operators can only take the lift trucks to a prespecified height to avoid accidentally raising the lift truck high enough to bump pipes or beams in the ceiling.

Boelter's equipment is signed out to specific people daily so each employee operates the same lift truck every day. This ensures employees fill out the same OSHA-required inspection form each day on the same machine.

“We like to keep our operators and their equipment consistent,” Quesnell says. “That way, driving a lift truck is like driving a car. People operate it every day and know if something isn't working quite the same as it did the day before.”

Boelter keeps one spare battery on hand for every orderpicker so there is always a battery charged and ready. Orderpickers never sit in the charging area. Batteries just need to be replaced to keep the lift trucks running.

“If a restaurant needs a new fryer right before a fish fry or new linens the day before Mother's Day brunch, we'll work hard to meet that restaurant's needs,” says Quesnell. “Without our orderpickers, we wouldn't be able to meet the demands.”

Susan Comfort is product manager of Class 2 products at Raymond Corp., a Greene, N.Y.-based manufacturer of electric lift trucks.